June Fighter of the Month  -  John Benoit

Interview by David Pasquarelli

John Benoit is yet another successful and talented fighter from the Renzo Gracie New Hampshire camp. Benoit fights at lightweight and has a record of eight wins and one loss. He has four submission victories as well as two TKO wins and two Decision wins. With his wrestling background and his high rate of submission victories it is obvious that he is very comfortable on the ground. John was kind enough to respond to some questions for Northeast MMA fans and to give a little insight into his life and mind.

 1. How long have you been training? How long have you been fighting?

 I have been training since September of 2006 and my first fight was March 31, 2007. It’s funny because my first fight is the only one on my record that doesn’t show up when you look me up in a fighter finder, it was Jeremy Ross and I won by tko in the second.

2. How did you get into MMA?

 One of my good friends Sean Ratcliffe was getting ready for his first fight so I told him I would go check it out. He killed the kid. I thought, well I used to beat him in wrestling, and it looked like it could be a lot of fun.  Why not?

3. Did you have a base in any martial art before you got into MMA?

 I’ve been wrestling since I was in the 6th grade and wrestled all the way through high school. I had also gotten into my fair share of bar-room scuffles, other than that, no experience.

4. What is your favorite facet of training? (Striking, wrestling, submissions, etc.)

 I really like the submission  aspect of fighting. You could be getting your ass beat and obviously people can see that you are losing. You can get knocked out or tko’ed but when someone taps, its’ like they just asked you to please stop. I don’t want anymore. They are saying you’re better, I give in, in front of everyone.

5. What part do you like the least?

 That’s an easy one. I don’t think anyone really likes getting hit in the face or kicked for that matter.

6. What else would you like to do for a career if not fighting?

 Well I’m an ironworker now but if I could pick a career I guess I would want to be a hotel critic. They just pay for you to go everywhere and you get all the perks and write up a review.

7. What person from history would you most like to meet? Why?

 I would like to meet my grandfather; he died when I was 3 so I never really got to meet the guy.

8.  Super-hero or arch-villain? Which one? Why?

 Super-hero, and I would have to be batman because he is just a regular guy with a bunch of gadgets.

9. Who is your favorite active fighter?

 Forrest Griffin hands down.  He’s a clown and goes out there and lets it all hang out. A lot of people tell me I look like him, so I can also say he’s not a bad looking guy.

10. Who is your all-time favorite fighter?

 I’m going to have to say Lightning Lee Murray. He had the best entrance and knocked out Tito Ortiz in an alley. He’s just a bad dude.

 11. Of your wins, who is the toughest guy you’ve fought?

 Out of my wins, it’s a toss-up between Lerchen and Hammerstrom.  Hammerstrom was better but when I fought Lerchen, I had a knee injury. They were tough in different ways. Hammerstrom has slick BJJ and put me in danger quite a few times. He has really good transitions. Lerchen was just too big, couldn’t make weight and he had like 4 or 5 inches on me.

12. DO you have any sponsors? Who are they?

 I currently have Boston Brawler and Smitty’s Wrestling Barn as sponsors.

13. Do you have any fights coming up soon that people should be aware of?

 I do have a fight coming up September 26 at the next World Championship Fighting event. My opponent is still up in the air since Kattar backed out. There is some talk though about a few other guys but I can’t really say who just yet.

14. Do you have a web-site or MySpace page where people can keep up with your career?

 I do not have MySpace or Twitter or anything. I’m pretty bad with computers so I kind of steer clear of them. E-mail is about as advanced as I get. I don’t really have time to get sucked into all the Face book drama and stuff.  I don’t really need people to know if I feel sad or happy on a day to day basis.

 I would also just like to thank the guys I train with Chris Grandmaison , Dan Bonnell,  Justin Homsey,  Sean “the rat” Ratcliffe,  Woody Weatherby,  Matt Smith and my coaches Tim Barchard and Kevin Landry. Without these guys, I would be nothing. They have no idea how they have affected me and keep me mentally and physically ready for the fights. I cannot say enough about these guys. My family and my girlfriend Sarah support me in everything I do, without her I couldn’t have even written this e-mail.