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VERNON WHITE
© Marc Wickert All photos copyright 2004 Zuffa
LLC When Vernon "Tiger" White made his Octagon debut at UFC 43: Meltdown against Ian Freeman, Vernon was standing in at short notice for his trainer, Ken Shamrock, who had suffered an anterior cruciate ligament tear. "I had two weeks’ notice. I actually had a fight with Jeremy Horn three weeks before that. And then I had a week where I was just resting, and the next thing you know, they called me and said: ‘Hey, we have an opening. Ken can’t do the fight so we want you to do it.’ And I was kind of surprised, seeing as he was a heavyweight and I wasn’t. I weighed 208 and Ian Freeman was 220. He was mostly upper body though, so as long as I could stay away from his hands I was all right," says White. "The fight was pretty fast paced. I was throwing a lot of punches and kicks, and I took him down one time. I went to take him down again, but I couldn’t take him down. I was too tired by then and he was too strong. But the majority of the fight, I think, was me pushing the fight, working for some takedowns, working for a submission. He tried a submission attempt on me for a heel-hook and I tried to counter with my own heel-hook, but his legs were just too strong. I was basically trying to be aggressive. I wanted to knock the guy out, but I guess I just wasn’t strong enough." Born in East Palo Alto, California, Vernon originally took up Tae Kwon Do to prevent being picked on by school bullies, and later made a name for himself as a well-respected fight instructor, before successfully representing the Lion’s Den as a Pancrase fighter in Japan. "I was studying Korean martial arts and this guy whose boys I was training, he basically found out I was a good teacher and he called up Bob Shamrock (Ken’s father). And Ken was training fighters to go to Japan. I made it through the initiation, and next thing you know I was going back and forth to Japan." Despite the difference in weight divisions and the short notice Vernon was given, he accepted the UFC offer to fight Ian Freeman. As at the start of round one, Freeman put his hand out to touch gloves for the commencement of round two. But Vernon declined. White says he did not see Ian’s offer to touch gloves as an attempt by Freeman to bring the fighters in closer. "No, I think he was just saying, ‘Let’s have a good round.’ But we did it once, and I don’t want to do it twice.You know, ‘I don’t want to get too friendly with you, I’m fighting you.’"
The bout went the three rounds, and after going to the judges, was declared a draw. Many in the crowd thought the decision should have gone to White, including ring announcer Joe Rogan, who commented that Vernon’s previous fight against Jeremy Horn also had a very controversial outcome. "I was a little bit upset, because I thought I delivered more devastating punches than he did. There were a couple of times he got me on my back, but I got right out straight away. And I think I did a lot more damage - standing up and on the ground." For Vernon’s fight against Chuck Liddell at UFC 49: Unfinished Business, he does not necessarily plan on taking Chuck to the ground, despite Liddell’s reputation as a striker. "It depends on what he is doing. If he’s pushing the fight, and he’s coming at me strong, I might try taking him down. But I might not. It just depends on what I feel at the moment. When I took Ian down, it wasn’t like one of those things where I was in trouble, or I needed to do it. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing." Vernon, a southpaw, is also known for his unconventional striking techniques, and he believes his unusual attacking style could prove to be a handful for Liddell. "I think Chuck has good hands: good strong punches, but I think that my kicks and punches altogether are better than his, because I can punch from so many different angles. And I think it’s going to be difficult for Chuck to handle what I have to give to him. I feel like I’m not a boxer…I’m not really a kickboxer. I really don’t have any certain style, but I do take a little bit from every style and put it together. And it does give me my unconventional, weird, whacky style, I guess you could call it. I’ve been doing it for years and people have seen what I do, but it still catches people off guard." Chuck has been promised a match against the winner of the Belfort/Couture light-heavyweight title fight: providing he defeats Vernon. White expects Chuck to be going for the KO against him, but doesn’t think Liddell will have underestimated him whilst focusing on the title fight opportunity. "Chuck’s game plan will be the same as it always is: to stay standing and try to knock me out. I’m not going to try to do anything to out-push the fight. I’m not going to try to wear myself out so he can get the upper hand on me. You know, he’s a smart fighter. I don’t think he underestimates me, but I don’t think he understands how strong I really am, because he doesn’t think I have good punching power. But there are a lot of people out there who will beg to differ with him."
Vernon, is there anything you’d like to add? "Yeah, I came over to Australia once. I’d like to come over there again. It was great over there. I fought at Darling Harbour and I was at Bondi Beach, hanging out there. It’s nice over there and I’d love to go back." Interested promoters in Australia can contact Vernon White through the Lion’s Den at shamrockinsider@aol.com
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