Dan Hornbuckle Talks Bellator, Gono, And Speaks Out On World Victory Road

Full Interview

Recapping With Dan Hornbuckle - Put Him Out

by Andrew Gladstone - 02-01-2010


Dan Hornbuckle (19-2) has a name that might not sound familiar to the casual mixed martial arts observer, but overseas he is known for knocking out japanese mixed martial arts superstar Akihiro Gono with a devastating head kick for the World Victory Road promotion. The hard-core mixed martial arts fans have known that when Hornbuckle comes to fight, they can expect no less than fireworks.

What the fans don't know is that Hornbuckle found his way to mixed martial arts after a co-worker and friend of his Kyle "The Great White" Watson came to work with with his arm in a sling and a black eye and told him about a mixed martial arts competition he was in. Hornbuckle decided to begin his training with his comrade Watson and not long after training, Hornbuckle decided that he wanted to be the person delivering damage and putting his opponents arms in slings, and giving them black eyes.

Dan Hornbuckle currently trains out of Team Solid/Goshin Jitsu out of Champagne, Illinois and has found his way to signing with the Bellator Fighting Championships for Season 2. Hornbuckle will now participate in a welterweight tournament and if he is successful, he will get a shot at current Bellator welterweight champion Lyman Good. MMA Recap's Andrew Gladstone sat down with Dan Hornbuckle to give mixed martial arts fans insight on this tournament hopeful.

What were your thoughts when you were first offered a chance to compete in the Bellator welterweight tournament?
"Ah man I was excited, a very good opportunity to fight in the welterweight tournament with Bellator. Just on the fact it is a tournament and they're only going to be putting the best fighters in the tournament, and when I become champion they knew I had a stiff road to get there to become champion, so I'm very excited."


What part do you think will be a hindrance in the tournament?
"A hindrance? [Laughs] The ring girls."

"As far as I know, from what I've been reading, location won't be an issue. I don't really see anything being a hindrance at this point outside of my mental standpoint, and we're already sharpening that aspect of the game, so not to many hindrances can be involved during this tournament from my stand point."

What was it like to defeat the japanese mixed martial arts star Akihiro Gono?
"It was a surreal moment, that all my hard work and dedication of mma paid off against the super star Akihiro Gono. Dan Henderson was the only other person to knock him out. Obviously, my game plan was not to knock him out, but we did throw a trick play in the week before with a head kick, and statistically that one shot that landed put him out."

"I was very blessed with the opportunity to have that done and I knew how to keep my mouth shut after the victory 'cause I was fighting in his backyard. I didn't want to get sliced into little pieces in Japan so I kept my mouth shut."

Do you plan on returning to World Victory Road this year?
"As long as Bellator keeps me busy, I don't plan on going back to them. I still have one fight left on my contract with World Victory Road. They stiffed me New Years Eve on fighting for the title over there."

So you're saying that World Victory Road stiffed you? What do you mean exactly, did they just not make the fight?
"Oh yeah man, they didn't make the fight. They had it in writing, had Takimoto as a top contender, myself as a top contender, both of us were going to have a shot at the vacant welterweight title. What really happened is, when I knocked out Gono, they erased Gono's name and put in Dan Hornbuckle's name to become their champion. So I really put a big screw in their plans, so to say, and Takimoto was supposed to lose to the Jae Sun guy and we both ended up winning. Takimoto didn't want to fight me from what I understand."

"They had it set up New Years Eve. I was training for five rounds. Two weeks before the fight I asked them where my visa was, no response. A week later, 'where's my visa?' And at that point, a week out, I can't get my visa and make it out there in time. So they never even sent me a visa for the title fight New Years Eve, but they told me I was going to fight for it."


I noticed that you've had Miguel Torres in your corner a few times. What's training with Miguel Torres like?
"Well what I did was, I was flipping through this mexican restaurant's want ads and I called the number for some Tish, Chicago mullet experience and that was the number and he was like, 'hey my nizzle is Miguel Torres and I'll do whatever you want for $50' and I was like, 'sweet.' No man, [Laughs] Miguel Torres is one of my biggest influences in mma, also he's a team affiliate of ours.

"The guy, Kyle Watson, who got me started fighting is really good friends with him, and there's another guy, Jeff Seraphin, that they're really good buddies. They brought me up to Hammond to train with Miguel and he's a 135lb human being that knocks your block off and submits you every turn.

"I wanted to keep training with him, so over the last for years, I've trained with Miguel quite a bit. We both have the same mentality when it comes to showing up for a fight. You know, I feed off him, he feeds off me."

"He's always wanted to go to Japan, and which you know we talked about. His mom makes him dinner and we sit and talk about dreams and accomplishments, and what we want to achieve. He wanted to go to Japan and I was fighting in Japan and I needed a corner man, and he didn't have a fight, it was great, and it worked out awesome. Miguel's a great corner man, he's cornered for me in Hammond also. You want to talk about a motivator and someone who knows the fight game, he's not ranked pound for pound for no reason. Honestly the hardest I've ever been hit, is by that little son of a b*tch."

Man I can't wait for season 2. More interviews to come shortly.