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MIKE WHITEHEAD Part
3 Whitehead
vs. Randleman May 11, 2009
©
Marc Wickert Special
thanks to Mike
Afromowitz On
June 6, 2009, Kevin Randleman (17-12-0) will be making his long-awaited
return to the ring at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields. And
there to meet him will be ‘Iron’ Mike Whitehead, who has won 14 of
his last 15 bouts and is more than ready to lock horns with Randleman. Boasting
an MMA record of 23-6-0, Mike has achieved an awful lot for an athlete
just 27 years of age, and has notched up victories over such names as
Krzysztof Soszynski (unanimous), Mark Kerr (TKO), Zak Jensen ( arm bar)
and Ben Rothwell (unanimous). Mike
first started wrestling when he was just six years, so it’s not
surprising that he has achieved so much at a young age. And over
the years he has trained at some of MMA’s most respected camps: Team
Miletich, Jeremy Horn’s gym, Xtreme Couture… A
two-time NCAA All-American wrestler, Whitehead remained undefeated after
competing in five matches with the IFL. At Strikeforce, he will be
representing a new training camp for this showdown and he is definitely
focused on chalking up more victories. Knucklepit.com
was fortunate to catch up with Mike in Las Vegas where he earlier
completed a workout at Wanderlei Silva’s new gym. Mike,
how
long have you been training at Wanderlei Silva’s gym? “I’ve
been there now probably two months.” Do
you use the high-altitude training room? “Absolutely.
I was in it just this morning.” What
are the benefits? “There’s
just less oxygen, and when you push your body to a certain level under
those circumstances where you’re being forced to operate under less
oxygen, it’s basically what happens in a fight.” Are
you training exclusively at Wanderlei’s? “Yeah,
I’m definitely exclusively training at Wanderlei’s now.” What
do you like about training there? “Just
Wanderlei, the way he is so inviting and has definitely taken an
interest in my career and helped me along.” Do
you work out with Wanderlei? “Yep,
every day.” How
is Heath Herring going? “He’s
doing good. He comes over to Wanderlei’s as well and he’s
fighting Cain Velasquez at UFC 99 in Germany.” Are
you happy to be staying down at light heavyweight? “Yeah,
it’s a more comfortable weight for me.” You’ve
won 14 of your last 15 fights. That’s a pretty impressive
record, isn’t it? “Yeah,
I’ve got to keep the wins coming.” At
27 you’re a young athlete, and you’ve been very successful.
Are you still as motivated to keep improving? “Probably
more motivated to better myself and understand where I came from and how
young I was when I was in there with some of the best guys in the world.
And now that I know where I stand and how much more I can learn, I’m
even more motivated.” Will
we see you in the UFC? “That’s
probably a better question for them than for me.” Can
you give a rundown of your bout with Leo Pla, please, Mike? “He
was just a kid there in Kansas City who stepped up to fight me and it
didn’t last very long – I think it was only 40 seconds, and he shot
in on me, surprisingly, and I took him down with a choke.” With
a guillotine? “When
he shot in I actually took him down with kinda a crucifix choke.” Kevin
Randleman has been away from competition for some time. Do you
know what sort of shape he’s in? “No.
I haven’t heard anything, but I would expect he’s a professional,
and he’s been a professional for a long time, so he’s going to be
ready to go.” You
and Kevin both have impressive wrestling backgrounds. Do you
expect that’s where he will want to challenge you, rather than testing
your Thai and boxing skills? “I
really don’t know what he has planned. He’s been known to have
big punches and stand up with guys, and he’s also been known to use
his wrestling, so I don’t really know what he has planned.” Is
Chris Ben-Tchautchauadze still your boxing coach? “No,
I’m actually doing some boxing with Skipper Kelp and Muay Thai with
Mark Beecher.” What
areas of your training have you been focusing on lately? “Mainly
just getting in really good shape, and working on punching and kicking,
elbows and knees… There’s nothing I’ve been exclusively working
on.” Kevin
Randleman is known as a very explosive fighter. Will his game suit
yours? “Well,
I think it’s going to be a great fight and he’s been known to be
explosive and exciting, and I think the match-up is going to be good.” What
do you see as being your aces in this fight? “I’d
have to say my age and I’ve been working a lot with the mental part of
my game, which has changed greatly, and we’re back to the drawing
board and keep improving.” For
more on Mike Whitehead: www.mmaironmike.com. For
more on Strikeforce: www.strikeforce.com.
MIKE
WHITEHEAD The
Easygoing H-Bomb
Mike Whitehead and Babalu ©
Marc Wickert It’s
Tuesday afternoon in Las Vegas, and Mike Whitehead is talking to
Knucklepit.com on speaker phone while cruising around town with a
friend. Just two days ago, Mike had his 27th birthday,
but he’s holding back on the celebrations. “We had a little
barbeque, though, and hung out with some close friends, but we’re
waiting until after July 19 to throw the actual birthday bash,” says
Whitehead. It’s
hard to believe Mike is such a relaxed and accommodating guy outside the
ring. If anyone dialed the wrong number, they’d probably think
they’d dialed JJ Cahill by mistake. But once in the ring, this
easygoing gentleman transforms into ‘Iron’ Mike Whitehead – one of
the most destructive light heavyweights in MMA. This
morning Mike did sprints, in preparation for his showdown with Renato
‘Babalu’ Sobral at Affliction Banned. “Later on today I’ll
be doing some sparring and I’ve got some good guys to spar with…
Vitor Belfort just showed up; Heath Herring is there – Heath is one of
my main training partners; Randy will probably be in there today;
Forrest won’t be there because he’s obviously fighting this weekend,
but normally they’re my main training partners.” The
place they’ll all be rendezvousing at is Randy Couture’s Xtreme
Couture Gym, which is where Mike says he does most of his training these
days. “Pretty much: I don’t go too far away from there.
There are a couple of other gyms I go to, to do some clean-up work on my
mitts and for strength and conditioning stuff, but for the most part
it’s at Randy’s.” Although
having achieved great success in the heavyweight division, Whitehead
will be fighting Babalu at light heavyweight, a category he prefers to
compete in. “Well, I’ve been there before and it’s a more
natural weight for me. I feel more athletic at 205 and it just
seems like a better weight for me than heavyweight.” Mike,
can we clarify your MMA record, please? Sherdog doesn’t
credit your defeat of Colin Murphy and Wikapedia doesn’t list your
victory over Zac Jensen. “I’m
still waiting for those guys to clarify it with Sherdog, but it should
be 22-5.” So
you’re currently on a winning streak of 13 fights? “Yeah,
I guess, but I try not to put too much on that.” My
next question was going to be: Do you still work with Heath Herring? But
obviously you do. “Yeah,
we’re pretty close; we’ve become good friends and hang out a lot,
and we’ve become pretty good training partners. We’ve really
been there for each other in the last couple of fights. He’s
going to be cornering me for this fight, and I’m going to corner him
for his fight against Lesnar.” What
do you do to chill out? “I
hang out with friends; I do a lot of outdoor stuff. I just got a
new sponsor – Addiction Motorcycles – and they supplied me with a
motorcycle, so I’ll be riding that a lot now.” Is
that on-road or off-road? “On-road.
It’s a custom chopper: 11-feet long and a pretty crazy bike... 22-inch
back tire.” It’d
be a scary sight, seeing someone as big as you on a bike that size.” “That’s
right, it is pretty scary.” How
did you come to be with Affliction? “The
fight with Babalu has been anticipated since February, and they offered
to have the fight on their show if we both signed with them at the same
time.” Is
the exposure at such a highly anticipated event a great opportunity for
you? “Yeah,
obviously. I’m excited to fight for these guys and can’t say
enough good things about them – how they’ve treated me so far.” And
are you still with IFL or is that in the past? “That’s
way in the past, man. I haven’t fought for the IFL in close to a
year. I’ve fought, I think, four or five times since being out
of the IFL.”
Mike Whitehead and Babalu Can
you tell readers a bit about your stand-up-only fight with Ethen Cox,
please? “It
was a good fight; I trained hard for it, and had some good instruction.
It was my very first time doing a stand-up fight like that and I was a
little bit nervous, but I went out and fought well.” And
you sealed it. “Yeah,
it was a unanimous decision: 30-26 with all three judges. I
knocked him down in the second round with a flying knee.” You
were able to use Thai rules? “They
were American kickboxing rules with a clench rule where you could throw
one strike, but you couldn’t hold onto the guy like in real Thai
fighting.” Are
you still big on the Muay Thai? “Yep,
and I definitely incorporate a lot of boxing into my Thai training, and
I’ve been working extensively with my boxing coach, Chris Ben-Tchautchauadze.
My hands have always been good, but they’re definitely great now.” You
and Babalu both fought at Ring of Fire last December, I believe.
Did you get to see his bout? “I
did, actually. He fought a kickboxer and just took him down and
submitted him. But he did well.” Were
you impressed with his skills, or didn’t it last long enough? “It
didn’t really last that long… I mean, he just took him down and
submitted him. I don’t think it went past the first round.” You
both have wrestling backgrounds. Is your wrestling game stronger? “I’ve
had guys who grappled against me and grappled against him, and they’ve
said that my wrestling is better, but each to his own. I know that
he represented Brazil at Olympics in wrestling, and he’s a couple of
times national champ from Brazil, so that’s no slouch.” You’ve
always had heavy hands, and you’re saying that you’ve become even
better with your hands. Do you expect Babalu will want to take it
to the ground when you start landing a few bombs? “I
think he’s going to want to. Maybe he’ll want to come out and
bang with me as well. We’ll see.” So
he might want to test you? “I
think he might to make it exciting. It’s his first time fighting
in the United States for a while, so I think he’ll want to make the
fight exciting and try to stay with me a little bit.” Have
you been working on your takedown defense? “I’ve
been working on all that. I’ve got some good wrestlers in town:
Randy, Jay White… all the guys trying to take me down. I have
some good guys to work with.” Will
Randy work on a strategy with you? “Yeah,
he’s working on a game plan.” And
you’re obviously happy with the way things are going for this fight. “For
sure.” How
are you going to win this fight? “Ah,
you know what, man? I’m never big on making predictions.
You know me, man; I don’t talk trash for the most part, but I think
it’s going to be a real tough fight, and I’d never go into a fight
without believing I could win it, so I definitely plan on taking it to
him.” Your
sponsors? “Affliction
Clothing and Addiction Motorcycles.” Mike,
is there anything you’d like to add? “I’d
just like to thank my fans who have stayed with me the whole time.
It’s been an up-and-down career, and I get emails from fans that
I’ve had since day one, and I want to thank all those guys – and
girls, for sticking with me and supporting me this whole time. I
really appreciate it. I hope they can catch me on p-p-v, where
they can really see me shine.”
Mike Whitehead (left) with Affliction Banned competitors
For
more on Mike Whitehead: www.mmaironmike.com. For
more on Affliction Banned: www.afflictionbanned.com.
MIKE
WHITEHEAD “I Like to Stand and Bang”
©
Marc Wickert 11
Dec.’06, Mike
Whitehead is at home in Las Vegas and just finished showering after
knocking off training for the day. On
December 29, 2006, Mike will be facing Anaconda heavyweight Krzystof
Soszynski in an IFL Superfight at one of the most highly anticipated MMA
events of the year. Already, 2006 has been a hugely successful year for
Whitehead, and he’s hell-bent on making the Superfight at Mohegan Sun
Arena, Connecticut, yet another winner for him. Born
in Oregon, a state where kids seem to wrestle before they learn to walk,
it was only natural Mike took up the discipline at an early age:
“I’ve been wrestling since I was six. I got out of college wrestling
and I still wanted to compete. I did this style of fighting (MMA) off
and on through college, so I decided to give it a shot, and I’ve been
doing it ever since,” says Whitehead. “I’ve
done a little bit of Greco, a little freestyle, but mainly folk
wrestling – American-style wrestling. It’s just a different style:
It’s not Greco and it’s not freestyle, but it’s more like
freestyle than Greco.” Mike’s
MMA trick bag is much more varied now, with his having spent two and a
half years at Team Miletich, before moving to Salt Lake City and
training under Jeremy Horn, then finally relocating to Las Vegas.
Although a very capable grappler, Whitehead says wrestling is no longer
the backbone of his fight game. “No; I do a lot of Muay Thai and kickboxing, so I’ve incorporated much of that into my game now. I like to stand and bang.”
Mike, what kind of shape was Mark Kerr in when he fought you? “I
really don’t know: We didn’t fight for very long. But I know that I
caught him with some punches. He was big, but he didn’t look like the
old Mark Kerr. Obviously, not too many people in their prime are going
to look the way he did.” Could you give a brief rundown of your bout with Mark, please? “I just came out, took the middle of the ring, threw punches and he fell down. He got right back up. The ref pulled it up when I was ground’n’pounding him.”
You’ve won your last seven bouts, and you’ve crammed in eight fights this year, thus far, excluding your December 29 IFL Superfight with Krzystof Soszynski. What is your primary motive for fighting so frequently? “This
year I’ve mainly been building my record back up to get into the
bigger shows like the IFL – coming off my loss in the UFC.” Are keylocks and kimuras your principal techniques for winning a match by submission? “They
are, but not that I go out looking for those. It’s positions that
I’m looking for.” Do they come mainly from side control or the mount? “Actually
from north-south: I’ll get the north-south and I’ll drop some
punches, and they’ll sit up to one side and I’ll get the keylock or
kimura or whatever.” Around what weight do you intend being when you take on Krzystof Soszynski? “Probably around 245… 250.”
What are you expecting from him? “He’s
a lefty (southpaw) – that’s always something to be concerned with,
and he’s a wrestler, so I’ve got to make sure he doesn’t take me
down. And he’s a big guy: Anyone over 200 pounds, they’re always
going to punch hard, so…” Including you. “Yep,
I try.” So you expect him to want to take it to the ground? “Yeah,
after I catch him with punches I’m sure he’s going to want to take
it down.” Fitness will not be an issue for you, will it? “No,
I always keep myself in good shape.” Do you think you would have the advantage over Krzystof in the stand-up game? “Yes.” Who are you tipping out of Carlos Newton and Renzo Gracie? “I
don’t know; I’d probably have to say Carlos.” Mike, is there anything you’d like to add? “I’d
like to thank my training partners: Forrest Griffin, Jay Heiron, Mike
Pyle, Gray Maynard, Alex Schoenauer, and John Wood.” Sponsors? “Tap Out, fantasyfightclub.com, and Tribal Wear.”
Mike
Whitehead's stats:
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