Judas
07-05-2007, 01:42
Often in the fight game, fighters are introduced with mega hype. They exceled in single martial arts fields - star wrestler, champion kickboxer, etc. Sometimes though, guys just come out of nowhere. Our latest MMANews.com exclusive interview is with someone who falls under that description.
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (4-1) made his PRIDE debut in February of this year with a shocking knockout victory over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, at the time probably the number one contender in the PRIDE Middleweight (205 lb.) division. It took Sokoudjou a mere 23 seconds to hand the Brazilian submission specialist his first knockout loss in PRIDE. One-hit wonder, right?
Sokoudjou followed up fighting the teammate of "Lil Nog", also highly regarded in the top rankings of PRIDE's Middleweight division, Ricardo Arona. Another knockout victory for Sokoudjou. This time it took him just a tick away from two minutes. With two huge upset wins in only two minutes and 22 seconds of ring time in PRIDE, Sokoudjou has already hit the radar on virtually every MMA top-10 rankings list for the 205 lb. weight-class.
MMANews.com's own Chris Howie recently caught up with the newest sensation in the MMA world, Sokoudjou to discuss a number of topics. Below is a transcript of part one. Make sure to check back at MMANews.com tomorrow for part two of this extensive interview with Sokoudjou.
Chris Howie of MMANews.com: This is Chris Howie with MMANews.com and I’m joined today by the newest sensation in the Light Heavyweight division “The African Assassin” Sokoudjou. How are you doing today man?
Sokoudjou: Good thank you. How are you doing today?
MMANews.com: I’m not doing too bad at all. So are you training today?
Sokoudjou: I’m training later on today. I was just teaching a class this morning.
MMANews.com: Right on. Your last two fights against [Ricardo] Arona and [Antonio Rogerio] Nogueira have been huge upsets. Did you see those fights ending the way they did?
Sokoudjou: Umm, I train hard and I knew I would come out on top but I did not expect them to end that early. It was a bit of a surprise but I train hard and I worked hard for it so It was a surprise but I knew I would come out victorious in those fights.
MMANews.com: Ricardo Arona stated after the fight that your win over him was lucky and he also said he was ill for the fight. Do you have any comment on that?
Sokoudjou: No because [laughs] a fight is a fight. I came into that fight with a few small injuries. It’s a fight, if he think’s it was a lucky win, a win is a win whether it was lucky or not. I’m sure down the road we’ll fight again. He may have been sick but hey, we’ll be here for a long time so I wouldn’t be surprised to meet him again sometime.
MMANews.com: Do you the see outcome in a rematch?
Sokoudjou: It’s a fight. I’ll just make sure I’m ready to do what I do. It may happen or it may not happen but I’ll train for it.
MMANews.com: With the two wins you’ve shot up the Light Heavyweight division rankings. Do you feel any added pressure on you now considering the way those fights ended?
Sokoudjou: Well I mean I’d love to get in there and knock everybody out in 5 seconds but I don’t feel any added pressure to go in there and win by knock out. All I need to do is make sure I get there, do my work, listen to my corner, and fight. Whether it ends by knock out or decision I’m just going to make sure I put on a good show and I listen to my corner. That’s all I care about when I step in the ring.
MMANews.com: Have there been any talks with Zuffa as to when your next fight will be?
Sokoudjou: You know, I do not deal with that. I have a manager here at Team Quest that does all the legal work and contract work. As far as I know I still have two fights left with Pride. As far as who owns Pride and who makes the decisions I’m not really familiar with that. So all I can say is that I have two fights left with Pride. It might happen that I’ll fight in the UFC or some place else but I’m really the wrong person to ask.
MMANews.com: With Zuffa purchasing Pride do you ever see yourself getting in the Octagon and fighting in the UFC?
Sokoudjou: Umm, I’m a fighter. Wherever they want me to fight, I’ll fight. I don’t really have any preferences. I love fighting in Japan in the ring but when it comes down and someone asks me where I want to fight I’ll say I want to fight in Japan in the ring. As far as my contract goes I have to do what they have set up in my contract for me to do.
MMANews.com: Do you train in a cage?
Sokoudjou: We do not have a cage here at Team Quest but we have mats on the wall. We only have a full size ring. We don’t have a cage yet.
MMANews.com: For your next fight with Pride do you have any preferences as to you who’d like to fight? I’ve heard Wanderlei Silva say that he’d like to fight you. How would you feel about a fight with him?
Sokoudjou: Did he really say that or are you just making that up [laughs]?
MMANews.com: No, No. I’ve read an interview where he said he’d like to fight you.
Sokoudjou: Oh my god that would be like my mom taking me to Disneyland. Fighting Silva would be one of the best things that could happen to me right now. I mean I don’t make those decisions I just get ready for a fight but if he calls me out that’s another fight for me. If he wants to fight me I’d be more than happy to fight him.
MMANews.com: What would your game plan be against someone like him?
Sokoudjou: Someone like him? I know he likes to swing wild and wide so… then again I do not make my game plan we have a team here, Ryan Parsons, Shawn Tompkins, Dan Henderson, and Heath Sims. They are the ones that come up with the game plan. All I have to do is go there and follow the game plan because if it were just me I’d go there and just throw him on his neck and Judo him all the time so I just follow the game plan they come up with.
MMANews.com: I’m sure Dan Henderson could come up with a good game plan for Wanderlei [laughs]
Sokoudjou: [laughing] Yea I’m pretty sure too.
MMANews.com: I believe it was after Pride 33 during the post-press conference you said you’d like to fight anybody except Dan Henderson. How influential has Dan been in your training and helping you further your game?
Sokoudjou: Dan’s my mentor. He’s like my Godfather in MMA. He beats me up everyday training. He beats me up enough for me to get there and think, “Hey, I got beat up in practice everyday so why should I get scared of the guy in front of me”. So that is one of the main things I get from him. It’s interesting, I’m bigger and heavier than Dan but I can’t be in there too long with him ‘cause he beats the crap out of me. Mentally, Dan helps me a lot.
MMANews.com: Since your last fight with Arona what have you been working on in training?
Sokoudjou: Since my last fight I’ve been sleeping and eating and getting fat because I have nothing coming up. [laughs] No, I’m still working on stuff. If you look my at my uppercut it was everything but a technical punch [laughs]
MMANews.com: It was a huge uppercut though..
Sokoudjou: I’ve been working on my boxing skills, trying to improve my Judo skills as well. I’ve been just trying to better my technique and train hard during my sessions.
MMANews.com: How young were you when you first started training and what was your first martial art that you started out with?
Sokoudjou: At first it was Judo as a young kid. I wanted to have a black belt and I wanted to be a world champion and go to the Olympics. I trained hard for that but I never had a chance to get there. Once I got into MMA I told myself I excelled in Judo so I wanted to make this work for MMA.
MMANews.com: Do you have any admirations of going to the Olympics still?
Sokoudjou: I would love to but the problem is training MMA is mostly no Gi and then going to the Olympics in Judo I would be wearing a Gi. So that would mean I would have to stop training MMA and focus on Judo for the Olympics because it would be hard to do both and I’m still under contract for a certain amount of fights in a certain amount of time so I will have to postpone my Olympic dream
Deel 2 hieronder:
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (4-1) made his PRIDE debut in February of this year with a shocking knockout victory over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, at the time probably the number one contender in the PRIDE Middleweight (205 lb.) division. It took Sokoudjou a mere 23 seconds to hand the Brazilian submission specialist his first knockout loss in PRIDE. One-hit wonder, right?
Sokoudjou followed up fighting the teammate of "Lil Nog", also highly regarded in the top rankings of PRIDE's Middleweight division, Ricardo Arona. Another knockout victory for Sokoudjou. This time it took him just a tick away from two minutes. With two huge upset wins in only two minutes and 22 seconds of ring time in PRIDE, Sokoudjou has already hit the radar on virtually every MMA top-10 rankings list for the 205 lb. weight-class.
MMANews.com's own Chris Howie recently caught up with the newest sensation in the MMA world, Sokoudjou to discuss a number of topics. Below is a transcript of part one. Make sure to check back at MMANews.com tomorrow for part two of this extensive interview with Sokoudjou.
Chris Howie of MMANews.com: This is Chris Howie with MMANews.com and I’m joined today by the newest sensation in the Light Heavyweight division “The African Assassin” Sokoudjou. How are you doing today man?
Sokoudjou: Good thank you. How are you doing today?
MMANews.com: I’m not doing too bad at all. So are you training today?
Sokoudjou: I’m training later on today. I was just teaching a class this morning.
MMANews.com: Right on. Your last two fights against [Ricardo] Arona and [Antonio Rogerio] Nogueira have been huge upsets. Did you see those fights ending the way they did?
Sokoudjou: Umm, I train hard and I knew I would come out on top but I did not expect them to end that early. It was a bit of a surprise but I train hard and I worked hard for it so It was a surprise but I knew I would come out victorious in those fights.
MMANews.com: Ricardo Arona stated after the fight that your win over him was lucky and he also said he was ill for the fight. Do you have any comment on that?
Sokoudjou: No because [laughs] a fight is a fight. I came into that fight with a few small injuries. It’s a fight, if he think’s it was a lucky win, a win is a win whether it was lucky or not. I’m sure down the road we’ll fight again. He may have been sick but hey, we’ll be here for a long time so I wouldn’t be surprised to meet him again sometime.
MMANews.com: Do you the see outcome in a rematch?
Sokoudjou: It’s a fight. I’ll just make sure I’m ready to do what I do. It may happen or it may not happen but I’ll train for it.
MMANews.com: With the two wins you’ve shot up the Light Heavyweight division rankings. Do you feel any added pressure on you now considering the way those fights ended?
Sokoudjou: Well I mean I’d love to get in there and knock everybody out in 5 seconds but I don’t feel any added pressure to go in there and win by knock out. All I need to do is make sure I get there, do my work, listen to my corner, and fight. Whether it ends by knock out or decision I’m just going to make sure I put on a good show and I listen to my corner. That’s all I care about when I step in the ring.
MMANews.com: Have there been any talks with Zuffa as to when your next fight will be?
Sokoudjou: You know, I do not deal with that. I have a manager here at Team Quest that does all the legal work and contract work. As far as I know I still have two fights left with Pride. As far as who owns Pride and who makes the decisions I’m not really familiar with that. So all I can say is that I have two fights left with Pride. It might happen that I’ll fight in the UFC or some place else but I’m really the wrong person to ask.
MMANews.com: With Zuffa purchasing Pride do you ever see yourself getting in the Octagon and fighting in the UFC?
Sokoudjou: Umm, I’m a fighter. Wherever they want me to fight, I’ll fight. I don’t really have any preferences. I love fighting in Japan in the ring but when it comes down and someone asks me where I want to fight I’ll say I want to fight in Japan in the ring. As far as my contract goes I have to do what they have set up in my contract for me to do.
MMANews.com: Do you train in a cage?
Sokoudjou: We do not have a cage here at Team Quest but we have mats on the wall. We only have a full size ring. We don’t have a cage yet.
MMANews.com: For your next fight with Pride do you have any preferences as to you who’d like to fight? I’ve heard Wanderlei Silva say that he’d like to fight you. How would you feel about a fight with him?
Sokoudjou: Did he really say that or are you just making that up [laughs]?
MMANews.com: No, No. I’ve read an interview where he said he’d like to fight you.
Sokoudjou: Oh my god that would be like my mom taking me to Disneyland. Fighting Silva would be one of the best things that could happen to me right now. I mean I don’t make those decisions I just get ready for a fight but if he calls me out that’s another fight for me. If he wants to fight me I’d be more than happy to fight him.
MMANews.com: What would your game plan be against someone like him?
Sokoudjou: Someone like him? I know he likes to swing wild and wide so… then again I do not make my game plan we have a team here, Ryan Parsons, Shawn Tompkins, Dan Henderson, and Heath Sims. They are the ones that come up with the game plan. All I have to do is go there and follow the game plan because if it were just me I’d go there and just throw him on his neck and Judo him all the time so I just follow the game plan they come up with.
MMANews.com: I’m sure Dan Henderson could come up with a good game plan for Wanderlei [laughs]
Sokoudjou: [laughing] Yea I’m pretty sure too.
MMANews.com: I believe it was after Pride 33 during the post-press conference you said you’d like to fight anybody except Dan Henderson. How influential has Dan been in your training and helping you further your game?
Sokoudjou: Dan’s my mentor. He’s like my Godfather in MMA. He beats me up everyday training. He beats me up enough for me to get there and think, “Hey, I got beat up in practice everyday so why should I get scared of the guy in front of me”. So that is one of the main things I get from him. It’s interesting, I’m bigger and heavier than Dan but I can’t be in there too long with him ‘cause he beats the crap out of me. Mentally, Dan helps me a lot.
MMANews.com: Since your last fight with Arona what have you been working on in training?
Sokoudjou: Since my last fight I’ve been sleeping and eating and getting fat because I have nothing coming up. [laughs] No, I’m still working on stuff. If you look my at my uppercut it was everything but a technical punch [laughs]
MMANews.com: It was a huge uppercut though..
Sokoudjou: I’ve been working on my boxing skills, trying to improve my Judo skills as well. I’ve been just trying to better my technique and train hard during my sessions.
MMANews.com: How young were you when you first started training and what was your first martial art that you started out with?
Sokoudjou: At first it was Judo as a young kid. I wanted to have a black belt and I wanted to be a world champion and go to the Olympics. I trained hard for that but I never had a chance to get there. Once I got into MMA I told myself I excelled in Judo so I wanted to make this work for MMA.
MMANews.com: Do you have any admirations of going to the Olympics still?
Sokoudjou: I would love to but the problem is training MMA is mostly no Gi and then going to the Olympics in Judo I would be wearing a Gi. So that would mean I would have to stop training MMA and focus on Judo for the Olympics because it would be hard to do both and I’m still under contract for a certain amount of fights in a certain amount of time so I will have to postpone my Olympic dream
Deel 2 hieronder: