MMA Worldwide

Brock Larson: Still Waters Run Deep

Posted by Brett Atchley on the 21 August 2009 | View Comments

Larson, a Minnesota native has seen a lot of success since joining the WEC ranks. Going 4-1 with his lone loss coming to the hands of then WEC champion Carlos Condit, he began his WEC career after earning his first UFC victory over Keita Nakamura back in December of 2006

With the WEC having done away with both light heavyweight and middleweight divisions recently, the shallow pool of talent became evident in the welterweight division as well. Matchmaker Sean Shelby had struggled to find enough talent to arrange bouts, resulting in several last minute changes.

Larson’s last bout saw the Minnesota native submit respected veteran Mike Pyle at UFC 98 with an arm triangle choke. While he still remains a top player in his division, Larson understands there will be naysayers, and that because he is a WEC import, there will be those who will question whether or not he will be able to compete effectively in one of the UFC’s most stacked divisions. “Whenever you come into an organization – whether it’s the UFC, WEC, Extreme Challenge, anything – I think when it's your first time back or, you know, you're always trying to prove that you belong there wherever it is. All in all, I think most people respect that I belong there and know that I belong there.”

Having amassed a record of 26-2, it’s the loss to Condit in his bid to become WEC Champion that stings the most. “That was the one fight I wanted back out of my two losses. Jon Fitch and I fought a great fight, went to decision; I lost the decision. Carlos and I, he submitted me and I don’t think he’d do that again. That’s the one fight I want to redeem. I want a do over. I wanted a mulligan.”

Having mulled over that loss with the opportunity to exact redemption Brock reflects on a defeat at the hands of UFC standout John Fitch in a decision in UFN 2 October 3, 2002, noting that if he had the opportunity to do it again today the outcome would be very different.

Having said all of that Brock has his sights set next on September 16, 2009 where he will face up and comer Mike Pierce at Ultimate Fight Night in Oklahoma City, Ok.

He, with close friend and rising MMA prospect Jeremy Lang, was recently in Seattle, Wa. training at Matt Hume’s AMC facility with Robbie Lawler and Rich Franklin. I was able to spend some time with him and Jeremy while they spent the day in Seattle where they stopped into Ivan Salaverry’s MMA during a photo shoot for VXRSI, a clothes line Ivan is producing. Brock is pretty light-hearted and likes to have a good time. There were some pretty hilarious moments that afternoon.

MMA Worldwide: Hey Brock, you guys eat already?

Brock Larson: Ya, we went down to Ivar’s Seafood on the pier and did some considerable damage to the buffet. Sundays is for hanging out and eating.

MW: How’s Seattle been as a place to train and how did it come to be?

BL: It’s the second time we’ve been here. It’s a really nice place. Lot’s to see but we really just haven’t had time to get out except today. Monte Cox approached us in that he thought it would be a good idea for us to come out here and train with Matt (Hume) with Rich (Franklin) and Robbie (Lawler) to just get a different perspective and training methods that we could use. It’s always good to go to different gym and train with different coaches. Everyone has something unique in the way they train a team and just the team as a whole.

MW: What are your thoughts on the uniqueness of AMC’s training methods?

BL: It’s pretty damn intense and really diverse. He places a lot of emphasis on conditioning and technique.

He has us running up some mountain one day, aquatic conditioning another and a series of plyo-metric sessions, then we spar and work on technique pretty diligently also. Matt is a technician on another level. He picks apart movement and develops a lot of countering techniques based on the irregularity of an opponent’s movement. It’s difficult because it has to be something that is reacted upon by instinct. I guess it’s a lot like anything you have to learn to become good at or master. Jeremy and I are picking up a lot of little things that we can utilize into our offense as well as defense.

MW: What are your thoughts’s on your upcoming bout with Mike Pierce on September 16 in Ultimate Fight Night?

BL: Well, I know he’s pretty well rounded and that he’s a south-paw. He’s got a record of 9-1 I believe but he really hasn’t had to tangle with someone on my level before. So I see some advantages there. Actually I see nothing but advantages. It’s a fight I am taking very seriously and looking forward to getting back in the octagon.

MW: So, just in retrospect you came in from the WEC when the lightweight and middleweight divisions were absorbed by the UFC. Has that been and adjustment at all in any significant degree?

BL: Yes and no. It’s identical as far as the process of promo and marketing in what my obligations are. The photo-shoots are identical the interview are all basically set up the same way. It used to take me a good half hour to forty-five minutes to get through an interview but, they coach you and help you cut through the unknowns as far as what my inexperience was. Now I just walk in, do a little make-up, hair and whip it out.

MW: Did you say make up and hair?

BL: (Laughs) Well, ya. I mean you gotta look good and that’s a pretty tall order to get me looking good. The hair is a pretty quick deal. I don’t really have as much to deal with up there as I do with the make up. You surely can understand that right? (Laughing)

MW: Ya, I see what you mean. Do you ever see Brock Lesner much anymore?

BL: He used to come into train with us at Minnesota Martial Arts back when he first came into this but it just got to the point where there was media hanging out waiting for him to get done. It caused him a lot of distractions and he just left and started training exclusively at his residence. He has those kinds of resources that he has a sizable estate that’s completely gated with his own facility with all the latest and greatest equipment. When he is preparing for a fight he flies his training partners in and they stay there. He has a full time coach on his payroll from the University of Minnesota that he pays pretty well. For Brock it’s what works for him. He just doesn’t like all the P.R. stuff.

MW: What did you think of his conduct in the last fight with Frank Mir?

BL: I just cringe when I see Brock in an interview. I don’t think its how he means to come across or if he is playing up the bad guy image but none the less it kind of just makes me want to crawl under the nearest thing when I see some of his interviews. I’m, or just we as people from the mid-west, aren’t that way. We’re pretty tight and polite. I’ve only ever gotten close to feeling what I see in him one time.

MW: Do tell. When was that?

BL: It was when I fought John Alessio. He was just out of line preceding that fight and after it. The guy attacked me and my family as far as remarks he made and then when he gets DQ’d because of an illegal knee in our fight, walks out and flips me the bird. Like it’s my fault. I was just furious and really wanted to mop the floor up with him. Maurice (Smith) is over there talking to Jeremy about fighting Alessio in his promotion. I told Jeremy that I would pay his purse to pound on his ass. He’s just a pretty boy who has average skills. Uggggghhh!! (Shakes his head)

MW: Moving on, how is your training shaping up to fight Pierce?

BL: I’m one round away from being in shape. I’m working on my stand-up or I should say focusing on it. I was in AMC last Saturday sparring with Mario Maranda. That guy is tough. He rang my bell a few times with some monster kicks to the head. I thought the first and second rounds went pretty well but, that third round he caught me and it looked like the stars of the Milky Way is all I could see for a minute. Tough guy though, great take-down defense. That’s where I’m pretty powerful. I just ran him into the corner going for a double-leg and I still had to work.

Ya, you know some people refer to me as being like a bull. That’s the graphic I decided on for my walk-out shirt. You know the one that Tapout is working on for me. Pretty excited about that. (Laughs)

MW: So, what’s your schedule from here on out?

BL: Well, I’m staying till Wednesday and then going back to Minnesota to put on a fight, you can find out all about it on www.brocklarson.com and then I’ll be back the first part of September to continue training with the guys out here. My wife doesn’t like me gone for more than a week or ten days at a time. She’s real good about it and understands its what I have to do. It’s beats construction and pays better when it’s paying. It’s been good to me and I’m looking to hopefully sometime soon be offered a chance to fight John (Fitch). The division is stacked, so I’ just taking it all in one fight at a time and having fun while I’m at it.