Dustin Hazelett Interview: ACL is good, Ready for Karo

The following is the interview recently conducted by Steven Kelliher with UFC 106 participant Dustin Hazelett.   All the highlights are below, and if you want to read the full thing you can find it here with a few more questions on each topic.

Widely considered one of the most promising young prospects in the UFC’s stacked welterweight division, Ohio native Dustin Hazelett was forced to back out of a UFC 96 fight with Ben Saunders after tearing his ACL in training. Following a successful surgery and recovery process, Hazelett has progressed much more quickly than even he anticipated, resulting in his early return to the UFC on the main card of UFC 106 this month against veteran Judo master Karo Parisyan. Hazelett recently spoke with Tapology’s Steven Kelliher to discuss his speedy recovery, his thoughts on Parisyan, his opinions on judging in MMA, and how he plans to get the UFC Welterweight Championship.

Tapology: Let’s talk about your ACL injury. That is one of the worst injuries a professional athlete can have, but you seem to be bouncing back much quicker than usual. Why do you think that is?

Hazelett: I don’t know, I mean the surgery went really well. I did my rehab and had really good trainers, but I was back in training in five months and usually you’re not supposed to be pivoting in six months. I was happy with the way it went, but I was surprised that it went that quickly. It feels great now, though.

Tapology: That’s surprising to me, as Joe Lauzon, who is also coming off of an ACL surgery—he got a cadaver ACL—thought he was bouncing back ahead of schedule but you have done it even faster than he has.

Hazelett: I opted for a hamstring tendon from one of my own hamstrings instead of the cadaver ACL, because my doctor told me he is finding more and more cases of people rejecting cadaver ACLs years after their surgeries. I didn’t want to risk that.

Tapology: You are set to fight Karo Parisyan at UFC 106 in November. Are you expecting to face the vintage Parisyan and how do you feel about him as an opponent?

Hazelett: I’m preparing for the best Parisyan ever. If you look at his last fight against [Dong Hyun] Kim, he may not have been as dominant as he has been in the past, but you have to look at it as a style match up as well because Kim is a really good judo guy as well, so that would nullify some of Parisyan’s strengths.

Tapology: Do you feel overpowered fighting against some of the bigger and more powerful wrestlers in this division?

Hazelett: With Koscheck it was more of an explosion thing. He was much faster than I was, and his strength wasn’t a crushing kind of strength, he was just so fast and explosive that he could take you down really fast. I didn’t feel overwhelmed as far as the strength is concerned; the only time I felt like that was against Tony DeSouza. At the time I didn’t have a strength and conditioning coach and I didn’t take my conditioning as seriously as I do now.

Conditioning is a horrible thing to do, but it is incredibly necessary, so I have been taking it very seriously for this fight.

Tapology: What advantages do you feel you have over Parisyan?

Hazelett: I think I have a striking advantage and I haven’t grappled anybody of his caliber in Judo so I think it’s going to be an interesting fight. His fight with Diaz was awesome, and so was the fight with Sanchez, and he has never been submitted, so I think it’s going to be a fun fight to be in and it’s going to be one of those fights that is really fun to watch, so I’m looking forward to that.

Tapology: Going back to the Koscheck fight: are you the type of fighter who hates losing enough that it continues to burn you up, or do you not really care anymore at this point?

Hazelett: It eats me alive every time I watch the fight. I get so mad at myself because I made the exact same mistake in the second round that I did in the first round and he caught me on it. It was a great job on his part and he deserved the win, but I am so mad at myself because I think that I could have won that fight. As far as a rematch goes I could take it or leave it right now because there are so many good guys in the division that I could work my way to the title without having to fight him again.

Tapology: How long before we can see you fight for the title? Do you think about that a lot or do you try to focus on the next fight alone?

Hazelett: One good thing that I learned from the Koscheck fight is not to want too much too fast. When I fought him I was looking to make a run for the title as quick as I can, and once I lost to him I realized I needed to work on my flaws and problems and make it count when I get back up there. Obviously I really want the title—that’s my main goal—but my goal is to make myself as good as I can make myself, so I’m not as worried about putting myself in position for a title shot right now. I think if I make myself as good as I can be then I will definitely be a champion.

Tapology: You mentioned that there are so many great guys in the welterweight division. Do you think Georges St. Pierre is as good as he is because he is more well-rounded than the other guys right now?

Hazelett: Yeah, I mean he is a very well-rounded fighter. He is a phenomenal wrestler with great takedown defense. He is very athletic, very conditioned, and has great striking, but I think I match up with him well because I am very good off of my back and that’s something that a lot of fighters don’t have.