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04-08-2006, 11:42 PM
Exclusive BloodyKnux.Com Interview
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Drago talks about the UFC and his upcoming Ring of Combat title defense.
On Friday April 14th, Lou Neglia launches his tenth Ring of Combat event. For four years, Ring of Combat has brought some of mixed martial arts most exciting fighters to New Jersey. Past ROC warriors include UFC and TUF stars like Luke Cummo, Josh Koscheck, and Serra Jiu-Jitsu fighter Pete "Drago" Sell. Pete exploded onto the big stage of MMA when he upset UFC star Phil "The New York Bad Ass" at UFC 51. Pete (6-1) defends his Ring of Combat light heavyweight belt against Taylor Sensabaugh at the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City, and we've had the chance to chat with him about his upcoming match.
BK- You're best known for training with Serra Jiu-Jitsu, but is there anyone else you're working with?
PS- Still training with Serra, and I work sometimes with John Massa Wrestling on my wrestling. He actually got all American this year. Ray Longo is my stand up coach, you know, we have a good thing going. Everybody's getting better. We have more guys coming in fighting, which means training partners for me. We have a solid team.
BK- What do you know about your opponent on April 14th, Taylor Sensabaugh?
PS- I don't really know much about him. I've seen some tape on him from 2002. That doesn't tell you very much, that was four years ago, and you can get a lot better in four years. Like me, I'm a different fighter than four years ago. I'm not even close to what I was.
BK- Does that make you nervous, not knowing about him?
PS- Not at all, I'm well rounded, I hit hard standing up, I'm good on the ground. Wherever the fight goes, it's not like I'm a fish out of water. I'm ready for anything.
BK- Speaking of hitting hard, you sent Baroni to Japan, has the UFC got more plans for you?
PS- Yeah, I got things coming up, right now I'm gonna take care of this first. Actually I got offered Chris Leben for the April 6th card, but I was already signed for this fight, so I couldn't take the fight.
BK- That would be a great match-up.
PS- I'm in with the UFC, it's not like I'm going anywhere. I'm fighting for a long time. No matter what happens I'm going to keep fighting. I love what I do. It's not like doing this for fame, or whatever. I do it because I like to fight.
BK- Is there anyone you're working with that you think is under the radar, and we should watch out for?
PS- Of course Luke(Cummo), he's already in the big show. I spar with him all the time, and we've got Joey Scarolla coming up, He's a black belt under Matt, and he's really good Jiu-Jitsu on the ground. Matt's brother Nick he's fought in the UFC once, just triangled a couple guys, he's fighting again April 29th at Reality Fight. His Jiu-Jitsu game you don't even know how good he is. He's so good, he doesn't mind being on the bottom.
BK- Anyone you'd like to fight in the future? Maybe a rematch with Baroni over in Japan?
PS- Yeah, that would be better move, maybe later on in my career. That would end all the hype of people saying I got lucky. From my point of view, I controlled the whole fight. Just because he was on the top, doesn't mean shit. He wasn't like pounding the crap out of me or anything. People think if you're in the guard, then you're losing, which isn't true. People are getting better now, understanding that you can win from the bottom. Like Nick(Serra) he'd rather be on his back in his guard, his game is so sick he pulls it off.
BK- Well thanks for talking to us, and good luck this Friday!
Pete defends his light heavyweight belt at Ring of Combat X this Friday, April 14th, at the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The doors open at 7pm and the excitement begins at 8pm. Check back here more pre-fight interviews, and after Friday for for coverage of the fights.
-Jim "DCBooks" Kirkland
Discuss the interview here-
http://www.bloodyknux.com/forum/showthread.php?p=389387#post389387
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g178/dcbooks/sell.gif
Drago talks about the UFC and his upcoming Ring of Combat title defense.
On Friday April 14th, Lou Neglia launches his tenth Ring of Combat event. For four years, Ring of Combat has brought some of mixed martial arts most exciting fighters to New Jersey. Past ROC warriors include UFC and TUF stars like Luke Cummo, Josh Koscheck, and Serra Jiu-Jitsu fighter Pete "Drago" Sell. Pete exploded onto the big stage of MMA when he upset UFC star Phil "The New York Bad Ass" at UFC 51. Pete (6-1) defends his Ring of Combat light heavyweight belt against Taylor Sensabaugh at the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City, and we've had the chance to chat with him about his upcoming match.
BK- You're best known for training with Serra Jiu-Jitsu, but is there anyone else you're working with?
PS- Still training with Serra, and I work sometimes with John Massa Wrestling on my wrestling. He actually got all American this year. Ray Longo is my stand up coach, you know, we have a good thing going. Everybody's getting better. We have more guys coming in fighting, which means training partners for me. We have a solid team.
BK- What do you know about your opponent on April 14th, Taylor Sensabaugh?
PS- I don't really know much about him. I've seen some tape on him from 2002. That doesn't tell you very much, that was four years ago, and you can get a lot better in four years. Like me, I'm a different fighter than four years ago. I'm not even close to what I was.
BK- Does that make you nervous, not knowing about him?
PS- Not at all, I'm well rounded, I hit hard standing up, I'm good on the ground. Wherever the fight goes, it's not like I'm a fish out of water. I'm ready for anything.
BK- Speaking of hitting hard, you sent Baroni to Japan, has the UFC got more plans for you?
PS- Yeah, I got things coming up, right now I'm gonna take care of this first. Actually I got offered Chris Leben for the April 6th card, but I was already signed for this fight, so I couldn't take the fight.
BK- That would be a great match-up.
PS- I'm in with the UFC, it's not like I'm going anywhere. I'm fighting for a long time. No matter what happens I'm going to keep fighting. I love what I do. It's not like doing this for fame, or whatever. I do it because I like to fight.
BK- Is there anyone you're working with that you think is under the radar, and we should watch out for?
PS- Of course Luke(Cummo), he's already in the big show. I spar with him all the time, and we've got Joey Scarolla coming up, He's a black belt under Matt, and he's really good Jiu-Jitsu on the ground. Matt's brother Nick he's fought in the UFC once, just triangled a couple guys, he's fighting again April 29th at Reality Fight. His Jiu-Jitsu game you don't even know how good he is. He's so good, he doesn't mind being on the bottom.
BK- Anyone you'd like to fight in the future? Maybe a rematch with Baroni over in Japan?
PS- Yeah, that would be better move, maybe later on in my career. That would end all the hype of people saying I got lucky. From my point of view, I controlled the whole fight. Just because he was on the top, doesn't mean shit. He wasn't like pounding the crap out of me or anything. People think if you're in the guard, then you're losing, which isn't true. People are getting better now, understanding that you can win from the bottom. Like Nick(Serra) he'd rather be on his back in his guard, his game is so sick he pulls it off.
BK- Well thanks for talking to us, and good luck this Friday!
Pete defends his light heavyweight belt at Ring of Combat X this Friday, April 14th, at the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The doors open at 7pm and the excitement begins at 8pm. Check back here more pre-fight interviews, and after Friday for for coverage of the fights.
-Jim "DCBooks" Kirkland
Discuss the interview here-
http://www.bloodyknux.com/forum/showthread.php?p=389387#post389387