|
PETE "DRAGO" SELL
Talk Is Cheap
 Pete Sell (camouflage shorts) and Phil Baroni at UFC 51
© Marc Wickert
www.knucklepit.com
All photos copyright 2004 Zuffa LLC
Photography by Joshua Hedges "Hey man, what’s up? You gotta excuse my voice - it’s a little hoarse. I’ve been partying a bit. All work and no play isn’t good for anyone. You’ve got to live a little," says Pete Sell after celebrating his debut at UFC 51: Super Saturday. And what a super Saturday it was for 22-year-old Sell. With just three weeks’ notice, the two-time Ring of Combat champion was approached to fill Robbie Lawler’s spot on the card against Phil "New York Bad Ass" Baroni, after Lawler was sidelined with an elbow injury. "I had a great time and it was fun fighting in the UFC. It doesn’t get better than that. You’re part of the top of the food chain, where you fight the best fighters in the world. I was supposed to be competing February 26 at another event in Atlantic City. I was already training a week for that fight when UFC called a couple of guys. But they didn’t want to take the fight on such short notice. "I had nothing to lose, so I jumped at the opportunity. That’s my attitude: If you want to win too badly, you don’t win. That’s the attitude I keep for everything. Expect the worst; hope for the best – no disappointments. That’s what I live by." Prior to the bout, Pete was swamped by ‘those in the know’ who told him he’d have Buckley’s chance of lasting with Baroni. Pete filed their advice collectively in the talk-is-cheap bin, then concentrated on winning the match. Despite its being Sell’s Octagon debut, he was able to block out all the cheap talk and negativity.
"When I first got there, behind the scenes, it was so loud with the TVs and everything. It was thunderous with so many people. At first I was nervous. Even in the locker room everybody gets the nerves, but I just channeled everything into the fight. I’m one of those people who, when it really comes down to it, I don’t give a f**k. That’s how I am in everyday life. I don’t worry about the small stuff. I keep a clear head, and I go out there for business. I don’t care about the cameras and this and that. Afterwards you can think about it, but until then, you just shut it off like a switch." Pete attributes his tunnel vision, and his ability to block out anything that doesn’t smell of success, down to his hard past. Never walking away from adversity has tempered Sell’s mettle and strengthened his resolve. "People were saying before the Baroni fight that I’d only had five fights. Well now I’ve had six fights and four of those fights were total wars. I’ve never taken an easy fight. The first fight I had was against a guy 4-1-1. The next guy was 9-0-0. Everyone thought I was going to lose that fight too. I was the big underdog then and I proved everybody wrong. The next guy was a really good wrestler, Derek Johnson, who I supposedly couldn’t get down. I took him down in the first 30 seconds of the fight and arm-barred him. Then I had my two wars with Chris Ligouri, so I’ve been battle tested. "And with Phil Baroni, everybody kept saying I couldn’t trade with him. It’s all hype: I out-boxed Baroni. I just stuck to the game plan that Matt Serra, Ray Longo and Nick Serra were working with me. I didn’t trade with him. I just went ‘bop, bop, bop,’ getting my shots off and getting out. And I don’t think people gave me enough credit for that. They think of me as being a Jiu-Jitsu guy, but I hit hard too. Even in sparring I’ve dropped a dozen people with a variety of punches and body shots – that’s with 16-oz. gloves and head gear on."
Pete, did you feel confident throughout the fight? "I got more and more confident as the fight went on. I could see he was getting tired. I had a good time. There was never a time in the fight where I got stressed and thought, ‘Oh, gee. I’m in trouble.’ " What were Phil Baroni’s main strengths? "He’s a strong guy. He’s supposed to be a heavy hitter, but I get hit all the time in training and I’ve taken hits in my previous matches, so I’m used to that. You can get hit on the button and go down. Anybody can get caught on the button and go down, but if your head movement is good you can take a punch, and I was able to use my boxing skills in there. "I’m not taking anything away from the guy, but everyone was saying how hard he hits, and I got hit by him. But I’ve got a good chin and the first time he hit me, I thought: ‘I’ve been hit harder than that before.’ " You’ve said in the past that you like to win by submissions. Was the guillotine part of your game plan? "Just weeks prior to UFC 51, I’d been showing my students a technique for setting up the guillotine choke. People think you just apply a guillotine and that’s it. But there’s more to it than that. You have to have an effective technique for leading up to the choke. And I knew that by my being the newcomer to the Octagon I’d have to put Baroni out. I didn’t think I’d get a decision." Did your work as a bouncer help in the ring? "Not at all. Bouncing is just a way for me to make money. It’s no big deal really. If someone causes trouble at work, I don’t even bother talking about it later because it’s of no consequence to me. It’s just work and nothing compared to fighting professionally in the cage." Pete, that looks like an interesting tattoo on your left arm. What’s its significance? "That’s a demon smiling while grabbing the Grim Reaper in his hand. He’s smiling in the face of death. And that’s my attitude to life. You know, everybody has to die some day, whether it’s fifty years from now…I’ve had a ball. And when it’s time to go you can’t do anything about it. Even though I’m 22, I’m going to die one day, so why worry about it. If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen." Are your sights set on the UFC middleweight title? "Of course. I’m down for whatever. I want to keep fighting in the UFC and maybe go to Japan eventually too. I want to get a lot of fights under my belt. I want to have a lot of exciting fights." Your sponsors? "www.combatathlete.tv and www.ktfo.tv " Pete, thanks for giving your time outside the restaurant. Enjoy your dinner. "Yeah, thanks man. I better get going. They’ve already started without me. I’ll talk to you later."
For more on Pete Sell: www.serrajitsu.com and www.ufc.tv.
|
