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“This
fight Isn't Going the Way
©
Marc Wickert All
photos copyright 2004 Zuffa LLC Chris
‘The Professor’ Wilson is always a very predictable fighter.
His opponents know he’s going to be throwing nuclear-laced elbows,
knees and fists, high and low kicks, uppercuts, powerful kicks to the
body… and many of these will be delivered in combo packages from a
variety of angles. His
opponents know he spots openings that don’t appear to be there and he
has impeccable timing with his Muay Thai strikes. They also know
he’s a master at sprawling his way out of takedowns, but has deadly
arm bars and triangles if he chooses to be taken down, and can unload
nasty elbows from below. Chris’s
rapidly growing army of fans knows whenever he steps into the ring they
can expect thunderbolts and lightning because there’s never a dull
battle when Wilson goes to war. What
they probably don’t know is that Chris can also strum five chords on
his guitar, which is three more than Neil Young often uses. Wilson
caused shockwaves at UFC 82 when he stepped into the Octagon on short
notice to lock horns with Jon Fitch, who was running hot and looking for
his eighth successive victory. And while Fitch did take the bout
by decision, Wilson pushed him to the limit, and caught Fitch in one of
his signature triangles as the bell sounded Originally
Chris was billed to mix it up with Josh Koscheck at UFC 98; however
Koscheck sustained a broken toe and Wilson will now be facing off with
former WEC and UFC veteran Brock Larson (26-2-0). Knucklepit.com
was
fortunate to catch up with The Professor in Brazil where he is preparing
for his return to the Octagon on May 23. Chris,
you decided to leave Portland and return to Brazil. “Yes,
I live and train here in Rio with Team Nogueira. I'm not from Rio,
but if you live in Brazil this is the best city for MMA in my opinion.
Since I can't live in my hometown (Brazilian hometown is Ribeirao Preto)
we make the best of living here in Rio.” Did
you do your core lifts this morning? “Actually
my strength and conditioning workouts are in the afternoon/evening.
I do mostly core exercises for strength but I also do functional
workouts which focus on dynamic movements and reaction times with varied
weight resistances. I do some plyometric workouts also.” Who
are your main training partners in the team training? ”I
have several guys my size and also some bigger and smaller guys.
Rodrigo and Rogerio Nogueira are in the room. Vitor Belfort
often comes in but isn't officially part of the team, and several other
guys who aren't as recognized internationally but have decent careers
started here in Brazil. Some of the guys closer to my weight are
Eder Jones, Andre Chatuba, Thiago Jambo, Marcelo Grilo and Erik Silva
who help me out a lot as well. They are all doing well and coming
off recent wins.” How
is your cardio going for May 23? “It's going well. I have been focusing on strength and conditioning for this upcoming bout. My last fight, despite being in decent shape, I felt I fatigued too quickly due to an injury I sustained early in the bout which made my breathing much more difficult. This fight I want to last through that sort of unpredictable possibility.”
Are
you in two minds - disappointed that Josh Koscheck is injured, but
relieved to still be on the card? “Yes,
I'm disappointed that Josh got injured and relieved that I'm still on
the card.” Have
you had to adjust your training or game plan much? “Strangely
enough, Larson has some similarities to Koscheck. One big
difference is that Larson is a southpaw. That really isn't an
issue though as I am very comfortable fighting southpaws.” Can
you give brief rundowns of your bouts with Steve Bruno and John Howard,
please, Chris? “Steve
is from American Top Team and had recently captured the SpiritMC
Middleweight Belt. I guess that earned him a shot in the UFC.
In the first round I was able to control the striking and avoid his
strikes and takedown attempts. After I started landing more and
more strikes he became very hesitant to engage standing. He dove
in for single legs for the rest of the fight and got beat up from bottom
position. He was able to survive some pretty hard shots to the
head but I won a convincing unanimous decision. “My
last fight against John Howard was a great fight in that it won Fight
of the Night honors and netted me a substantial bonus check.
That was the good part. The bad part was that I was on the losing
end of a split decision. That's what happens sometimes when it
goes to the judges. I think he stole the decision because he took
my back in the third round for a few minutes. I escaped and began
mounting offense again but the damage had been done on the judges’
scorecards. I also felt I was put at a disadvantage early in the
fight from a headbutt that shattered my nose early in the first round.
Like I mentioned before, it affected my wind and made it hard to fight
and breathe normally. In any case, John is a good fighter and I
suspect he will go on to win fights just like Steve Bruno after our
fight.” UFC
has you listed as 13-5-1. Should that be 16-5-0-1? “My
complete record is 16-6-0-1.” Brock
Larson has won the majority of his bouts via submissions, such as RNCs
and arm bars. Will he want to take you down? “He
will likely try to take me down but not necessarily to try submissions.
I think he will avoid the standup whether he intends to ground and pound
or try to submit me. Either way, he will fail. If he does
take me down he will find he is in as much trouble or more.” You
both went the distance with John Fitch. How much warning did you
receive going into that fight? “I
was given one month notice. I was in Hawaii on vacation with my
family when I received the invitation. Also, I don't remember how
long ago his fight with Fitch was so I can only assume they have both
improved since then. I think it would be wiser to judge his more
recent performances than to dwell on fights from that long ago.” Do
you think you surprised a lot of people who didn't know your rep from
the IFL days, prior to your match with Jon Fitch? “My
fight with Jon garnered me more exposure and respect. I think it
was a good decision to accept the fight even though the circumstances
were not ideal.” Is
there a possibility your fight with Brock will be televised?
You
have outstanding Muay Thai skills, and you have demolished opponents
with your vicious elbows and knees. Are you happier in a
competition that allows elbow strikes? “I'm
happier in any competition where my strengths aren't negated by the
rules. I prefer to compete with as few rules as possible. I
would love to fight under Pride rules and elbows. It's the fairest
way to fight. Unless we start taking out submissions and
takedowns, we shouldn't take out strikes or targets.” Do
you expect your knee strikes to be a good deterrent against any takedown
attempts by Brock? “I
think he will be expecting them but that doesn't mean he can avoid them.
Anytime a guy shoots a lot or even fights too aggressively he is in
danger of taking those knees. Of course, knees can be risky and
open the way for takedowns so movement and other strikes come in
also.” Who
will be cornering you for this fight? Do
you have a prediction? “I
predict that Brock Larson will be very surprised. This fight isn't
going the way he thinks it will. I hope I can finish him. I
know he is very tough and very resilient but I don't want to go to a
decision. I don't want that to happen again. I will control
him and stop him before the final bell.” Your
sponsors? “WarriorWear
has been working with me consistently for some time now and they have
shown themselves to be a supportive company with great people and great
products. Also, Denaro Sports Marketing has helped me a ton on the
business end of the fighting world by bringing people in to work with
me. I've had the opportunity to work with FullTiltPoker.net,
Gamma-O, Hayabusa, Rupture Fightgear and ADX among others.” Chris,
is there anything you'd like to add? “Thank
you for the interest in my career. I will continue doing
everything possible to put on great fights that deserve PPV showings
whether they get shown or not. My last one got Fight of the
Night. I'm not sure why it wasn't shown but the next one will be
even better. See you in Vegas, May 23rd.”
For
more on Chris Wilson: http://chriswilsonmma.com
CHRIS
WILSON “You
Don’t Want to Miss This Show”
©
Marc Wickert 24
Oct.’06, photos © IFL Chris
Wilson is just heading back to the gym, driving his car over into the
Team Quest car park. His training is over for today, so he quickly
ducked out to have some food before the interview kicks off. This IFL
welterweight for the Portland Wolfpack says he is all psyched up for the
bout on November 2nd in front of his home crowd. But
when you see Chris fight, it’s hard to believe such a determined
warrior originally adopted a fighting art to help defend himself. “I
have always been interested in sport and I was an active kid. But I
guess I first started doing martial arts because of some demonstrations
I had seen - plus the fact I was living in Brazil, and I was a little
white kid in a poor neighborhood who had some scuffles and bad
experiences there. As I had seen martial artists in action, I thought
maybe that would help me out,” says Wilson. Due
to Chris’s parents being Baptist missionaries, he grew up traveling
back and forth from Oregon to Brazil for a total of sixteen years. But
it was in Portland, Oregon that he first developed a passion for
kickboxing: “My kickboxing started when I commenced high school here
in the United States, but then when I moved back to Brazil, I continued
doing the kickboxing and some jiu jitsu.” On
November 2 Chris will be locking horns with Anacondas’ Jay Hieron, and
Wilson is very keen to add another victory to his MMA record, whilst
competing at what is expected to be a huge event for the IFL semifinals.
So knucklepit.com caught up with Wilson to chew things over with
him before this much-anticipated meet. Chris, you do amazing knee strikes – with or without clenching. Where did you learn to do such damaging knees? “How did you know I was doing good knee strikes? Did you see some of my fights?”
Yeah. “Oh;
I wish I could elbow in the IFL. I’ve got pretty good elbows too, but
we’re not allowed. But the thing with the knees: it’s always been
part of my arsenal just because I come from a striking background, and
especially because I’ve been able to develop the timing on them really
well. I’ve been forced to put my knees to realistic use against some
of the top wrestlers. “If
you plan to land a knee on one of the guys in this room, you’re going
to have to time it right. So it’s really helped me to develop that
game where, if somebody comes in with a shot, or if they change levels
on you, they’re usually giving you a good angle for you to come up
perpendicular into their chest… or face, as it were.” What seems to stand out about your knees is your ability to deliver such damaging strikes – whether you’re holding your opponent, Thai-style, or hands-free in a boxing stance. “Again,
it’s really from being forced to practice it that way, because of the
people I train with. I’ve learnt to adapt my knee strikes more to an
open range… I need to make this guy get into a certain position to be
able to knee him well from the outside. “So,
either you commit to a powerful hand strike, which will make him change
levels, which will then help you land that knee from the outside, or you
set him up by doing maybe a rear-hand cross, lead hook, and then a rear
high kick. The next time you do a two-three, he’s expecting that high
kick and you blast him with the knee. “I’ve kinda had to make those things work from the outside. Because a Thai clinch is different to an MMA one, most of the time I can’t do the same things in a MMA clinch: It’s hard to work it the same way.”
Is the triangle your favorite submission technique? “By
far. The main reason the triangle is such a good move for me is because
I’m a tall, lanky guy; and lots of times it just started happening as
I improved my submission wrestling game. The opportunities just started
showing themselves, so I’d try for a triangle because it was there.
Now, my legs just seem to automatically land in a triangle. “Actually,
I’m surprised sometimes because I’m thinking, ‘Damn, I just tried
to roll out from a guy trying to grab me, and all of a sudden my legs
are in a triangle, so I may as well try to finish it.’ My legs just
seem to go there now, because I’m tall, I guess. But when it’s on,
it’s on tight.” What’s Matt Lindland like as a coach? “He’s
a phenomenal coach, actually. Some guys are great fighters and not such
good coaches. I think he does a great job as a fighter and coach because
he knows how to explain what he’s trying to tell you – especially
the wrestling part, which he’s been doing for so long and at such a
high level.” Does Dan Henderson also help with the coaching? “Dan
Henderson opened his own gym down in Temecula, where he lives, and
he’ll often come up here to train for a fight, or Lindland will go
down there to train… They’ll help each other train – going back
and forth. But Dan lives and trains at Team Quest South, which is in
Southern California. If he’s up here though, he’ll help us.” It appears there’s a lot of team spirit with the Wolfpack? “There
is because we were a team before we got named ‘Wolfpack’. Now
we’re like a team inside of a team. We were already training partners
– it just further fosters that atmosphere.” You get some incredible crowds in Oregon; does it help fighting in front of a home crowd? “It
helps me: I really enjoy fighting here. I was a welterweight
title-holder at our Sport Fight show in town – I won the title
and defended it twice before having to relinquish it because of the IFL
contract. I was born in this town and I love fighting here, and I have
an immense sense of pride and responsibility, almost, to come out and
perform well. I want Portland to be able to get behind this sport and be
one of the frontrunners.” Before you escaped Brad Blackburn’s guillotine, were you confident you’d be able to break out of that hold? “It wasn’t even close: That’s why I stayed cool. Brad had a couple of good attempts right at the end of the round. It doesn’t matter that they weren’t even close. He had some attempts, but when he slapped that guillotine on, I wasn’t even close to being in trouble. He was squeezing it tight, but I was pulling the wrist away, and as soon as my head popped out, I was fine. He outworked me, and that was that, but no – the guillotine wasn’t even close.”
What are you expecting from Jay Hieron? “A
takedown.” So his strategy will be to get you straight on the floor? “Well,
he may try to come out and stand up with me… I won’t be surprised if
he does try to throw some hands, but I don’t think it’s going to
last much longer than his getting hit. I think we both know that I’m a
better striker, but we also both know that he’s a great wrestler. So
why is he going to stand with me where he knows I’m best! “He
may land a punch or two, but he ain’t knocking me out. He ain’t
giving me anything that I’ve never seen. So I definitely see him
coming in for some sort of takedown or shoot from the outside, behind
some kind of punches. I don’t see him trying to stand up the whole
fight at all – no.” Who are you tipping out of Mark Kerr and Mike Whitehead? “That’s
hard for me to pick – I know a little bit about Mike Whitehead, and I
know a little bit about Mark Kerr. But the reason that’s hard to pick
is because I haven’t seen Mark Kerr fight, or do anything, for a long
time. I have no idea what his training is like… I have no idea what
kind of conditioning he’s doing. “In
terms of skill sense, I think Kerr probably has the skills to take it,
but is he going to have the mental edge? The conditioning? I don’t
know. I’ve seen Mike Whitehead fight: He’s a good fighter. If Mike
does his homework and the right kind of training, I really think he
could win it. It’s just so hard to say because I don’t have contact
with those guys.” Do you feel confident the Wolfpack can overcome the Anacondas? “One
hundred percent confident. If you look at the individual match-ups, I
think we have everything to win every match. But the Anacondas are a
very good team, and each fighter has great individual strengths.
However, as Matt Lindland says, if we go out there and each person takes
care of their own win, the team victory will come by itself.” Chris, is there anything you’d like to add? “First
of all, if you’re anywhere near Portland, Oregon, you don’t want to
miss this show because we’re talking semifinals, and you’re seeing
some of the best match-ups possible, and it’s going to be absolutely
explosive. “And
also, I’d like to send a shot out to all the Aussies and everybody
Down Under, because I think it’s awesome that they’re involved in
the sport. And I think it’s a rip-off that they don’t get some of
the pay-per-views. I’m extremely excited that this sport is reaching
everybody, everywhere. I really appreciate everyone’s support down
there. “I
think the Aussies should make themselves heard and start banging on
stuff. Say ‘Hey, we’ve got this guy, this guy, and this guy…
What’s up, now?’ Tell them you want to take the tournament. Ask
‘Why weren’t we invited? Are you guys afraid?’ “And
I’d also like to thank my wife and son, and all my training
partners.” Sponsors? “A huge thank you to www.strengthcoachonline.com and also to LA Fitness.”
Chris Wilson’s stats: Nickname:
“I don’t have one at the moment, but stay tuned.” MMA
record: 12-4 Division:
Welterweight Stance:
Orthodox Height: 6'1" Date
of birth: 7 June ’77 Birthplace:
Portland, Oregon Home:
Portland, Oregon Team:
Wolfpack Coach:
Matt Lindland For more on Chris Wilson: www.ifl.tv.
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