Brent Beauparlant has just arrived at his home in Ottawa, Canada, after spending the morning with his wife and son looking for carpet. He’s now sitting back and ready to chat to us, and explains it was natural for him to have taken up a fighting art.

“Everyone’s a wrestler in my family… my cousins and uncles - except my dad who’s a national champion in archery. But my family is from Ukraine, so out there everyone wrestles. It’s like a cultural thing. When people see me they tell me I look like (Igor) Vovchanchyn. It’s like, ‘I know. I know.’ People tell me that all the time, ” says Beauparlant.

Coming from such a wrestling pedigree, it was also natural for Brent to excel and represent the Canadian National Wrestling Team for over a decade, although Brent isn’t exactly sure for just how long he did compete at that level. Then again, with everything he’s done thus far in his career, it’s not surprising nothing seems to faze him much.

“Oh, man, I don’t know… at least ten years. Ahead of me was Chris Brown: I mean, I didn’t wrestle him because he was a lot lighter than I was, but I certainly knew of him. I think he was Australia’s best wrestler – hands down.”

And once again, when Beauparlant did make the switch to MMA, it wasn’t any big deal. “Well, like I tell everyone: It’s not really a switch – it’s a progression. I had a boxing club I was going to as well because I’ve always loved to box. And there were guys like Ivan Menjivar, Georges St. Pierre, David Loiseau, and Patrick Cote who’s in the finals right now. We were at the same boxing club and the same wrestling club together.

“They told me I should do some grappling, which I did, and some jiu jitsu tournaments. And then I would train with these guys all the time – like whenever they would have the MMA sessions, I’d be training with them as well. So they said why don’t I try the MMA, and I said, well why don’t I? That’s when I was in Montreal.”

Brent, you’ve also trained in Muay Thai in Thailand?

“Yes, and I trained in it while I was in Brazil. It’s actually an interesting story: Do you want to hear the whole story?”

Yes, please – fire away!

“Well, my girlfriend at the time, Tammy - who’s actually my wife now – she said, ‘You like this jiu jitsu stuff?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I like it.’ She goes, ‘Well, why don’t we go down to Brazil?’ So we went down to Sao Paolo – there are about thirty million people there, and everybody told us, when you go to Brazil there’s a jiu jitsu school on every corner. So we went to the corner right next to our hotel, and sure enough there’s a jiu jitsu school there.

“We said okay and the next day we went to Jorge (Macaco) Patino’s school. Jorge has fought in PRIDE, Jungle Fighting… He’s fought everywhere… He’s the guy who fought Pat Miletich in UFC, but got disqualified for kicking Pat in the head.

“Then I found out that the guy we originally spoke to was Master Fabio Behring. And there were other guys in the room at Jorge’s; I didn’t know it at the time, but two of the guys he put me with were Gabriel Napao and Luiz Azeredo. Other guys there were Vitor Belfort’s training partners. For me it was just like a continuation of meeting people.”

So you met these people by chance?

“Right. And Jorge says, ‘Why don’t you come with me to chute boxe in Curitiba?’ I was like, ‘Man, I don’t know… Okay, why not?’ So I went with Tammy again and we walked in. Then they stuck me with this guy, and I thought, ‘Man, this guy looks really familiar…My God, it’s Vanderlei Silva!’ He was my first training partner in chute boxe, and he was getting ready for his match with (Kazushi) Sakuraba. But then they switched Sakuraba with Mark Hunt right at the end.”

What was Vanderlei like?

“A real gentleman – an awesome guy to train with. From there I trained with the two brothers: Ninja and Shogun. And their cardio was crazy because their mother is a long distance runner. So I was put with them all the time because I was ‘Mr. Wrestler’ – my background is wrestling and they love it. They always want to train with wrestlers there.”

And you’ve since returned to Brazil?

“We spent several months on another trip there with Chute Boxe in Curitiba.  I learned a lot from them during the time I spent there. Tammy and I would sometimes eat at an Italian restaurant near the academy. The owner and I became friends and he suggested I train with Sergio Cuhna. Cuhna later left to venture out on his own and I owe a great deal to him. He is now with Yoshida in Japan...Without Sergio and Macaco, I would not be where I am today, and for that I thank them.”

What about when you went to Thailand?

“Well I’ve always loved the Twins stuff so we were looking for the Twins Store at Lumpini Stadium, but we couldn’t find it. Then we met this guy and he took us there and he introduced himself. Well, it ended up he was the fight promoter for Lumpini Stadium, and he brought me to train at the gym in Lumpini.

“I returned to Canada with my wife who gave birth to our son, Krieger, and after he was born, we decided to move somewhere quieter than Montreal to give him a better life.  We moved to Gatineau, Quebec, across the river from the nation's capital of Ottawa.  I joined Team Ronin headed up by Ben Meireles, Wade Shanley and Jamie Helmer.  They have helped me step up my training and find the consistency I was lacking.  Being part of a team that cares about you makes a huge difference in your career.  I never have to ask for what I need – the Ronin Team is always ready to kick me in the ass and push me harder every single day.”

So how did you become involved with the Dragons?

“Well, Carlos Newton's manager, Terry Riggs, called me up out of the blue to fight for the Dragons, and it was the best thing that could have happened to me. No one wanted to fight me up here and I had a forced one-year layoff. During this time I taught or gave wrestling seminars in the province, but this isn't fighting. 

“The IFL has been so amazing to my family and me, and they have made me feel like a respected professional who is valued for his time and effort as well as his abilities in the ring.  The IFL wants to do something different for MMA as a sport and for its athletes - and from my point of view, all the support they can get from the fans and the media helps them realize their dreams as well as mine.”

In the Ultimate Generation Combat competition you defeated Wojtek Kaszowski. What weight did you guys fight at – heavyweight or light heavyweight?

“Light heavyweight.”

And Wojtek’s stepped up to the heavyweight division now.

“Yeah, I don’t think he’ll be able to make 93 again.”

He’s a big man, isn’t he?

“He’s a very big guy. When I fought him, I was like: ‘How did that guy make weight?’”

You’re now team-mates; do you train together regularly?

“No, because of the distance – he’s in Toronto, and I’m basically in Montreal. So we don’t get together to train at all. But for the January season, I think we’re going to be getting together a lot more, because the team is… well, we didn’t even know who was on the team – who was going to stay and who was going.

“And you know MMA: Things are very fluid – one organization stops and the next day it starts up again. As fighters, we didn’t know who was going to stick around. But the IFL is here now, and there’s a lot more stability.”

These days, do you tend to prefer the stand-up or the ground game?

“Stand-up. If I could bang all day I would. It hurt me in my last fight because I got caught with a guillotine – I was winning and I got caught with a guillotine. But with MMA, you’ve got to work the ground game, and that’s the hardest thing for me – to roll; I’d rather not. If I could I’d bang all day.”

Fair enough.

“Fair enough, yeah.”

In your bout with Mike Ciesnolevicz in Portland, did you just get caught out?

“I did. I think it was a general consensus that I was winning the match and I got caught. But I have to say, Mike C and Pat Miletich – they’re both gentlemen and both classy guys, so nothing bad to say about those them. That’s Mike’s win, and that’s it.”

You defeated Raphael Davis at Gracie vs Miletich. Was that one of your tougher fights?

“Yeah, it was one of my tougher fights – he was very heavy and 6'4"; he was a big guy, and we wrestled a lot in that match. So we were both tired, but I don’t think people could tell what was going on. We were burning a lot of energy because it was full out – basically three rounds of us going full out. And then I pulled ahead in the second and third rounds. It was very satisfying.”

How do you think Carlos Newton will go against Renzo Gracie this time?

“I just think it’s going to be an easy match for Carlos, and I don’t think Renzo has been training seriously for it.”

But Renzo recently surprised a lot of people when he defeated Pat.

“The guillotine – the infamous guillotine. But if that had gone another two rounds, I would like to have seen what would have happened.”

Because after his long layoff, Pat came out slowly, didn’t he?

“A little lackadaisical: He was very confident that he was going to hurt Renzo, standing. And I think that’s what’s going to happen – I just think Carlos is going to beat Renzo up, standing.

“Let’s face it: Carlos’s level of jiu jitsu is very good as well, and when you have two good jiu jitsu guys, you have a hard time submitting each other – especially in MMA with the sweating and when fatigue sets in. I just don’t think people realize how hard it is to submit.”

Brent, is there anything you’d like to add?

“I’d like to send a big shout out to the fans in Oceania, to the Dragons’ fans, to all the IFL fans throughout the world, and to guys like you who are working hard on websites to promote our sport.

“Go IFL....and Go DRAGONS!!!!

“Thanks to all the MMA fans out there – without you guys we wouldn't be where we are today.

“Thanks to the knucklepit and the knuckleheads (myself included) out there.”

Your sponsors?

“Thank you to Westgate Health & Fitness for all their support and encouragement.”

Toronto Dragons light-heavyweight star, Brent Beauparlant, is preparing to go training after playing with son Krieger between sessions.

“Tonight I’ll be working the Thai pads, and a drill where people try to punch and kick me and I try to take them down. This morning was wrestling techniques and jiu jitsu,” says Beauparlant.

I’m about to ask Brent MMA-related questions, but obviously all this training leading up to the IFL World Championship Final in Connecticut on December 29 has sharpened his reflexes, and Brent beats me to the punch.

“Hey, I’ve got one hero, and you know what his name is?”

No.

“Chopper.”

Chopper Read?

“Yeah. Have you ever watched the movie? It is the ultimate movie: I bought the DVD. It’s awesome. Do you remember the scene where he head-butts the mother in the bathroom? It’s kind of a cult classic here in Canada: Everybody that I get to watch it, they’re like, ‘Oh, my God – we have to go to Australia.’”

So you reckon I should see if he’s up for an interview?

“You know it, man. That guy’s for real. He’s the best thing to come out of Australia besides Dame Edna.”

Getting back on track now, with December 29 fast approaching, Brent is gearing up for his bout with Pitbull, Andre Gusmao. But Beauparlant says he’s been experiencing some setbacks partly due to the festive season also fast approaching.

“This close to Christmas, you set up your training and people back out. It’s the one disadvantage of being with a smaller team, so it’s been quite a comedy of errors. And it’s been hard getting some consistent training in. But the big weakness with my last fight was my cardio, so I’ve just been biking or running in the mornings and biking or running at night - my cardio is up, and my fat is down, which is always good.

“What else are you going to do? That’s fighting. I was stressed out for a bit, but my wife told me, ‘You know, it’s the same with every club you’ve been with.’ And it’s true – around Christmas things happen. Not everybody’s a professional fighter. You have to train through it – it’s part of the game.”

Being totally professional is something Brent has always been. And he learnt not to take anything for granted in this game when he was in Brazil, as a spectator at Storm Samurai: “My friend Luis Azeredo was supposed to fight a capoeira guy, and everybody was laughing, telling Luis he was going to have such an easy match. But those capoeira guys are all liars: They don’t do capoeira. As soon as they fight, they all do Muay Thai. The dance routine goes out the window and they go straight into pure Muay Thai.”

Brent, were you at Andre Gusmao’s fight against Mike Ciesnolevicz?

“Yes, I was.”

So you’re aware of his game?

“Oh, yeah. And he’s very aware of my game: There are not going to be any surprises.”

Andre tried to submit Mike twice with ‘the infamous guillotine’ as you call it. Have you been practicing your defense against the hold?

“Just mentioning the guillotine sends me into convulsions because I have to practice it every night. Every night my friend slaps a guillotine on me… Basically I’m going to be guillotine-proof… 99.9% guillotine-proof.”

Would you agree there seem to be similarities between you and Mike physically and technically?

“Yeah, we have a similar game.”

When Andre fought Mike, he was regarded as the ‘mystery man’ against Mike. Now that Andre has fought in the IFL, will that benefit you? 

“For sure. I’ve seen him fight and I know how he fights now. There are no surprises; no mystery.”

What do you see as being Andre’s strengths?

“His reach, and he’s very aggressive - most Brazilians are.”

What will be your strengths?

“I think my toughness. He’s going to think that he’ll go in there and break me mentally. And he won’t.”

Do you have a prediction for this fight?

“Oh, yeah: I’m going to win.”

That’s it?

“Well, the prediction is: It ain’t going to be pretty. If he’s going to be punching my face, then after a while technique’s going to go out the window, and there are going to be two guys slugging at each other.”

So you’re not predicting you’ll submit him by guillotine?

“Can I hang up now? What would Chopper say? That’s all I want to know.”

Which team are you tipping out of the Silverbacks and the Wolfpack?

“I don’t know…to me their style is very similar. I think it’s going to be very close. I couldn’t call it. I think it’s going to be right down to the wire and I expect there will be a lot of overtime matches there.”

Brent, is there anything you’d like to add?

“Yeah – news breaking – I’m going to be 185, come January (dropping down from light heavyweight to middleweight).

“Other than that, I’d like to thank everybody who takes the time to read the articles. Hello to all the fans, and I always say hello to the fans in Australia – whether they’re Chopper or Dame Edna fans…”

You haven’t seen a movie called Kenny have you? My sister put me on to it.

“No, but I can tell by your sick laugh that it must be good.”

Your sponsors?

“Thank you to Westgate Health & Fitness for all their support and encouragement.”

On April 13, 2007, Carlos Newton’s Dragons will be facing off against Don Frye’s Scorpions in Uncasville, Connecticut. And despite still being unsure of who his opponent will be, Dragons’ middleweight representative Brent Beauparlant says all systems are go from his end.

“This morning I went to Muay Thai, tonight I’ll probably just ride the exercise bike, and tomorrow I’ll wrestle. We’ll see what’s going to happen tomorrow night,” says Brent in his lead up to the event.

Beauparlant is known more as a light heavyweight in IFL competition – although he did fight Matt Horwich at middleweight – and he is determined to drop down from light heavyweight again without losing too much power and retaining his fitness. “The main thing I do for cardio is running: I don’t think you can bring the weight down properly without it. And as far as trying to emulate a fight, you have to do sprints.

“I keep the running and the jogging separate. In the area where I live (Quebec), nobody knows what MMA is, so I’d get kicked out of the gyms if I did any MMA training around here – I’m serious, man. Because of the winters… The gyms are pretty well developed in Quebec, so I’ll do the treadmill. And there are a lot of universities in the area; I just go to them and do indoor sprints. Running outdoors would burn out your lungs because it’s too cold.”

Brent has always been a big believer in doing weights, calisthenics and gymnastics for match strength, and he performs a combination of these exercise systems to reduce his body weight. “Yeah, I dropped from 205 to 185, and if you start to lose weight without doing bodybuilding or whatever, you get that bitch’s body – you know ‘bitch tits’? Well, you get a bitch-tits body where you are all saggy if you drop weight without doing a bodybuilding-type routine. You have to be complete in the package.

“My background is gymnastics, so I’m going to start doing gymnastics again at least once a week. The weights also, at least twice a week – it’s just a good workout. Everyone tells you that it’s bad for you, but it’s fine; it doesn’t hurt your performance or hand-speed.”

Brent, who have you been training with lately?

“I’ve just been training with guys in the area – they’re all amateurs. But come April, my wife will be on maternity leave for a year, so I’m going to start training in Montreal again.”

Will that be with guys like Georges St. Pierre, David Loiseau and Patrick Cote?

“I think so, but everyone’s on a different schedule with various organizations they’re fighting for; inevitably, I think I’ll start to train with those guys again. And with the bigger city there are always more MMA guys around.”

How many sessions do you do a week?

“Twice a day, six days per week.”

Do you do specific fighting exercises, such as wrestler’s bridges, heavy-bag slams etc?

“I have specific fighting exercises, but I don’t do wrestler’s bridges – terrible for your neck. But because I’ve always been around Soviets, my background is Soviet gymnastics.”

Your family is from the Ukraine.

“Right, and it’s a different way of training. It all comes down to the same thing, but with us it’s more push-ups, more handstands, dips, chin-ups… more body-weight exercises. And gymnastics is tough…the apparatus…”

How often do you do Muay Thai sparring?

“Between once and twice a week.”

How intense are the sparring sessions?

“It really depends on the week: Sometimes we’ll get a bunch of guys who just want to bang, and then you’ll get another bunch of guys who go light – it really depends on the week. Sometimes there’ll be twenty guys, and sometimes there’ll be two guys. That’s why I’m looking forward to moving to Montreal.”

Does Carlos run through a game plan for each fight?

“Yeah, when we meet up. We generally see each other a few days before the fights, and it’s all logical: He’ll ask me what my game plan is, and I’ll explain it to Terry Briggs – he’s like the brains of the operation, and he was also Carlos’s coach. Terry would be like the puppet-master, the guy in the background. We run through what’s going to happen, but the strategy is generally pretty straightforward.”

On April 13 you take on Dwayne Compton, and you’re both dropping down from light heavyweight to middleweight.

“But I’m not sure it’s going to be Dwayne Compton – my opponent’s already changed twice.”

Okay, so why are you dropping down in weight?

“In one word – reach.”

The guys you’ve been fighting at light heavyweight have had too big a reach advantage?

“Yeah, and middleweight is my real weight.”

Brent, is there anything you’d like to add?

“I’d like to thank my Muay Thai coach, Naaron, and my jui jitsu coach, Damien, for all their help, and the growing number of IFL fans for their support.”

Sponsors?

“Westgate Health and Fitness.”

On March 29, 2008, Brent Beauparlant will be shaping up against middleweight Amir Rahnavardi in the Robert Guertin Arena, Quebec, for what is expected to be a heavy-metal clash. And Beauparlant is hell-bent on squeezing out sparks for his segment of the star-studded MMA card, which will feature David ‘The Crow’ Loiseau vs. Todd Gouwenberg in the main event.

Right now, Brent has just arrived home in Ontario after completing a five-hour drive back from the Warrior Gym in Toronto. “Carlos Newton’s coach and manager, Terry Riggs, is also my coach and manager. When I was with the IFL, I was making the trip about once every two to three weeks, but now I think I’ll be down to about once a month,” says Beauparlant.

“While in the IFL, I was trying to catch up with everybody else: in submission, striking, and general ringmanship. The other guys with the IFL had about 10 fights behind them and they had a lot of experience. I think this year I’ll still be training in Toronto once a month, but I won’t have the catching up to do. And through Terry Riggs, I’m starting to understand the system now. It’s sort of like a hybrid judo/jiu jitsu on the ground, and standing, it’s sort of like a hybrid boxing and Dutch Muay Thai. Everybody is looking at the Dutch Muay Thai these days… like Bas Rutten. And the big thing right now is Rob Kaman – everybody wants him in their corner.”

Not only has Beauparlant recently moved house from Ottawa to Ontario, but he is now a freelance gladiator due to the pin being pulled on his IFL Dragons’ team. “Well, what it was, I think, was that the IFL changed their whole business plan, and I guess the Toronto team didn’t make the grade and they had to cut somebody.”

Brent, were you surprised to see Chris Wilson do so well against Jon Fitch at UFC 82?

“Oh, astonished. Honestly, I was flabbergasted because I really think that Jon Fitch is a very strong fighter.”

Do you feel there are a lot of great MMA fighters out there, such as yourself, who are not that well known to the public?

“For sure. Look at Anderson Silva right now. At the moment he’s a god, but for people like us who have seen him come up the ladder – even myself, I trained with him at BTT (Brazilian Top Team) – everybody knew about him years ago, and the general public is only starting to know who he is now.”

That’s where you also trained with Wanderlei Silva.

“Yeah, but Anderson had already left Chute Boxe at that time.”

When was your last fight?

“About four months ago against Benji Radach. He just outsmarted me – that’s the bottom line. I wish I could tell you something more sophisticated, but he used the strategy against me that I was going to use against him. And good on him.”

Benji’s a nice guy.

“Yeah, he seems a nice guy, and you know what it’s like – for the guys who have been in the game a long time, it’s business; nothing personal.”  

Are you back to competing as a light heavyweight?

“No, at 185 (middleweight). I fought for the IFL at 205 to just fight a fight. The guys at 205, their reach just kills me.”

Are you expecting more of a stand-up strategy from Amir Rahnavardi?

“I’m expecting the same thing as with Benji Radach: He’s going to try to play the pocket a lot, and he’s going to be in and out of the zone a lot, trying to hurt me with his reach because he seems to be a tall guy.”

So he’ll want to do a hit-and-run job on you?

“I think so. The thing is, he’s trained by Bas Rutten, and the hit-and-run strategy is a very good thing because I’m sure he’s a guy who hits hard and kicks hard, and that’s not something where you can take a lot of punishment.”

Do you expect him to be as well rounded as you are?

“No, I don’t.”

He seems to be mainly a striker.

“Well, my striking has gone up by leaps and bounds, and I have the one tool that most people don’t seem to have, which is the wrestling. I can decide whether I want to bring you down or take you up, so it will be a really interesting fight.”

When we talked the first time, you said MMA was very underground in Canada. Now they’re getting world-record crowds. What happened?

“Well, we’re five years behind the United States: It’s as simple as that. But we caught up, and it just seemed to happen overnight. There was a major investor who came into the sport and we’re having our first UFC in Montreal: St-Pierre vs. Serra, and I think it sold out the same day the tickets went on sale.”

And you’re fighting Amir Rahnavardi in the HCF (Hardcore Championship Fighting).

“Yes. I’m basically unknown in Canada, but with the HCF, it’s more accessible in Canada, and I think people will be saying, ‘Oh, who’s this guy?’ But it’s just one of those weird things; the list goes on. There are all these fighters out there.

“Like a guy that nobody really knows about is Lyoto Machida, who fights in the UFC at 205. This guy’s beaten everyone. He’s defeated Rich Franklin, BJ Penn, Stephan Bonner, Rameau Sokoudjo… I’d say he’s probably the best 205 in the world and nobody knows who he is. I heard about him when I was in Sao Paulo a long time ago and he’s beaten everyone.”

Who are you tipping on your card between David Loiseau and Todd Gouwenberg?

“David Loiseau.”

How has The Crow been going?

“Good. He’s been in training with us and he’s been training consistently. If there are any problems on the day of the fight, I’d be very surprised.”

How are you going to win your fight?

“It will be a war of attrition: I’m going to hurt him standing and hurt him on the ground. Then it will be up again – hurt him standing and back on the ground. It will be a war of attrition.”

Brent, is there anything you’d like to add?

“I’d love to compete in Australia and possibly do some seminars down there as well.”

Your sponsors?