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The cancellation of that event didn’t deter the bantamweight from staying in fight-ready shape.
„I haven’t missed a day of training,“ she says. „I would love a full camp but I don’t need one. I’m ready to fight when it’s responsible.“
Between training and her full-time career as a geologist, the former Invicta star has found a better use of her minimal free time than binge-watching Tiger King or endless trips to the pantry.
„I am making masks, free of charge,“ she announced on her Instagram page. „I am buying supplies and pay for shipping costs with the sponsorship money I raised for my UFC Portland fight.“
Propelled by her motto to „stay clean, fight filthy,“ Avila has sent masks to hospitals, at-risk individuals, and essential personnel all over North America.
„I have single handedly made hundreds and plan on making more as long as I have the supplies,“ she wrote. „We are all in this together, your safety is my safety. I will not charge for face masks and all donations go directly to these efforts.“
When demand started to exceed supply, family and fans pitched in to help continue her endeavors, which she intends to do as long as needed.
„I’m not @thenotoriousmma and I can’t donate money, but I am doing my part. As public figures, we as fighters need to help.“
We caught up „Raging Panda“ in the middle of producing these masks to tell us more.
UFC: First off, how’s everything going for you and your loved ones under quarantine?
JA: Everything is going great under this unprecedented quarantine time. Luckily my husband was able to make it back from his deployment. So he’s stateside and I’m very happy. But we’ve been keeping indoors and keeping safe.
UFC: Tell us about the evolution from the idea to make masks to actually making them.
JA: Contrary to what you guys see in the ring, I love to create as much as I love to destroy [laughs]. I had some supplies just laying around and I noticed that people were making masks. I though „Oh, I can do that!“ So I looked up some instructions and its been a go from there. I just started cranking them out. Then Grandma has a ton of materials and she started supplying me after I ran out.
UFC: You mentioned on Instagram you had some experience sewing and mending Gis?
JA: My sewing craft came in when a couple of my friends needed gis. I saw a machine and was like „Oh, I’m gonna buy that. I’m going to try to mend people’s gis and patch them up.“ Because it’s a ridiculous amount of money and not everyone can afford that. So I just started patching and sewing gis for my friends. One time I created a skirt out of a pillowcase! It was super comfortable but not the most stylish [laugh]. But like I said, I love to create.
UFC: When you were running low on supplies, it looks like your followers really rose to the occasion and donated?
JA: Grandman did help out with providing a lot of material, but she soon ran out. I do not charge for any of my masks. Your safety is my safety, so I will never charge. But I did accept donations, and in order to prove to people that I’m not using it for personal gain, I told them „you can buy me supplies if you want.“ But it’s all free of charge and honestly I just want to help as many people as I can.
We’ve been doing great. We’ve made–I’ve lost count–but I’d say a thousand if not more.
UFC: Is the process getting easier now? How long does it take to crank out one mask now?
JA: Because I have a lot of material already cut out and prepped for it, from start to finish I can get one mask done in under three minutes. I’m pretty sure I could do it faster than that, but I want to make sure it’s done well, so I try to keep it at that range.
UFC: What has been the response of the people who have received masks so far? Who have you given them to?
JA: People have been so grateful for me assisting them and helping them and providing this safety for them and their loved ones. The outpour of thanks and respect is amazing. And even people that I haven’t been able to help out personally, they reach out and say that they’re being motivated to be a part of the solution; whether it be getting out of bed and doing something productive for themselves or helping out their neighbors, it’s just this small spark to start this flame of positivity. So its been really good.
I have shipped to several different military bases. I’ve shipped from coast to coast, border to border…even to people in Canada!
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I try to help as many people as I can. No order is too big or too small. I had a local order for a non-profit foundation. I had another up in Kansas for an assisted living facility for the elderly. I’ve had several other assisted living facilities all over the country. And families. Anyone and everyone who would ask, please do, and I will get you masks as soon as possible.
UFC: I love the phrase “stay clean, fight filthy.“ It really comes across in your posts how important it is to you that we all do our part. What can folks do if they want to help you?
JA: If you want to help me, please follow me on social media @RagingPandaMMA. I’m on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. You can direct-message me, I manage all my own social media platforms. I will send you my Venmo or PayPal so you can directly donate.
UFC: In this age of social distancing, what does training look like for you these days?
JA: Since the beginning of the outbreak of COVID-19, I have not stopped training. I have continued to train, I have not missed a day. I have situated myself so that I have all of the training equipment at my disposal. Since I was a wee one I’ve always asked for a punching bag or some weights. If a birthday comes along, maybe I want a spin bike. My husband and I have been able to accrue a pretty good set up for us. So I haven’t missed training. I have a great training partner in my husband. We have an offsite facility with 365 square feet of mat space, so I get to punch and kick some people and things–a very select few–so training is great.
UFC: Does the prospect of Fight Island intrigue you at all?
JA: Fight Island is this most exciting thing I think I’ve heard of in forever. It reminds me of Mortal Kombat, the movie that was released in the 90s. I would love to do like a battle royale. I think it would be a great destination for hardcore UFC fans to be in the audience, but if that’s not the situation and it’s just fighting amongst my peers, I think that would be so great.
Because if I can get an Amanda Nunes or a Conor McGregor, an athlete at that level–or even a cameraman who sees it all the time–if I can get them hyped up for my fight, then I think I’m doing something pretty good.
So I would love to fight among my peers on Fight Island. I think it’s super cool. Regardless of the pandemic situation, I think it should come to fruition.
UFC: We were supposed to see your return at UFC Portland. Are you still hoping to get back in there sooner than later?
JA: Yes. I would love to be in the cage as soon as possible. If Dana gives me two weeks or one week…I would love a full camp but I don’t need one. I’m ready to fight when it’s responsible.
UFC President Dana White and Academy-Award winning actress Halle Berry are teaming up to present the most exclusive UFC experience beyond your wildest dreams. The duo is offering one lucky winner the chance to pick any Las Vegas UFC Pay-Per-View event with all expenses paid that include once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
Halle Berry’s lifelong interest in combat sports came full-circle during filming her upcoming directorial debut, BRUISED, where she both directs and stars as an MMA fighter who underwent rigorous training for the role, and she’s been a UFC regular ever since. So, when the Academy Award winning actress goes ALL IN, best believe she’s tag-teaming with Dana White.
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The winner will be flown to Las Vegas to be a special guest of UFC and Halle Berry. In addition to being a part of the UFC official ceremonial weigh-ins and fight night, the winner will be whisked away to a private dinner with Halle Berry and sit alongside her on fight night. In addition, they will receive private MMA training with UFC legends and a full range of personalized exclusive gifts and signed merchandise.
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* 100% of the money raised through this Game/Auction will go directly to Feeding America, Meals On Wheels, World Central Kitchen and No Kid Hungry.
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* Winner and one (1) guest meet Dana White and UFC athletes backstage post ceremonial weigh-ins.
* Dinner for Winner and one (1) guest with Halle Berry post ceremonial weigh-ins and event fighter meeting.
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* Winner and one (1) guest go inside the Octagon with Dana White post main event.
* Winner and one (1) guest attend post event press conference.
* Winner and one (1) guest receive signed UFC merchandise including UFC gloves and Fight Poster for event.
* Winner and one (1) guest receive personalized UFC Fight Kits.
* Winner to receive full replica UFC belt collection, including: one (1) UFC Legacy Belt; One (1) UFC Championship Belt; One (1) PRIDE FC Belt; One (1) BMF Belt.
* Winner to receive one (1) Bumpboxx Freestyle V3s Bluetooth Boombox, courtesy of Trae BN.
Delivery Timing: Prize delivery time will be mutually agreed upon and determined at a later date when it is safe to do so. In the event a decision on the date and time is unable to be mutually determined, Sponsor shall have final determination of date, time and location for Prize award.
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Prize: Ultimate UFC Experience
Start Date: April 23, 2020
Final Date and Time to Enter: May 14, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. ET
Prize Description: One (1) winner and one (1) guest will win a UFC Experience to attend a UFC PPV of their choice in Las Vegas, NV
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The maximum number of entries allowed for this Game will be based on the most entries earned by a single participant through donation, but no participant shall exceed a maximum of 200 entries for this game. If more than 200 entries are purchased through donations for this Game by a Participant, the remaining dollar amount by that participant will be strictly donation.
No purchase necessary. Purchase or donation will not improve chances of winning. Enter without supporting our charity partners here. See Official Rules for more information about how to enter for free, how Prize will be awarded, and other important terms.
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The reason everyone remembers that night is because of a finish that has remained in highlight reels over the last 15 years, the knockout of Josh Thomson by Yves Edwards. And while it was spectacular, that fight would mark the last 155-pound fight in the Octagon for nearly two years.
During that time, Edwards went 3-1, a stretch that included two fights in PRIDE – a submission of Dokonjonosuke Mishima and a split decision loss to Joachim Hansen. Add in his 6-2 UFC record, and it was clear that the “Thug-Jitsu” master was one of the top lightweights in the world. Thankfully, he got a chance to prove it in the Octagon when the division was brought back for UFC 58 in March 2006, and I got to chat with Edwards before that bout to help introduce him to fans who may have never even seen a 155-pound fight in the UFC.
###
Like many of us, Yves Edwards sat back and was amazed. Show after show, he watched fighters that didn’t have nearly the skill level he had fight in the UFC; athletes who were given that opportunity not because they were better than he was, but because they were genetically blessed with bodies that checked in at 170 pounds or over.
Was he frustrated? Yes. Disappointed. Yes. Angry? Not really.
“When you know that you’re a good fighter, and you know that you’ve got skills that people would like to see – you definitely get disappointed when you see two heavyweights that have no gas, no cardio, and they look horrible,” said Edwards, the flag bearer for UFC 58’s return of the lightweight division on March 4th. “And while the lightweights were gone, the UFC had a few really good shows and I would venture to say that on almost every show they had a heavyweight debacle. And you’re not gonna get that with the lightweights – even if the fight goes the distance, you’re gonna get an action-packed fight that’s gonna be pretty exciting. So, you feel bad about seeing somebody there and it feels like these guys are taking my spot and wasting people’s time.”
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You don’t find too many people in any sport who tell it like it is like Edwards does. And at 29 years old, you can’t blame him. He’s paid his dues in this game since he made his mixed martial arts debut eight years ago in 1997, and even though he’s one of the sport’s best, pound-for-pound, and has faced perhaps the highest level of competition of anyone in the game, he is virtually unknown to mainstream fans, some of whom may have never even seen a fight waged at the 155-pound weight limit. Being the first lightweight back is a lot of pressure, isn’t it?
“I guess somewhere I thought about it and there are a lot of new fans, but here’s the thing – one reason why I’m so comfortable in a fight, whether it’s in an Octagon or a ring, or anywhere, is that I have very few things on my mind,” he explains. “I’ve got the guy in front of me, I’ve got the referee – and when I’m fighting, the referee is just like a voice in my head – and then I hear his corner and my corner. So that’s my world when the fight’s going on. Everything else is irrelevant. It’s really strange, because watching a fight later, it’s different. I never feel that these many people are watching me when I’m fighting. So I don’t think it’s gonna be an issue for me. Before, after – I would love to impress those people and I would love for them to see a good lightweight fight and be excited about the lightweight division. But if it’s a concern, it’s very small; it’s not a big part of my mindset when I’m in there.”
Yet the fact remains that the Bahamas-born Texan is not only returning to the UFC as perhaps THE premier lightweight in the country right now, but he will be expected to perform up to that level on a consistent basis beginning a week-and-a-half from now against Canada’s Mark Hominick.
“I don’t have a problem with that at all,” said Edwards. “What I try to do when I go out there and fight is give my best performance every time. If that’s gonna make people like me, then so be it – I can take that. I don’t fight because I want people to like me; I fight because I love it. If people like me because of that, then that’s just a bonus. And if they want to support me, I appreciate it, but I take every fan’s comment – positive or negative – with a grain of salt. All of their compliments aren’t gonna get me to the next level. I’ve got to take those comments, appreciate them, and perform for the fans, yes, but at the same time I’ve got to get to the gym and get the work done.”
That’s never been an issue for the creator of “Thug-Jitsu,” who counts among his victims such stalwarts as Aaron Riley (twice), Rich Clementi, Hermes Franca (twice), Josh Thomson and Dokonjonosuke Mishima. But after his spectacular knockout win over Thomson at UFC 49 in August of 2004, it all ended, as the UFC lightweight division disappeared and the higher weight divisions took center stage, sometimes with mixed results – most notably, the dismal UFC 56 bout between Gabriel Gonzaga and Kevin Jordan, a snoozer that drove even the most diehard heavyweight fan to tears.
Edwards didn’t sit in the corner and cry “woe is me” though.
“You’ve got to take the punches as they come and deal with them,” he said. “I can’t sit at home and be upset. I wasn’t so much angry about it; I was disappointed because that’s not gonna make anybody look good. That doesn’t make the UFC or the sport look good at all. And the UFC knows that. They’ve got to roll with the punches too. They don’t always get their way – they’re the guys with the power, but even then, some things are out of their control and once they get a taste of something and they don’t like it, they’re not gonna have anything to do with it anymore. I think that has a lot to do with it – the fact that (UFC heavyweight champ Andrei) Arlovski’s so dominant and there are so many heavyweights out there that really aren’t on that level. With more shows and so few good heavyweights, they’re gonna bring back the lightweights and have a weight class where the top ten guys are great. The lightweights are so deep that we can go down the top 20 to 25 guys and still get great fights every time.”
For Edwards, there was still the over year-long drought to wait out in the meantime, and he stayed busy by fighting for the PRIDE and Euphoria promotions, going 3-1 in the process (his only loss coming via split decision to Joachim Hansen). And he had faith that he would be back in the Octagon eventually.
“I knew I would fight some more fights in the UFC because (UFC President) Dana (White) offered me a few more fights,” said Edwards. “I didn’t know it was gonna be the whole division coming back. I thought I would come in every so often and fight a few fights. But I did think I was gonna have to stay over in Japan. I was worried for a while that the lightweights weren’t gonna have a venue here where basically the whole world would get to see us, but I was happy that I was able to fight in PRIDE and still keep my name out there, still fight some of the best guys in the world and still be seen doing what I love to do.”
The success of The Ultimate Fighter series and the subsequent explosion of the UFC – not only on pay-per-view, but also on Spike TV – provided the opportunity to bring the division back and put Edwards on U.S. television on a regular basis. Yet for a fighter like him, this isn’t about exposure or fame, it’s about the fights, and he’s excited about the matchups that could be in store for him in the future.
“It’s kinda like coming home,” he said. “I’m real excited about that, and then I see a lot of good guys with contracts now – guys like Spencer Fisher, Kenny Florian, Jorge Gurgel, and then there are the guys who were there before the division got pushed aside – guys like Josh (Thomson) and Hermes (Franca) and possibly even (Caol) Uno and Genki (Sudo). (Former UFC lightweight champ) Jens (Pulver) is still a great fighter, and I really hope the UFC does something with Jens because he really is the champion.”
With matchups like these, fight fans – especially newer followers of the sport – will suddenly have a host of new heroes to root for, but the added fame that comes with such notoriety may take some getting used to for guys like Edwards. Is he ready for it?
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“I don’t know because I don’t know exactly what it’s going to entail,” he admits. “It could be overwhelming, it could be the same as what it is now, I’m not sure. I could tell you that I’m prepared for it, but that’s an uneducated guess. All I’m prepared for is Mark Hominick. The kid looks good, looks strong, and he looks like he’s coming to fight. That’s the only thing I can prepare myself for. Everything beyond that is just conjecture, and I’ve got to take it as it comes.”
Mark Hominick. In all the talk about Edwards leading the lightweights back to the UFC, we can forget that there is actually a fight taking place on March 4th, and that Edwards is in tough against “The Machine.” But Hominick is coming up from the 145-pound division against one of the 155-pound class’ hardest strikers. That could prove to be a factor come fight night.
“I think strength’s always gonna be an issue with the fight,” said Edwards. “Some guys are equal in strength and some guys outclass guys in strength, and if I’m stronger than him, and his game plan’s gonna be to neutralize that, to do things that won’t allow me to be stronger, then if it comes to that point where I’m able to use that strength against him, I’m definitely gonna take advantage of it. But then again, you don’t know until you get in there. You see things on tape, but you don’t know exactly how strong a guy is until you lock up with him. I’m gonna take it as it comes and see what happens. I’ve seen some of his fights, and what I like about him is that he’s always coming. He’s got good stamina, and if the fight’s 15 minutes long, he’s gonna fight for 15 minutes. There’s not gonna be a second where he’s trying to catch a break or backing down from anybody. So I look at that – I can’t look at the weight, I can’t look at anything else because it only takes once punch. I’m definitely focused on what his strengths are, trying to neutralize them, and trying to exploit the weaknesses I can find and use my strengths against him.”
And at the end of the day, Edwards-Hominick is going to be a fight – no dancing, no stalling, and no circling. The lightweights are back, and Yves Edwards couldn’t be happier. Like he said, it’s like coming home.
“I really missed being in the Octagon,” he said. “The night before the fights, I go down to the Octagon, move around a bit and I just feel so comfortable in that cage – it feels like home. The first time I felt extremely comfortable in that cage was when Hermes and I fought. I actually went to the cage before that fight to warm up and feel it out, and it felt so good to be in there. I miss that feeling the most, just being in the cage. In the back of my mind, I know there are 8,000 to 12,000 fans sitting there watching, and thousands watching at home, but it’s so irrelevant until everything’s done. “
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Before UFC 57 in February 2006, I checked in with Rogan to discuss his journey in MMA, as well as his take the world of standup comedy. It remains one of my favorite interviews.
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When Saturday night’s UFC card at the Mandalay Bay Events Center ends, and the sold-out crowd shuffles off to eat, gamble, party, or all of the above, Joe Rogan – the pay-per-view telecast’s color commentator – is going to work. But for him, his standup comedy gig at the House of Blues (midnight) is far from a chore – it’s a labor of love.
“I can’t wait to do it,” said Rogan. “When you’re good at standup comedy, it’s the most fun thing in the world. It might sound like hippie nonsense, but you take a whole room of people and you make them feel better. That’s a real, plausible effect, and you see it happen. You see them come to the show, you see giant smiles on their faces, they’re doubled over laughing, and you make them think about some crazy s**t. There’s no more rewarding job on the planet. Nothing is even close.”
It’s not as easy as it sounds, though, and Rogan will be the first to admit it, having done more than his share of crashing and burning during almost 18 years at the microphone.
“I knew early on that I could do it, but I knew that it was a long and bloody process,” he said. “It’s not easy. Being a standup comic is a really long, difficult process. You have to go through some really hard times and some really bad sets where you just bomb viciously, and there’s just nothing more upsetting than that.”
Ask the Newark, New Jersey native what it’s like to bomb in front of a crowd paying to be entertained, and you will get a sentence you can’t print on a family website, but one that will leave you in tears it’s so funny. That’s the essence of Rogan’s comedy – a no-nonsense look at the world that is funny, insightful, and which makes you scratch your head as if to say, “Where did he possibly come up with that?” It is an adult show, though, so if you’re expecting the guy who is in your living room each week as the host of NBC’s “Fear Factor,” you may be in for a surprise. It’s a topic that has come up.
“I can approach that one of two ways,” Rogan explains. “I can tone my act down for them, which is not gonna be good for anybody, or I can just do what I do and eventually everybody’s gonna figure it out, which is basically what I’ve done. A lot of comedians have run into that problem, though. Bob Saget had a big problem with that, because he was on that show, “Full House,” and was so squeaky clean and super nice, but he had a dirty standup comedy act. I don’t think he did standup for a long time and he just kinda milked it and got the money from “Full House,” and now he’s out doing the clubs again.”
Rogan has met plenty of success in the entertainment business, not only with his standup act and Fear Factor, but previously as a member of the cast of “Talk Radio” and currently as the UFC’s color commentator. The UFC role was something he actually revisited, as he had conducted interviews for previous UFC owners SEG beginning with UFC 12 in Dothan, Alabama.
“The old SEG, we were in weird little s**tholes in the middle of nowhere,” he recalled. “You’re in a 10,000-seat arena and there are like 2,000 people in there, scattered. That was the real dark ages.”
So when Zuffa took over the UFC and got Rogan and some buddies tickets for an event, one conversation with the diehard MMA fan (as well as a former Tae Kwon Do champion and jiu-jitsu practitioner) convinced President Dana White that Rogan was the man for the commentator’s chair.
“He (White) was talking to me about fights and I was just going off about this and that, and he asked me if I ever thought about doing commentary,” said Rogan. “I told him that I just wanted to watch. He said, ‘Just do it once for me, as a favor.’ I said ‘Sure’, I did it once, I did it again, and then I wound up doing all of them.”
Rogan’s commentary mixes the enthusiasm of a fan with the knowledge of someone well versed in combat sports. I can say without a hint of shame that his knowledge of the ground game saved this reporter on more than one occasion when I looked at a submission and said, ‘what the heck is that?’
“When I do the UFC,” said Rogan, “my preparation is that I’m a huge MMA fan and I watch all of them and pay attention to everything, and there are a lot of matchups that really interest me 100 percent. That’s my preparation – it’s my life. It’s not like a job to me, where it’s something I have to sit down and do. I would have done it anyway – I did it anyway. It’s really crazy, but I never set out to be a sports broadcaster. That was the criticism I got a lot in the beginning – ‘well, he doesn’t sound like a sports broadcaster.’ Well, I’m not; I don’t even know how I got the job.”
This self-effacing honesty is a hallmark of Rogan’s comedy, and to him, it’s a key to good comedy in general.
“Honesty and insight, two things that most people don’t really have a whole lot of, make good comedy,” he said. “What’s really funny is stuff that you can relate to; the stuff someone points out that really makes sense to you. That’s what’s really funny. But in order to really do that correctly, you’ve got to be honest with yourself. And that’s something that very few people really are, which is why there’s so much bad comedy and why there are so many boring people. These people aren’t really honest and they’re not figuring life out; they’re just pretending they figured life out. The best comedy is – here’s the world through my eyes and I happen to have an unusual or unique point of view. There’s other kinds of comedy, like Carrot Top stuff and other silly stuff – and I’m not knocking any of it, it’s all fun and makes people feel better and enjoy the show – but there’s a huge difference between a great standup comedian like Dave Chappelle and the boring kind of comedy. The boring kind of comedy is like point karate, and the kind of comedy I do is like MMA.”
And just like mixed martial artists look to the greats of the sport for inspiration, Rogan does the same when it comes to his work, citing a late legend as his first real exposure to standup comedy.
“When I was a little kid, my parents took me to see ‘Live on The Sunset Strip,’” recalled Rogan. “I might have been 13 or something, and I was in the movie theater and I couldn’t believe how funny it was. I was looking around the theater at people falling out of their chairs, slapping the chairs in front of them, and I’m thinking, ‘How is this guy doing this? He’s just talking.’ And I was thinking of other movies that I had seen that I really liked, like ‘Stripes,’ and how funny that was, but it wasn’t nearly as funny as this. ‘How is this guy so funny?’ And that experience profoundly influenced me. That was the first exposure I ever had to standup comedy. I didn’t even know what standup comedy was before that. I was 13. So from there I bought a bunch of Richard Pryor cassettes, and when I was in high school, me and my girlfriend would always listen to Richard Pryor. He was my first influence, without a doubt.”
As he grew older, Rogan also found inspiration in another comedian who died before his time, Sam Kinison.
“The one guy that made me think that I could really go into comedy was Kinison,” he said. “In the 80’s, before I got started, I had a couple of friends – Steve Graham and Ed Shorter – who talked me into doing standup. Comedy was like a weird thing. I would make my friends laugh when we were on our way to tournaments; I would tell jokes, crack everybody up, and lighten the mood. I would do impressions of everybody on the team and everybody would laugh at it. My friends told me that I should go and do some sort of open mike night. But I was like, ‘You think I’m funny, but other people are gonna think I’m an a**hole. You know me; if you don’t know me, I’m rude because I speak my mind.’ But they convinced me and talked me into doing it. And one of the reasons why I was willing to do it is because I saw Kinison.
“I saw him and went ‘Wow, maybe I can do comedy,’” he explains. “You’ve got to remember that in the 80’s, before Kinison came around, everyone had a blazer jacket with their sleeves rolled up, and they all told the same joke – like boring, bland, observational, ‘Evening at the Improv’ stuff. That was the trend of comedy in the 80s for some strange reason. And then when Kinison came along, he just crushed that mold – the same way like Nirvana crushed all those 80s metal bands.”
Thinking about doing it and actually getting on stage are two different things though. Rogan was well aware of this, but he took the plunge on a day he still remembers, Sunday, August 27, 1988.
“It was the most horrifying thing ever, the first time I did it,” said Rogan of his first attempt at standup. “The first time I did it, I was terrified, and I couldn’t believe how terrified I was. I had fought a bunch of times in Tae Kwon Do tournaments and I had wrestled in high school and kickboxed, so I had a lot of competitions, and I didn’t think that I would be that scared. But the first time I went on stage, at an open mic night in Boston, with ten of my friends in the audience, I almost totally chickened out and I was completely scared. I got over it, but from then on, I knew that that was what I was supposed to do. I knew that was my calling in life.”
There were some rough times along the way, but as he enters his show this Saturday night, he seems to have landed on his feet. He doesn’t forget the bad sets though.
“I’ve had some horrible sets,” Rogan admits. “I’ve had my ass kicked before and that never felt nearly as bad as bombing. I would way rather get punched in the face than bomb. Bombing is hard. You’ll have 300 people that hate you in a room. Basically, they hate you. If you’re demanding attention so much that you have a microphone, you’d better have something to say, and it’d better be funny. And rightfully so, the audience deserves it. They’re giving up their attention span to you – you’d better have something to say. If you don’t and you suck at it, they’re angry at you. It’s a bad feeling. But if you get through it, you learn how to do it right. It’s like fighting – you get your ass kicked, you learn how to fight. You don’t ever really learn how to fight until you’ve lost – whether you lost in practice or in a competition, you’re gonna lose. Nobody just dominates everybody from the very first time they start training. The whole key to it is that you’ve gotta go and overcome adversity. That’s the key to all of it – comedy and fighting. They’re very synonymous.”
And just like all the blood, sweat, and tears is worth it to a fighter when he gets his hand raised at the end of a match, for Joe Rogan, all the lousy venues, poor crowds, and bad sets are worth it when he hits the right note with his audience.
“The payoff is when it works,” he said. “To me, it’s like the ultimate mental chess game. And once you get through it, it’s the most fun thing you can ever do. When you’re killing and that audience is roaring with laughter and everybody’s happy, there’s no better feeling.”
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“Oh yeah, for sure,” Harris laughs. “If we’re training that Sunday or Monday, it’s gonna be some session, especially if I’m close to a fight, like three or four weeks out. I feel bad for my sparring partners. I’m not even conscious of what’s going on, I’m just so focused on the fight.”
That’s what watching a little high-level heavyweight action can do for a high-level heavyweight, regardless of what combat sport it is. The hype, the packed house, the bright lights, it’s what Harris is closing in on in the UFC and getting a taste of it for Fury-Wilder II in Las Vegas just whet his appetite for the future.
“That’s one of the motivating factors,” said Harris, who has sparred with both Fury and Wilder in the past. “You watch it and then you have a chance to absorb it and put yourself in the shoes of those guys. It’s always fun to go to fights live, especially UFC fights because you know what it’s like to actually be in there and it gets you pumped up to go train. I’ll go and shadow box for like an hour after I leave the fight.”
Harris laughs, and to hear that from “The Big Ticket” is one of the best sounds possible now.
Sure, he’s dealing with the pandemic and all its inconveniences, and he’s hoping he will get a date in May to finally meet Overeem, so he has to get creative to make sure he’s in fight shape. But what will never go away is the feeling of loss after the kidnapping and death of his daughter Aniah Blanchard last fall. It’s a heartbreaking tragedy that’s hard for anyone to put into words, let alone fathom what Harris and his family are going through. But they’re doing their best, so any moment to smile or laugh is a welcome one.
“I’m hanging in there, day by day,” he said. “Trying to stay healthy, stay in shape, stay mentally sharp and keep pushing.”
How?
“Prayer, and a good foundation,” Harris said. “I’ve got a good family behind me. But it’s still a process. I’m still working through it and trying to find a way through it, but I try to stay prayerful, focused and keep my faith and stay focused on my kids so I can give them the best life moving forward.”
Harris, 36, is one of the good guys. So while you don’t wish something like this on anyone, it really hits home when it is a solid citizen and a doting father like him. Needless to say, it was no surprise that when 19-year-old Aniah went missing in late October, the MMA community rallied around him and his family as they searched and hoped for a positive resolution that sadly never came.
“I received so many messages, posts on Instagram and Facebook and different social media sites throughout, and I’m still receiving them,” he said. “I try to read as much as I possibly can because it does help to know that people have you in their hearts and they’re thinking about you, even if it’s just to say that they’re praying for you. That means a lot, more than people understand sometimes until you actually realize you need it. So I’m grateful for everybody who’s reached out.”
The Overeem fight, originally scheduled for December 7 in Washington, D.C., was obviously too soon for Harris to even consider stepping into the Octagon. But in February, when the UFC announced its return to Portland, his name was back on top of the card, a welcome sight for someone who was happy to get back to work.
“It’s kind of what I feel like my daughter would have wanted,” Harris said. “She was my biggest fan, so doing this is something that I love and training keeps me in a good head space. So it’s definitely something that I’m looking forward to.”
COVID-19 would put a halt on the Portland date, but he’s doing what he can to stay ready for the call to meet “The Demolition Man.” It’s not a normal camp, but when has combat sports ever been normal.
“We moved some times around but this week we had to shut everything down,” Harris said on April 17. “Hopefully next week we’ll be back up and we’ll try to keep the groups as small as possible and skill-build and condition.”
No sparring in the backyard?
Harris laughs.
“Nah, we thought about that, but my neighbors would probably freak out if we did.”
You could charge admission.
“That’s a good little side hustle, I didn’t think about that.”
If that side hustle doesn’t come together, there is footage on Instagram of Harris dancing in the gym, though he may want to stick with his cooking for the next big gig.
“I’d definitely say that now that I’m getting older, I’m definitely a better cook than I can dance,” said Harris. “I’m cooking in the house, and the cooking at home is getting crazy because I’m on TikTok now, so I’m watching all these different shows and trying to make stuff at home.”
In other words, Harris and his family are living their lives as normally as they can. There will be laughs, tears, obstacles to overcome and triumphs to celebrate, just like every other family. That’s all he can ask for at this point. And when he gets his crack at Overeem, a win would make it three in a row for a fighter who hasn’t lost since 2017. Then he can start talking world title shots.
“I think a big statement win over Overeem puts me right in the mix and puts me where I want to be,” he said. “It sucks with all the stuff that’s going on and how hot I was from July on. I was on that trajectory. But I feel like God does everything in his timing and a win over him puts me where I should be.”
As for the night he gets that win, Harris knows it won’t be easy, but it will be exactly where he wants to be.
“There’s gonna be a lot of emotions,” he admits. “Just the mere fact of being able to work again and everything that I’ve been through, I’ll probably shed some tears after the fight just because it’s emotional with my daughter not being able to be there for my first headlining event for the UFC. I kinda thought about it here and there, and I always try to play out my victory speech in my head when I’m going to sleep, so I’m excited to get back in there and do what I love to do, and that’s fight.”
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Matt and Jim start the show ‘weighing-in’ on Tony Ferguson cutting weight for the now delayed UFC 249 and share why they are pumped to hear Paul Felder wants to fight again.
Then, UFC welterweight Niko Price calls in to share what he first thought when offered a chance to fight at UFC 249 against Vicente Luque, shows the guys his chicken coop, and tells the story of how he got his scar on his head.
UFC featherweight Bryce Mitchell closes out the show by sharing why he loves to hate his opponents and what it felt like to get bullied as a kid.
Follow the show @UFCunfiltered on Instagram, and check out the full video show on UFC FIGHT PASS – sign up today at www.ufcfightpass.com
Enter Phil Baroni, a charismatic knockout artist from Long Island, New York who began 2003 fresh off a first-round stoppage of Amar Suloev and an 18-second blitz of the first man to hold the UFC’s 185-pound title, Dave Menne, in 2002.
He had the punch, the confidence and the charisma to become a star in the Octagon, and while he lost his first bout of 2003 in a rematch against former Olympic silver medalist Matt Lindland, “The New York Bad Ass” knew a victory over veteran Evan Tanner at UFC 45 in November 2003 would put him in prime position to challenge for the middleweight belt.
Here’s what Baroni had to say before that pivotal meeting with the future champion.
###
Like most of my colleagues who cover mixed martial arts, I remember my first impression of Phil Baroni being a loud one. Interestingly enough, it wasn’t the “NY Bad Ass” who made that impression, but his sister.
Sitting at ringside for Baroni’s UFC debut against Curtis Stout in February 2001, I couldn’t even hear the packed house at the Trump Taj Mahal over the screaming of Baroni’s sibling.
“Go Phil! Get him Phil!”
After Baroni was announced the decision winner over Stout, I asked this young lady, “Do you know him?”
“He’s my brother,” she said proudly, and proceeded to tell me how her brother, a then-unknown, was going to become a champion.
I kept that in mind and – all Italian New Yorker bias aside – kept a close eye on Baroni, who, without the benefit of an expansive amateur background or steady fight team atmosphere, roared through the UFC ranks, aided by not only punching power but a demeanor that was so brash, it had to make you smile. This was a kid who got it right – he came in yapping, went to war inside the cage, and win or lose, the mouth kept going.
That’s the “It” factor. Baroni has “It”, and on Friday night, he will bring those qualities back to the Octagon against tough contender Evan Tanner at UFC 45 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut. And if you think the fact that this is his first fight since suffering a torn pectoral muscle in April has mellowed him, come on, this is Baroni.
“When Evan Tanner’s picking up his jaw off the floor, ask him how my rehab went,” deadpans Baroni.
And away we go.
All bluster aside, Baroni respects the fighters he gets in the cage with, no matter what he may say. And against Tanner, he’s facing a fighter who will be coming down from light heavyweight to make his middleweight debut. The last Team Quest-trained fighter who dropped a weight class was Randy Couture. And we all know how that one turned out.
“Evan Tanner’s a good fighter,” Baroni admits. “He’s fought for the title at 205, he’s like 6-2 in the UFC, he’s got a well-rounded game, and he works out with Team Quest. He’s a good fighter and a good test. And when I knock him out it will prove that I deserve a title shot at 185.”
But a pectoral tear is a serious injury, and not one to be taken lightly. Yet Baroni, in true warrior style, ignored doctor’s recommendations as to his recovery.
“It happened in April,” said Baroni. “It was supposed to be a year recovery before I could train full blast. (During the layoff) I ate a lot. I was like 238 pounds. I just ate a lot in Vegas, going to the buffets. August 1st, I cleaned out my diet and started training all out. You will see a bigger, stronger, faster, meaner, more pissed off Phil Baroni than you’ve ever seen before this Friday night. This is my reward for all the hard training, the suffering, and the sacrifices I’ve made since August 1st. I’m gonna take it out on Evan Tanner. This is the happy time for me. I just can’t wait to go in there and do my thing. And you know me, when my head’s right, I hurt people. And my head’s right.”
But is Baroni making a mistake taking such a tough fight in his first bout back from surgery?
“I don’t have no idea why he would sign to fight me,” said Baroni of Tanner, who is coming off a knockout loss at the hands of Rich Franklin earlier this year. “That’s the dumbest thing he could ever do. As a matter of fact, it’s not a wise thing for anyone to sign a fight with me because I have one intention – and that’s bad – and that’s to hurt people.”
It’s that bluster that has made Baroni loved and hated in the world of Internet chat forums. But while Baroni, a psychology major in college, seems to be the master of marketing himself as the villain, the Long Island native takes offense to the suggestion that he is putting on an act for show business’ sake.
“That’s not true,” he said. “I’m sick of that s**t. I’m just me. I ain’t afraid to say what I say and I say what I think. I don’t pull no punches and the writing is on the wall with me. What you see is what you get. I’m not a phony. I’m the real f**king deal. I say the s**t that everybody else is thinking, and they’re just afraid to say it. It’s not marketing, it’s just me. And I’m just enjoying what I’m doing. I’m having fun with my life and I’m living my dream. I’m getting to do what I want to do. These other guys, they’re trying to parlay their fighting career. They want to be movie stars, actors, and broadcasters. All I want to be is the best fighter in the world, pound for pound. I could give a f**k about movies or TV or all this other stuff. I want to be the best fighter in the world. If anyone in this sport could be a movie star, it would be me, but that’s not my thing. I’m a fighter, and that’s why the real fans like me. They know I come to fight, I bring my heart into the ring, and I never say die. And the ones that hate me are just jealous. They don’t like guys who set goals and accomplish them. They’re afraid to take risks.”
If you’ve followed Baroni’s career for any length of time, you’ll see that not only his career, but his entire life, has been one giant risk. He’s been through every possible peak and valley you could imagine, some self-inflicted, others due to politics and a general apathy from those around him, but through it all, he’s still scratching and clawing at the top, willing to do whatever it takes to get to the top. Yet when you ask him where this type of drive comes from, he hesitates and falls to silence for a moment (which for Baroni may as well be an eternity).
“That’s a tough question,” Baroni says, before continuing.
“I would say my biggest influence has been a lack of influence, of not having anyone there and me choosing my own path,” he said. “I made mistakes and fell flat on my face, but I didn’t give up and I persevered and got things done. If you asked me who my role model was, I didn’t have any. There was no one I ever looked up to really. Maybe that’s unfortunate, but it’s made me who I am. And I’m not saying that I’m in any way, shape, or form, a role model, but I do believe that hard work will solve anything. And when things aren’t good, don’t give up; just keep going and keep trying. And I show that in all my fights.”
He’s had his ups and downs in the cage, with the ups being every fight not including the name Matt Lindland, who he lost to in November of 2001 and February of 2003. Yet despite the losses, he’s still among the most popular fighters in the UFC, and one of the few bright lights in a relatively boring 185-pound division. Baroni’s not waiting that long though. In fact, he has verbally performed a coup d’état on the currently champion-less division.
“I declare myself the number one middleweight in the UFC and as of this day forward, I am the middleweight champion of the UFC,” said Baroni, 27. “So every time I fight, it’s a middleweight title fight. I’m the best fighter in the UFC’s middleweight division. As far as (former middleweight champion Murilo) Bustamante coming back, I think he left his brains in Japan after the last Pride, so I don’t think he’ll be back. That goes to prove what I would have done to him if Dan Henderson is able to do that. I’m glad things are working out the way they are. I’m just gonna beat everyone up. I’m beating everyone’s ass and I’m going to make them give me a title.”
We’ll wait until he does it the conventional way, but title or no title, Baroni is always going to be must-see TV for fight fans. There’s no lay and pray or jab and grab tactics, just a constant motion of shock and awe style bombs raining down. And when the fight is over, he leaves the “NY Bad Ass” in the cage and becomes Phil Baroni again. If you doubt that, just check him out when the cameras are off.
“I’m the first one at a show, taking pictures and signing autographs for the fans, and I’m the last one to leave, doing the same thing,” said Baroni. “I appreciate the fans because basically, they’re the ones who write my checks. Without the fans there would be no sport. So I appreciate them greatly. And the ones that hate me, keep hating. They can drink all their haterade and go to bed pissed off. I go to bed every day happy. I’ve got a girl, a car, a house, a life. I don’t hate. I hope everybody does good in their thing. I don’t get it actually.”
It’s what happens when you’re successful and won’t get any easier if Baroni’s star shines even brighter in the coming years. He knows it, yet to his friends, his family, his sister (the one who screams for him to win), and most importantly, to himself, he’s still just Phil.
“This is who I am and who I’ve always been,” he said. “If you ever saw me when I was wrestling in high school, I was just like this. When I was kickboxing and boxing, coming up, I was just like this, and I always will be. I like being me and I like doing my thing.”
But it wouldn’t be a Baroni interview without asking for a prediction: not for Friday, but for the coming year…
“This year is gonna end with a vicious, vicious, vicious knockout, and then I’m gonna start 2004 off the same way, knocking out everyone that’s fighting in this division,” said Baroni. “I don’t care who they are or what they know, where they’re from, or whatever. I’m knocking them out and I see myself being declared the number one middleweight in the world. You can ask Dana White; I refuse to fight the chumps. I only fight the best fighters. That’s why I chose Evan Tanner. He’s fought for the title, he’s won a bunch of fights in the UFC, and everyone knows him. People think coming off this injury I’m a big underdog. I’m never an underdog.”
###
THE AFTERMATH
A controversial stoppage loss at UFC 45 continued a losing streak that included a second defeat to Tanner and a 2005 submission loss to fellow Long Islander Pete Sell. Baroni would ultimately take himself to PRIDE, resurrecting his career with a 4-2 run in which he finished all of his victories. He would struggle in his next seven bouts, going 3-4, but he did return to the Octagon, losing to Amir Sadollah in 2009 and Brad Tavares in 2011. Baroni has fought sporadically since then, but in victory or defeat, “The New York Bad Ass” always gave the fans a show.
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When the first international UFC card in five years was announced for April 21, 2007 in Manchester, England, there was no question that the star of the show would be Ultimate Fighter 3 winner and hometown favorite Michael Bisping. And “The Count” delivered with a Fight of the Night win over Elvis Sinosic. Yet what no one expected was to see the King of the Head Kick knockout, Mirko Cro Cop, get beaten by a Gabriel Gonzaga head kick in the main event. It was one of the most spectacular finishes in UFC history, and this is how we saw the card that night at the M.E.N. Arena
For years, Mirko Cro Cop had knocked opponents out in devastating fashion with fearsome kicks to the head. On April 21, 2007, before a packed house at the M.E.N. Arena, Gabriel Gonzaga gave the Croatian bomber a taste of his own medicine at the UFC’s first event in England since UFC 38, sending him crashing to defeat with a single right kick to the head that earned him a shot at UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture.
Gonzaga came out of his corner determined to fight, and he immediately started tossing out range finding punches as he stood in the pocket with the feared striker. Cro Cop took his time while looking for an opening, but when he threw his first big kick to the body, Gonzaga was able to grab his opponent’s leg and take him to the canvas. On the mat, Cro Cop tried to keep his cool in an attempt to force a standup, but Gonzaga would have none of it as he fired away with forearms to the head, one of which opened a cut on the Croatian’s forehead. With 35 seconds left, apparently Cro Cop got a reprieve, but instead, he was sent crashing to the mat with a single right kick to the head at the 4:51 mark, throwing the arena into shock as the next challenger for the heavyweight crown was determined.
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Who dared lost in the heavyweight bout between former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski and Octagon newcomer Fabricio Werdum, as Arlovski won a unanimous decision in unspectacular fashion, while the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt opted to stand and make a fight of it, but to no avail on the judges’ scorecards.
Scores were 30-27 twice and 29-28 for Arlovski.
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The Great UK Hope, Liverpool’s Michael Bisping, lived up to expectations in his light heavyweight bout against UFC gatekeeper Elvis Sinosic, bookending some rocky moments in the second round with a dominating performance that earned him a second round TKO win.
As promised, Sinosic came out swinging, and Bisping eagerly obliged, firing back before throwing the Australian to the mat. Bisping followed his foe to the canvas and ferociously attacked with both hands, much to the delight of his roaring and chanting hometown fans, and within the next couple of minutes, “The Count” kept the pressure on, knocking Sinosic’s mouthpiece out and opening up a cut on his forehead.
Gamely, Sinosic came out for the second round, and he nearly hit pay dirt, knocking Bisping down with a knee to the head and then almost securing a kimura lock. But just when it appeared Sinosic was on the verge of the upset, Bisping turned the tables, got in his opponent’s guard and pounded away with both hands until referee Steve Mazzagatti halted the bout at the 1:40 mark.
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Light heavyweight contender Lyoto Machida kept his unbeaten record intact by outpointing David Heath, but the fans were less than thrilled with the bout, which was serenaded with boos for the majority of its 15 minutes due to a lack of action.
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Heavyweight contender Cheick Kongo won a razor-thin majority decision over Sao Paulo, Brazil’s Assuerio Silva.
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Liverpool lightweight Terry Etim upped his unbeaten record to 10-0 with a first-round submission victory over Matt Grice.
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Brazil native Junior Assuncao earned his first UFC victory, submitting London’s David Lee in the second round of their lightweight bout.
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Italian light heavyweight Alessio Sakara broke a two-fight losing streak with an impressive first round stoppage of Edmonton’s Victor Valimaki.
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It took 13 years for him to get here, but London-based Frenchman Jess Liaudin proved that he was no “Joker” as he made the most of his UFC debut by submitting Germany’s Dennis Siver in just 81 seconds.
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Walsall, England’s ‘Relentless’ Paul Taylor got the crowd into UFC 70 immediately with a third round TKO of previously unbeaten Edilberto Crocota in their welterweight opener.
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Nebraska (April 25th)
Due to current state and county restrictions on public gatherings, UFC Fight Night originally scheduled for April 25th in Lincoln has been canceled. Fans who purchased tickets for the event will receive a full refund at original point of purchase. Purchases made via online or phone will be automatically refunded. UFC looks forward to returning with an event in the near future.
Oklahoma City (May 2nd)
Due to current state and county concerns on public gatherings, UFC Fight Night originally scheduled for May 2nd in Oklahoma City has been canceled. Fans who purchased tickets for the event will receive a full refund at original point of purchase. Purchases made via online or phone will be automatically refunded. UFC looks forward to returning with an event in the near future.
Sao Paulo (May 9th)
Due to the closing of Ibirapuera Gymnasium for the installation of a field hospital through September, UFC 250 will not continue as planned in Sao Paulo. UFC looks forward to returning with an event in the near future.
San Diego (May 16th)
Due to current state and county restrictions on public gatherings, UFC Fight Night originally scheduled for May 16th will not continue as planned in San Diego. UFC looks forward to returning with an event in the near future.
