- You’re fighting Rich Franklin. Is he a good friend of yours?
- Yeah, he’s a really good friend of mine, I help him with wrestling takedowns. Rich and I, we grew up together, raised and born in Cincinnati, Ohio. One day, he asked me— he wanted some help with takedowns, so I helped him out with takedowns, with wrestling. And still, we’re still friends, no matter what. Inside the ring, outside the ring – we leave friendship out the door. [unintelligible] It’s like I’m fighting against my brother. And I have to do this, ‘cause I fight for a living and I fight for my daughter(?), you know. So, I mean, I’m getting my name out there. And I know he has more experience than I have. I’m inexperienced. My record is 6-1 and his record is 25-3. So if I can beat him, that’s a big win for me, he’s a former world champion. That gets me more motivated, and I wanna get out there and show what I got. I’m a really fast learner and I’m getting better every time I fight.

- Do you think that he is at a disadvantage going up in weight class?
- Well, it doesn’t matter, you know, because he goes up in weight class, he gets more energy. He has a hard time getting down to 185. Normal weight, where I start at, is 220. So I go down to 205, he goes down to 185. [unintelligible] The big advantage is he will probably be able to hear the coach in the corner, and I can’t hear the coach in the corner. And I’m deaf, I have my own gameplan, you know. But that’s alright, I’m gonna go out there and do my best.

- What has you most concerned with Rich?
- Rich is the world class striker, so I have to keep my eyes open. It’s not gonna be easy. There will be a blood(?), I have no doubt about that. [unintelligible] He’s gonna have to beat me, my body and my soul. So I’m just going out there, giving 100% and show what I got.

- You have a gym here in Utica?
- I used to have a gym. [unintelligible] my house. I’m getting a bigger gym, so I don’t have to pay rent. Because I have 30 acres, more like a (?). [unintelligible]. I like to train around the country.

- What are you doing to help bring MMA to New York state?
- Well, when I found out that there’s no MMA or UFC or any other MMA is legal [unintelligible], but there might be a time, the next year or two years, there might be a vote and hopefully it will be legal for MMA in New York state. But before that, I went to the Senate and testified to legalize MMA. But [unintelligible] veto, you know, they’re not gonna have MMA in New York. I think it’s because it’s a brutal, bloody sport and they don’t like that.

- Dana White told me at UFC 87 that UFC is coming here in 2009.
- Two-thousand— oh, okay! Whatever happens happens, you know. We’ll just play it by ear. We’ll see what happens someday.

He’s got a hell of a right hand and should be able to put Rich on his back.