Later this afternoon in Las Vegas, Raymond Daniels will meet Nieky Holzken in the ring for a kickboxing bout that is sure to please fans all over the globe. Glory 23 features a fantastic card, culminating with the welterweight world championship fight between Daniels and Holzken.
Daniels, a highly decorated martial artist in several disciplines, has the opportunity to exact a little vengeance on Holzken, who bested him in their last outing. Now, having fine-tuned his strength & conditioning regimen and other factors like hydration and nutritional factors, he is confident that we'll be seeing a very different outcome from their last meeting.
In a recent interview with the Three Amigos Podcast, Raymond discusses his upcoming title bout with Nieky Holzken, where Paul Daley fits in the kickboxing big picture, preparations for his future and more. Here's what he had to say:
TAP: Your fight with Holzken is just around the corner, but he's already begun calling out Paul Daley, as though he might be looking past you. What are your thoughts on that?
Raymond Daniels: To each his own on how they see a particular match or opponent. I think if he is looking past me, then that's going to equal a bad day for him. I don't mind if he tends to look forward for future fights, but it's possible he'll be having to take a break for a while after a fight with me.
TAP: You've got this opportunity to fight Nieky again. How much of a factor is getting a little vengeance in your mindset as you prepared for your fight?
Raymond Daniels: I'd be telling a story if I said I wouldn't be getting a little gratification, some vindication, some redemption. It's a great feeling to have the opportunity to go in and fix mistakes that you made.
Imagine if you could go back in time and tweak the outcome of things just a little bit, not that you would ever take that away, because that is what makes you who you are. I'm looking forward to showing him, to show the world, who I really am and what I look like as a fresh fighter.
TAP: Recently, we've seen Melvin Manhoef and Joe Schilling take brutal knockouts, Joe even lost a valuable spot on the upcoming Dynamite card. When you look at guys like him getting knocked out like that, do you feel they're ultimately not making the wisest choices with their careers and their health in a sport they seem to struggle in?
Raymond Daniels: I would never try to tell anybody what they should do with their career. As a fighter, it is your job to believe in yourself, because if you don't believe in yourself, who will? No matter what arena you put me in, if you said, ‘Raymond, we need you to go box this guy who happens to be the best boxer in the world,' you know what I would tell you? I'd tell you, ‘I'm gonna beat that guy.'
It's the job of the people you have around you in your camp to tell you, ‘This is not a smart fight for you to take.' It's important to have those people around you; not just your coaches, but your managers and friends, too. Those people need to look out for your best interests and aren't afraid to tell you when it's not good for you to compete in certain styles, etc.
TAP: If you don't end up going through an all-out war with Nieky, would you like to get a spot on that card? Have they already reached out to you about it?
Raymond Daniels: No, currently, I don't have a spot on the card, but I'm sure after the show I'm about to put on, they'll definitely want me to be on that card. I plan on handling my business and putting on a great show. I'll be the champ after that, so it will be interesting to see what kind of doors open for me. I'll be on a week's vacation in Austria following the fight, but I look forward to getting back on the training wagon, so I'll be ready if they come knocking.
TAP: We interviewed Daley a couple weeks ago before his last Bellator fight, and he mentioned he wanted a high profile name for an opponent on that Dynamite card. Your name was one of the ones he mentioned. He said,
"I've previously been asked about a bout with Raymond Daniels and although he's an opponent who can bring some spectacular knockouts, he's going to be dancing and spinning around and I don't think he would bring the type of excitement a good solid Mexican-style fighter could. I mean look at your legends like Roberto Duran, guys who would just stand there and hit each other until someone drops. I prefer that to having to chase someone around the ring."
What do you think of comments like that, and would you be interested in facing him at some later date?
Gallery courtesy of Ryan Loco and James Law, Glory International
Raymond Daniels: I really don't know a whole lot about Paul Daley, to be honest. I've heard his name here and there, but I don't know his background. They say styles make fights, and I know my style is hard to replicate and train for.
Glory welterweight top contender, Raymond DanielsI'm not a rock ‘em sock ‘em robot, standing in there punching each other until somebody's head pops up. I don't look at that as fighting, I look at that as ending your career really early, because you've taken so many shots to the head. I look at fights like holidays; it's always better to give than to receive [laughs]. I don't want to receive shots from my opponent. I want to dance around and give them as many gifts as possible and go about my day.
TAP: You are the most unflappable athlete, seeming to never get emotional or flustered over call-outs or perceived slights. Where do you get that magical trait from?
Raymond Daniels: I was a police officer for a number of years, and this is fun for me. I'm very fortunate to have the ability to do the things I love as a career, and to be able to show the world that it's not real life. I've been in real life situations, life and death situations, being a police officer for 7.5 years.
There's a slogan, "UFC, as real as it gets," the streets is actually as real as it gets. This is a set of rules that you have to follow in competition, and that's all it is, competition. I love it. It's mano y mano, it's gladiators, and that's what makes it great. It's a spectacle.
Nothing an opponent ever says is going to bother me or fluster me. I grew up in martial arts, so I learned respect and discipline early on. I never really have anything negative to say about my opponents, but when I go in there, I take care of business. It's nothing personal. It's just about showing the world that I'm a better martial artist than they are at that particular time and moment.
TAP: When you think about guys that you might be interested in facing down the road, is Paul Daley a fighter that registers on your radar, since he does have good name value?
Raymond Daniels: I already have a huge highlight reel, so it doesn't make a difference who steps in front of me. It all comes down to who they feel is the best guy for me to face, and what will be best for the sport. I don't really care who it is. If Daley is the guy the fans want to see fight me, and the organization wants it, then I'm more than happy to do it, as long as my camp approves it. I always go to them for approval, that's why I have them around me.
TAP: When you were with the WCL, you faced now UFC contender Wonderboy Thompson there and won by injury TKO. What do you think of his success in MMA since his WCL days?
Raymond Daniels: First of all, I'm a huge fan of the Wonderboy, and I don't consider that fight against him a win or a loss. I don't consider it anything. I know they considered it a TKO due to injury, but I don't consider it a win for myself.
I think Stephen is an awesome competitor. I love the spinning hook kick he landed in his last fight. It was freakin' awesome. I think the reason why he's experienced so much success is because he has a great work ethic. When he's lost a fight, I've seen him go back to the gym and start from square one, just continuously working on the errors he made to better himself.
As a martial artist, he's trying to make himself a complete athlete with BJJ, kickboxing, karate, wrestling, as opposed to the beginning when he was still an incomplete puzzle. Now he's very well-rounded, and it shows in his performances.
TAP: You have all those skills, too. Do you ever play with the idea of taking another MMA fight?
Raymond Daniels: It's not completely out of the picture, but it is a huge learning curve for me. I consider my stand-up to be my personal masterpiece, so to speak. I can paint a beautiful picture, using my striking as the brush, but the ground game puts me right back at level one. Not to say I'd never be open to doing it again, but Glory is my lane right now, they're my path, and it's where I'm at my best.
TAP: Has there ever been really tense moments or scuffles back stage at any of the events you've been featured on?
Raymond Daniels: There have been times when attitudes flare up or different personalities clash. That happens in all sports, from golf to the martial arts. I have seen situations where people have kind of bumped heads a little bit, or somebody from another camp has said something inappropriate to the rival camp.
Once again, you can see that in all walks of life. I've seen people get that way when they get cut off on the road. It isn't necessarily the result of the sport, but more that everywhere you're going to find that some personalities just don't mesh well.
TAP: You're 35 years old, which isn't ancient, by any means, but it is a point where athletes tend to start evaluating their futures more closely. Do you have anything planned outside of competition to set yourself up financially for your future after fighting?
Raymond Daniels: I've definitely begun planning. There's on opponent that no fighter has ever beaten, and that's Father Time. Nobody ever gets a shot on him. He beats everyone.
That being said, I've already started working on exit strategies. I own my own business, a martial arts school with franchise locations, and around the beginning of the year, I'll be opening another location. I also promote martial arts events and I have an apparel and gear line.
My fighting is just an avenue to reach out to other people in an inspiring, competitive way. It's a means to an end, and I don't plan on continuing past the point that I am capable of doing it.