Bao Quach Talks Signing With Bellator

Full Interview

Recapping With Bao Quach - You Have To Sacrifice Some Things
by Brent Todd - 02-10-2010
Bao Quach may not be as well known as some of the other competitors in the second season of Bellator's featherweight tournament, but he is one of the most seasoned. Quach has amassed a record of 17-9-1 and has been in with some of the best in his division. MMA Recap's Brent Todd sat down with him to discuss his thoughts on the upcoming tournament, his career, and more.

Quach got into fighting after attending a class with some friends. He recalls that first class. "I wrestled a bit in high school and a year of college. My friends invited me to take a jiu jitsu class with them. I remember going and getting tapped out a bunch of times. After the class I thought 'Hey that's kinda cool you know' [tapping people out]. So then I decided I wanted to be able to choke someone out and I started attending class everyday while my friends stopped going."

Quach has fought for numerous promotions including King of the Cage, Elite XC, Strikeforce, Affliction and the WEC. However the call to participate in the Bellator tournament was what he was looking for. "I was really excited when I got that call. Finally I get a chance to fight for a big promotion. It's going to be a chance to fight and win that big money prize."

Quach has been very active for most of his career fighting on average every three months for the last two years. Due to an injury he was unable to take one last fight before entering the tournament and ironically, that fight was against fellow tournament fighter, Georgi Karakhanyan. As for fighting him first in the tournament, that isn't Quach's focus right now. "I really don't mind facing any of the fighters. The way I am training I am training for whatever comes at me. I will be ready on the ground, striking and grappling. I plan to be well prepared for whoever is thrown in front of me."

Quach is focused on the potential matchups and not current champions Joe Soto. "I haven't really watched him fight at all yet because I want to focus on who could be in front of me first. I might not even get to fight him so I am not worrying about that right now."

As for who will fight Soto, Quach really likes how it isn't just a random person and that you have to earn your way to the title fight. "I like that the tournament makes it so that not just anyone gets to fight for the belt. You have to earn your chance by winning three fights in order to fight Joe Soto. It's not up to a match maker or what is better for business. I mean you have Mike Brown who beat Faber twice and they gave Faber an immediate rematch with Brown. Yet Brown didn't get the immediate rematch with Aldo? They pushed Faber in there instead of giving Brown the same treatment."

Quach is worried about the biggest problem with a tournament format: injuries. "I think the fact that all the fights happen in a short period of time could pose a problem. I hope that there aren't going to be any major medical suspensions that could interfere with the tournament."

Bao goes on to talk about his losses to Wagnney Fabiano and L.C. Davis as well as how he has dedicated his life to the sport.  Read the full interview