Category Archives: Interview

Last Wednesday night, Chuck O’Neil suggested on FaceBook that people tune in to The Ultimate Fighter to watch his friends, Charlie Rader and Clay Harvison on the show. Much to the surprise of everyone in his world, Chuck was revealed as an additional member of the cast.

“It was definitely a tough secret to keep from everyone but it was definitely worth it to get that shock value.”

Back in November, Chuck O’Neil tried out for The Ultimate Fighter reality show. He was one of the few first time auditioner’s at the event.

“When you get into that audition process, you’re grappling for two minutes. You sit around for eight hours to roll for just two minutes. If they like you there, you go on to hit mitts. Then it’s either, ‘okay sit down, you’re not going to make it,’ or ‘sit down and you’re going to make it on to the interview.’ I actually punched the mitt off the guys hand and Joe Silva (UFC Matchmaker) said, ‘okay you’re good.’”

As well as Chuck did, he landed in the bubble spot.

“Some of the guys I stayed in contract with told me they were getting calls and some of them were on the show. Finally I got a call from the producers and they said ‘We don’t have good news and we don’t have bad news but you’re the top alternate.’ They flew me back out to Vegas and put me in a separate hotel. Monday was the first day of taping, Monday night came, no one got hurt, and they sent me home. I got home, got my weight back up to almost 190 and they called me saying, ‘I hope you didn’t get to fat’ as I was ordering another pizza and snacking on some candy…”

Chuck went out to Las Vegas and sealed whatever fate that will be revealed to us, bit by bit, Wednesday by Wednesday, for the next few months. As far as everyone else knew, he was off in Thailand for some hardcore training.

“I had to come up with a story. You can’t tell anyone what you’re doing because of the confidentiality rule. I told everyone that it was tough to get fights in New England so I was going to Thailand to train.”

When he got home, the cast list was released and he was not on the list. Chuck did not secure his spot until one of the top fighters, Myles Jury, went down with an injury. He had to keep the entire situation a secret until the show’s premier.

He was successful at fooling us all, but we weren’t the only ones impressed with a little misdirection.

“In the interview, they kind of messed with everyone a little bit by acting disinterested with their heads down on the desk. So I came in, slammed my paper down on the desk, put one leg over the other and said, ‘Gentlemen…’ and we got going from there. By the end of the interview, they did end up asking me if I was gay.”

Be sure to tune in to Spike every Wednesday night at 9 to watch Chuck’s journey unfold and check back to NorthEastMMA.net upon the completion of the show for a follow up interview.

MMA Profiler
Subject: Ryan Ciotoli

Ryan Ciotoli (Team Bombsquad)

In a small desolate town in upstate Cortland, NY population 18,000 resides one of MMA’s gems. Team Bombsquad trainer Ryan Ciotoli has had one of MMA’s top fight teams and fighters in his backyard. Branded the name “The Barn” for over 3 years Ciotoli’s furnished training center sits quietly nestled in his back yard. Plastered with old metals and fight posters , the smell of sweat still looms in the small dark gym. The lack of footprints in the snow to the door of the gym suggests emptiness and lonesomeness. Ciotoli has retired the gym for his new state of the art training facility now located in Ithica, NY and rightfully named Ultimate Athletics. Sustained memories of the old gym now adorn the walls of The 23,000 sq ft MMA fitness and training center Infested with talented fighters. A former office Depot, the now rejuvenated building sports two 24’ training cages, boxing ring, 3000 sq ft of mat, cardio and strength equipment, locker rooms, showers, supply store andjuice bar.
Former home of UFC light heavyweight phenom Jon “Bones” Jones, Team Bombsquad is the home for many of the nation’s best fighters. Living in Ciotoli’s basement apartment alone are two young prospects making a stir on the big scene right now. UFC Heavyweight Christian Morecraft and Bellator featherweight Kenny Foster both share the apartment fully furnished for fighters in Ciotoli’s home. A family man Ciotoli says his mornings are family time and during the week he tries to spend as much time as possible around his wife and kids, but on the weekends he sheds his daddy mask for the serious shade of an MMA trainer and embarks on long rides, and flights to and from fight venue to fight venue for his team.
The life of an MMA trainer is as demanding and difficult as the fighter’s course of action themselves. Ciotoli depicts briefly the 5-6 hours car rides to fights in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Cars packed with sweaty, angry, dehydrated, fighters in route to a weigh-in in no picnic for anyone. With NY still deadlocked on keeping MMA out of the state Ciotoli finds his team fights in PA,NH,MA,NJ,RI and sometimes on the Indian reservations in upstate NY. Ciotoli reflects to his old fighting days “A friend of mine was going to a show in Wildwood, (Wildwood, NJ) I think it was a reality Fighting card…..I loved it and had to do it. There just wasn’t a lot of money even if you won, I think I made $100 my first fight, that’s good for the beers afterward. I still had my job coaching Ithaca college wrestling so fighting took a back seat” said Ciotoli. Ryan later left his coaching duties at Ithica to start CNYMMA where he partnered with the likes of Tamden” Barncat” McCrory (UFC Veteran) and Eric Charles (TUF alumni) a very successful run but they grew apart with CNY’s decision to bring the training to the general public and Ciotoli deciding to go the latter and keep the development on the team and they parted ways in 2009. Moving forward Ciotoli had developed contracted fighters and started his own management group (Bombsquad Sports Management). When asked what makes a fighter a great fighter? What gets them to the big show? “ A combination of everything! A fighters attitude is very important, If he believes he’s gonna win and be successful he will. Having a good manager, you got to pick the right fights, and I don’t mean the easy ones. You don’t want the real easy fights, you want the tough fights. The tough fights are what make you better. . I believe in taking tough fights and pushing yourself, you wanna be successful at the next level. You don’t know how you’re gonna react.”

Today Bombsquad stands high among a few of the nation’s most talented camps. When asked of their absence from the local New England scene recently Ciotoli responded “You know, We developed our guys in the New England area, Massachusetts specifically. Its mostly due to the commission in Mass that we haven’t returned. I mean its not the only reason, we don’t sell a lot of tickets coming from NY and promotions survive on ticket sales around here. They just make everything so difficult, I don’t want to bash anyone, they just don’t have any experience in MMA They have people in charge that just don’t understand the sport. States like NJ and NH and PA are very easy to work with and they have the knowledge of the sport. They’re very accommodating. Before the commission in Mass Was in place promoters had a lot of flexibility with the number of fights they put on, who they fought, and medicals were easy. Now they just make things difficult, now there’s more paper work and more hoops to jump through. I’m not saying we won’t come there anymore, we’d come big or small show. We don’t sell tickets from NY and there are a lot less promotions now with the new commission in place”
I’d like to mention a few fighters Ryan Ciotoli and the Bombsquad have fighting in the next few months that you can keep an eye on. February 28th in New Hampshire Mike Stuart will be fighting for Combat Zone. Mike is a former Reality Fighting Champion and will be fighting a combat Zone main stay in Jesse McElligott 3-1. Among others that night, Dustin Hurtgam 2-2 fights Anthony Loycano in an amateur bout and Corry Murray 4-1am 2-0 pro takes on the very popular and dangerous fighter Perry “Filthy” Filkins of Miletich Fighting Systems. Watch out for the Aforementioned Christian Morecraft March 29th in the UFC vs Sean McCorkle on UFN and Kenny Foster Makes his tournament debut in the featherweight Bellator season 4 tournament March 20th.
One of the most exciting acquisitions the Bombsquad has made recently is that of Brazilian Rene Nazare. “He’s an exciting guy to work with, a 4 time world BJJ player and he’s here with us working on his wrestling and striking. He’s the type of guy that he’s ready now to compete at the highest level in MMA. He’ll be an easy sell for me to the UFC.” Commented Ciotoli. Nazare is currently moving to New York from Massachusetts now, leaving his family behind while he trains to achieve his dream of becoming a world champion. Nazare teaches all BJJ and No-gi Jiu Jitsu classes at Ciotoli’s Ultimate Fitness gym.
What was just a barn, a mere past time for the former Ithica college wrestling coach, has now become life as he knows it. Ciotoli is one of just a few gems in this sport.

Dan Bonnell interviews 135lb fighter Josh Bourque.

If you haven’t heard of the Charismatic fighter who dawns a smile with each hit he absorbs as if it’s a breathe of fresh air, Open your damn eyes and watch this kid climb the ranks this year!

The 18-year-old Bourque stands proud and poised waiting in the tunnel before he is announced to his battlefield when most would be nervous as hell, pacing the floor wondering, “What the hell am I doing?” Hard to tell the Triton regional 2010 graduate of full honors and on his way to a successful four years of college where he’ll study Pharmaspuedicals looks nothing like your typical honor roll student. A bright red Mohawk stands sharply across his head and the letters W.I.C.K.E.D. adorn his rib cage.
Sitting in a sauna at about 160 degree’s sits Josh Bourque, with a chipper sound to his voice he takes time for an interview just hrs before he weigh’s in for his 5th MMA fight of his career and his second in just two weeks. Sitting alone, quietly wiping sweat from his phone minute by minute Bourque explains his love for MMA and how he wants this sport to become a lifestyle for him. He tells me of his Fathers support to become the best and his mothers worry of him getting hurt. “Ive had some pretty stressful family shit and built up aggression in my life, getting picked on in school and stuff, some of my friends don’t know how I can hold myself together day to day.”
“My family hates the fighting, my dad and grandfather like it, but my mom hates it more than anyone but she still comes to every fight, they just want me to go to school and do well. My dad is all for it though he loves it!”

“When I was 15 I started boxing and met up with Dan Greene at Cage strikers in Salisbury. Dan is a great guy. He offers training for free and is always there for me, he’s not only like a trainer but he’s a really good friend. Josh Webster and Colton Blanchette are great for me to work with over the past few years and now I have my own jiu jitsu coach JP Kerrigan, he’s the best thing that’s come to our gym by far! I learned more in 2 weeks than in 3 years with him on the ground.”

Dan Greene- “Every once in a while you get that kid that has that burning desire to compete at the highest level. He’s never satisfied, there’s nobody he ever avoids….. nobody. You just know this kid is a fighter, he just wants to fight. “Josh is that guy in the Texas Hold em game that every hand he’s all in. That’s the way he fights. Its all or nothing!”

I always like to ask a fighter what fighting actually means to them. Most fighters stick to the same answer and you can see through them and hear in their voice if they really mean what they say. So I asked Bourque. And with the utmost of certainty in his voice he replied:
“I want fighting to be my career for my life, I want to do it until my body cant take it anymore, I mean the whole pharmaceutical thing is a back-up incase something goes wrong with fighting. It would be a dream if I could get into WEC but that’s down the road as for now I want to work my way up the ladder to get to the top, I don’t care if I take a beating in the process I will get my way to the top!” I hear the door to the sauna shut and the clanging of what sounds like a scale….” Ahh I just made weight!” Bourque says.

Since he opened up an opportunity for me to ask about his next fight I went ahead. I asked Josh what he thought of his opponent and what his plan was. (Josh fights Saturday night in Triumph vs Gracie Barra’s standout boxer Andrew Reeves)
“The kid is 3 or 4 in taller than me and has a good boxing background but I feel like I have more experience and I’ll be the stronger more experienced guy in there. Im not planning on this going to the ground, he’s a boxer….. I wanna beat him were he’s best because im known for my stand-up too!”
Again, Bourque opened up an avenue for me to ask a few more questions and since we’re on the subject of his fighting style I asked Josh about his in ring presence and if he’s trying to excite the fan’s or is his style of fighting just appealing to the fans watching him.

“It’s a little bit of the way I fight, but to get recognition you have to be exciting, you can be undefeated and still be unknown and fly under the radar. I always plan on being exciting, I have the greatest time in the world in there.”
“Im all about intimidating you, when you hit me I love it I laugh at you when you hit me. No one will ever be able to make me back down and intimidate me”

Prior to my interview with Bourque I spoke with his long time coach and mentor Dan Greene of the Cage strikers Gym in Salisbury Ma. I asked Dan what his plan was for Josh.
“He’s definitely going turn pro, he just wants to take a shot at golden gloves first. Next week he’s competing in a kickboxing tournament in RI. He’s looking to hone his skills; he’s been working a lot on his ground game. Bourque’s ground has improved a ton local HS wrestlers would submit him and now less than a year he’s submitting these guys now, it’s a process and its getting better and better. Its good that he’s still amateur, he can learn.

“Right after golden gloves he’s going pro.”
“He wants to be a GFL champion “

I turned the interview in the direction of his future and I asked Bourque of his short term and long term goals, people he’d like to fight etc.

“The guy that sticks out in my mind right now, in time for me I’d like to really fight Pedro Gonzalez in my eyes he’s the best 135lb fighter in the GFL and if I beat him I will be the best 135lb fighter. I absolutely think Pedro Gonzalez beats Matt Smith at GFL 9. I cant tell much about Giove for tomorrow night but I think Pedro takes the fight tomorrow too and it gives me more motivation to step in there with him. It’s a goal for me, I’m 18, I have plenty of time to get were I need to be but it’s a foreseeable goal for me so I like it.”

Having taken up an hr of Bourque’s time I thanked him for the interview and wished him luck in his fight in Triumph tomorrow night and congratulated him on making weight. The hard part is over my friend!
In Conclusion, I felt this interview was necessary for many reasons. I’ve noticed something in this young kid that’s special, something im sure Jimmy Pedro and Mark DellaGrotte saw in Rick Hawn, what Joe Pomfred saw in Joe Lauzon and countless others. He’s got the intangible mixture a fighter needs to make it to the next level, the things you’re born with. Keep an eye on this kid he moves fast. There’s no rest for the WICKED.

John Clark (general Manager)

1)      How do you go ahead and start this place? Did you just call up Punk Ass and Scrape and tell them you had a good idea?

No there was a guy who has a background in health clubs and fitness clubs and uh this opportunity was actually presented to him and he did some research on who was in the Boston area because he did not have an MMA background and he needed someone with an MMA background and experience, and he kind of found me. And we worked it out from there.

2)      How would you explain this place to someone who hasn’t been here

For someone who hasn’t been here, I would say that this place is a one stop shop for Martial arts, MMA and fitness. Um I would say that it is a state of the art facility. The goal of this gym here is to have everything you need to study one discipline or multiple disciplines in MMA under one roof. Including strength and conditioning. A lot if times you would have to go to a bunch of different gyms. One gym for Jiu-Jitsu, one gym for striking, one gym for strength and conditioning. So out goal here is to get you get everything under one roof here. With the best possible instruction and the best possible equipment.

3)      Who would you recommend this gym to?

Actually, I would recommend this gym to anybody. Because we have so many different programs because of the hours that we keep I mean we are open from six am to ten pm so… we have classes just for people who want to study a single discipline Ya know for guys who are just Jiu Jitsu nerds, guys who love Muay Thai, and we kind of keep guys who aren’t as interested in competition and combat a little bit separate from the guys who are interested in MMA and a little bit more intense training. Really we try not to alienate anybody here. Because of the size of the facility, and the classes we have we are able to succeed in that. It is not a place that we have two classes a day to choose from.

4)      How many people would you say come here to train for competition?

Uh, we have only been open couple months, and the only major competition that has happened since then has been the world championships the IBJJF worlds. And me and three guys here where training for that. But every night we have MMA class with like six to twelve professional MMA fighters in it. And also countless armatures.

5)      What different competitive athletes does this gym train?

We train guys for all of the combat sports: BJJ, boxing, MMA, Muay Thai. Our strength and conditioning director also trains guys for wrestling, scholastic wrestling, he has a couple of football players e works with in the off season and does strength and conditioning programs with, uh, strongman competition, also he does a lot of work with FBI, law enforcement people for SWAT competitions. U, it’s a pretty wide range of people.

6)      That percentage of people would you say come here for fitness?

I would say, probably 70% people come just for fitness and do not intend to compete. If you had asked me how many people think they are going to compete and never will, that number would probably change.

7)      TapouT is a very large, well known name… would you say that the fact that this gym started cooperate creates a different atmosphere than a gym that started small and grew?

I think it is defiantly a bit different, and it will be in the beginning for a little while here. Uh, part of it is TapouT is a very mainstream name, and people who are into a lot of the combat sports are really true to their kind of thing, ya know they are diehards. And they automatically reject things that are mainstream. The goal here is to have people look beyond the cooperate name of TapouT and take a look at the product and not just the name on the product and the instruction here is so high lever that the most hardcore guy is going to get good training. And so we kind of want people to realize that the mainstream name on the front of the gym does not mean that it is a watered down product at all. We have some pr3tty hard core instructors and training sessions here. In Vegas, at the TapouT gym in Vegas, it s one of the best gyms in Vegas in terms of learning each art and MMA so, eventually we are going to grown into that.

8)      Martin Rooney wrote in his most recent book “Ultimate Warrior Training 2” wrote in his prologue he expressed his concern that MMA gyms are popping up all over the country and they are starting a trend of gyms that have fighters training “MMA” and they replace fighters that hold an expertise in a certain area of the fight game. Would you say TapouT is doing this?

I would say that what Martin Rooney says is correct. I would say that TapouT does not fall into that category of an “MMA” gym because we have the ability and specialize in so many different programs. The gym itself does not specialize what we have done is hire individuals that specialize in areas. So we have a synergistic uh effect here. We have really really specialized Jiu Jitsu, Wrestling, Boxing and kickboxing. And we have a synergistic program where people want to train in all those arts and come together, and train in MMA then yes, they would do that. I think that what Rooney is talking about there are gyms that just train “MMA” I agree with him they are taking over, and because of that the specializations in MMA are getting watered down. And people are becoming a jack of all trades. And a master of none rather then specializing at one thing, and being really dominant in one aspect of MMA, and kind of supplementing in al the other ones, which was the way that it was in the beginning, and it is going to come full circle. Ya know, people a re spending all their time training in this art and that art, and the other thing, and putting it all together. But really, sooner or later, someone like Damien Maia who is so good at Jiu Jitsu, his standup is going to get good enough to complement his Jiu Jitsu. And people will think, “oh man, Ya know you’ve got to get so good at one thing in order to beat a guy who is kind of a jack of all trades” if you have a superior skill set in just one piece of the MMA pie, and another your opponent has just average skill sets in all of them, I mean you a re probably going to win if you can put the fight where you want to. So, it is defiantly watering things down. I mean the Jiu Jitsu is not that good. I mean its also being dictated by the rules of modern MMA, I mean the unified rules are really just creating, all MMA is now is a tough man competition with takedowns. Terrible standup with good takedowns. And they don’t give Jiu Jitsu guys enough room to work on the ground, and break you off the fence in the clinch. It is because the American fan is uneducated and they boo at everything.

9)      This is a pretty big gym. Do you think that students run the risk of getting lost here?

No. although we are a bigger gym, we have many classes a day so the class sizes are actually smaller than a smaller gym that would only have one or two classes a day.

10)  What would you say TapouT brings to the table that other gyms in the Boston area can not?

First off, we have Training partners that cover every aspect of MMA. Along with some of the best strength and conditioning in the area. Second, we also have a huge facility here, there is always a pro fighter training here. Finally, we have the best instructors here all under one roof.

11)  If there was one thing that you could say to the readership of NortheastMMA.com, what would it be?

I would say that without a doubt, if you came and spent a couple of days here you will be hard pressed to find better instruction and better value. Oh, and we validate parking… seriously write that down.

John Sullivan (strength and conditioning coach)

Interview by James Sheridan

From Wai Kru TapouT Center Boston, MA 

What exactly is your position here at TapouT?

I am the director of strength and conditioning, so I run classes, strength and conditioning classes, I do one on one training and group training, for fighters, but not only for fighters, Ya know, for other athletes if they want to come train. But here, Ya know it is primarily training for people who want to get better, not necessarily at fighting but

What type of training do you do here exactly? For fighters?

Well, basically what I do for every client, including the fighters. Is I bring them in and I do an eval. What I want to do is test their flexibility; I want to test their strength, and their power. Their endurance, we have different tests that we use… and then based off that, I will create a program that is going to meet their needs. So, they might be weak in their upper body or lower body, ya know something like that, and we will bring up those weaknesses. That is what is going to eventually hold you back so, um, we will be able to have them not just be string, but be string for three rounds or five rounds, whatever the scenario is for their fight.

What type of benefit do you think training like this has to give fighters?

Uh, there is a ton, Ya know as this sport advances, uh the days of a guy who is very skilled and doesn’t not cross train in some sort of strength and conditioning program, Ya know get fewer and fewer. Everyone is pretty much doing something and we see that ya know the results of that in guys like Georges St. Pierre who is skilled but also is strong and has the endurance to go and last five rounds. You aren’t going to wind him, so… it’s really important, ya know when you are too tired to keep your arms up, and you are going to get knocked out. If you are gassed late in a round, you aren’t going to be able to throw submissions up, so it is really important to, from a striker’s perspective, throw powerful strikes, it is not a substitute for a technique by any means, it adds to your technique. It is not one or the other, but rather your strength training complements your technique. The conditioning makes one able to use better technique in later rounds. So, it’s uh, its part of a complementary system you might say, technical skills, so you have your Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, or you’re Muay Thai, or whatever your skill set is, tactical, ya know which is “how you are going to fight this fight” and physical, so we are all part of a team here. We have five BJJ black belts here at the moment, we have boxing instructors, and we all work together ya know, to build a fighter, and I develop his physical abilities.

Lately, there have been a lot of words thrown about between fighters, talking about fighters vs. athletes, Hardy vs. GSP is one good example, and then Evans vs. Jackson is another example. Do you think that there is anything to that? This type of cross training can add so much to your game, because after the talk was over, both men that where considered athletes won.

Um well you are in a sport, in a fight sport. And if you want to do it at the highest levels, you have to be an athlete. And again, these guys are not just athletes, because if you took top athletes from other sports and put them in there they would get killed. But these guys are athletes with a very highly developed skill set. Wrestling, boxing, jiu-jitsu. So I think it is foolish to think that athleticism so not going to help a fighter because of coarse it is going to help. It is going to help them be faster, throw more powerful strikes, and in the later rounds, allow the fighter to keep pushing the pace. And if you can keep pushing the pace, you can wear people out. Just from fatigue. Ya know the person who starts out the fight a really good, technical fighter gets worn down. Ya know, when they are in trouble, they are not able to use their skill set effectively.

You mentioned before this kind of evolution that MMA has gone through. We have had fighters like Gracie, that was able to be an expert at one thing, we have seen guys in the next generation like pat Miletitch that where able to become good at many different things, and now we have fighters like GSP that not only proficient in many things but are also star athletes. Do you think that this is the last evolution? If not, what other changes do you see coming to the sport?

I think that this is like any other sport, I mean look at football in the 1960′s, look at the size and athleticism from then to now. They aren’t even comparable. I mean any sport is like that. So as a sport develops the guys are going to get bigger, but not just bigger in a way like “big fat guys” but guys like Brock Lesnar, big athletic guys that are very skilled and ten years fro now you are going to have the next generation of fighters that grew up doing this, just like kids grow up doing little league you are going to have guys that are going to be doing MMA their whole lives. And in addition to that they are going to have better conditioning just like any other sport does. So you are going to have skilled guys who are great athletes, and I think that this has the potential to go a lot further from my perspective, with strength and conditioning, I think that there is a lot to be improved upon in training, so I think that there is a lot of good stuff to come.

People say that Martial artists, especially mixed martial artists are some of the greatest athletes in the world, what do you have to say to that? Would you agree or disagree?

Actually I would say a lot of the guys from track and field are some phenomenal athletes. If you look at the sprinting, jumping, and throwing abilities of track and field sports, I mean those guys are amazing. And part of that is that it is a highly developed sport, I mean it has been around for a long time. And they have been using strength and conditioning for a long time so some of the best athletes are in the track and field but there are a lot for great athletes in MMA too. They have to worry about different things. I think that you can learn a lot about how these guys train, because they are muscular, and they are extremely powerful. Extremely strong, and I would have to say they have tremendous endurance as well .so; they are total and complete athletes.

Do you feel that you bring something specifically to TapouT; you bring something that other gyms do not have?

Yeah, um I mean we have, myself and the skills based trainers, most gyms do not have strength and conditioning class or a strength and conditioning program. And uh, it is not just having weights. Lots of gyms have barbells and dumbbells, but it knows it is how you use those things. So we have a whole section of strength and conditioning equipment. And specifically sports training equipment. So that is the stuff that gets your muscles more functional and stronger. Faster. The way you would condition specifically for fighting. So it’s uh it’s defiantly a performance based training and that is what fighting is combining the two. And as the sport progresses you cant have one without the other. You cant be a great athlete without a skill set obviously.

Aaron MacKinnon (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu coach)

1)      Martin Rooney has expressed in the prologue of his latest book “ultimate warrior workouts II” his fear that the progression of MMA has resulted in the creation of Gym’s across the country teaching “MMA”. Without the training in a specific combat sport, Rooney expressed his fear over loosing that type of expertise in the sport of MMA today.

Not only… lets not even talk about or focus on protecting these original martial arts, lets just set that aside because some people might not be into Judo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling. When you only learn stuff that is being used in the cage, at this latest cycle, ya know, the way it is going right t now. It kind of stunts you. Because later on… let’s say they make a rule change, and let’s say there where no elbows allowed, and no one is learning elbows. And then all of a sudden they allow elbows again, Ya know, where do you go to learn elbows if you have trained only MMA, lets say they added leg locks after a ban, that type of thing. Ya know so… you are better off having this really strong foundation. Ya know, it doesn’t nessicarily even have to be what is deemed a “traditional martial art” be it boxing or wrestling. Which ya know, it is second to none. Um… and if you need to subtract some of the stuff you have learned over the years, so be it that is fine. But it is better than needing it later on and not having it. So just from the standpoint of fighting alone, how do you know what you are going to need? Ya know at all times. If I could predict that, ya know if I could do that I would win everything id ever does.

2)      There is a lot of people and gyms out there that hold a really strong opinion over training Gi or No Gi for MMA, what is your take on that?

I am obviously bias, ha-ha .the Gi is a huge equalizer when it comes to athleticism. Um. You could be a great athlete, and there might not be as many people as athletic as you, so you could get away with certain physical attributes that you where born with and never pay the price during your training sessions depending on  the gym you are coming out of and your background. But when you put that Gi on, it can rain in that athleticism a lot. And your training partners can rain that in a lot. And now you are forced to use proper technique and then what happens is you go to fight in higher levels, everyone is top of the food chain there. Even the biggest so called “bum” in the UFC would run right through ya know any studs in the local gym. Ya know a guy that is basically fodder in the UFC would run through people. You have to have proper technique to overcome it because you know, if we are equal athletes, whoever is more technical is going to win. Ya know, and I am just a huge proponent of the Gi because of that, you are forced to slow it down because your training partner can control you that much more. And really work on the mechanics as opposed to, if you could just explode out of anything no Gi, with not as many grips, I can’t effectively put as much weight on you. And you might be quicker than me, and be able to scramble out of things faster than me, I might not be able to pin you down and penalize you for certain mistakes that you make. All of a sudden you have got a guy who is as quick as you fast as you, as strong as you, and he has so much more technique, he is able to take advantage of this stuff, and you don’t have the technical knowledge to get out of this with the use of proper mechanics.

3)      Um… what percentage of people that come here would you say are here for the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes?

70% but that number might be misleading because we have a lot of guys that are coming over here now, there are five Brazilian black belts here and they have all trained at different schools. A lot of guys are coming here because of them, and they are following them here. However, as far as new sign up is concerned I cannot rely speak to that.

4)      How important do you feel BJJ is to MMA?

I think you are dead in the water without it. You might not see it at the UFC level, because everyone knows at least some Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Ya know there very proficient in it. At a minimum Ya know look no further then Houston Alexander to see what happens if you are not, you look like a dead fish he second you hit the ground. He looked like a world beater he came out and knocked out Keith Jardine y know next few fights he looked horrible. People figured out “take him down lets see what happens” then, nothing on the ground. He looks freaky strong and explosive ya know, standing up. Some of that crosses over to the ground, but there is no was no technique on the ground. I mean I don’t even know how bad his Jiu Jitsu is. He might have some of it but, you need it. Because I think there are three legs. It’s a tripod. You need some sort of effective takedown be it, judo. Wrestling or Sambo what have you? And you need an effective groundwork and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is it. Then obviously striking being the third.

5)      Do you think the rules in events such as the UFC keep a level playing field for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners?

Yes. These other guys are cross training. Learning how to avoid submissions and even get submissions themselves. They come from different backgrounds, say from wrestling and all that, kickboxing, or boxing. They put their time in. if you don’t want someone to take you down, go show up at the wrestling room. And stop them from doing it. If you don’t want someone punching you in the face, then you go and learn how to do it. We all know all the rules, we all know how it is scored. Ya know you can’t give yourself that option as an excuse. “Oh, the rules don’t favor me” the rules are what they are. If you don’t like them then don’t compete.

6)      Do you feel that BJJ here at TapouT gives you something that other gyms wouldn’t be able to provide

I come out of a gym with 20 black belts over in Newton. I can’t say that it was anything lacking, for me to say that would be more disrespectful. What I can say is that I want for nothing here, as far as training partners. Ya know we have a great mix of size attributes and different games, between the BJJ instructors here, that I will be prepared to go against anyone I am going to see. Uh, without a doubt. So I have access to any knowledge I am possibly going to need, so at a very minimum I definitely have a fair and level playing field as far as getting ready for any type of fight, y know and I am defiantly ahead on most.

7)      If there was one comment that you could make on the BJJ here at TapouT to the readership if NortheastMMA.com what would you say?

It starts with john Clarke; he talks the talk and walks the walk. He sits there and tries to set a good example. On how to get this stuff done, and offer no excuses if it doesn’t go your way. Ya know come in and train smart. Learn proper technique. Drill it, be in shape, go and fight, fight hard, and if it doesn’t go your way, come back and do it again. And make the pepper adjustments and it is that that caries through with all of the guys here. That being said, he is approachable, Danielle is approachable (one of the other instructors) Bruno is approachable, me myself I have no problem with anyone asking me any questions. And I don t expect anyone to be subservient to me. Or anything like that, we are all training partners at the end of the day. And that is why we bow and shake hands at the end of practice to remind ourselves of that. And that works.