BloodyKnux
06-23-2006, 12:31 AM
1 on 1 with Josh Haynes
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g178/dcbooks/josh.jpg
Josh talks about his career, TUF season 3, and his up-coming fight with Mike Bisping.
A father of three with a degree in Computer Information Systems seems like an unlikely candidate to be "The Ultimate Fighter," but that’s exactly what Josh Haynes is. At 5’9 and weighing 330lbs, Josh with the blessing of his wife Jennifer made a decision to pursue a career in mixed martial arts and now that decision has changed his life. Eight years later, now down to 205, and training with Team Quest in Oregon, Josh “Bring the Pain” Haynes promises to bring an exciting fight to the The Ultimate Fighter finals this Saturday June 24th on Spike TV.
BK- Prior to doing the show, the biggest fight you’d had was against UFC veteran Shonie Carter. Did facing a journeyman like Shonie put you off?
JH- That was good fight, one of my first fights at 205. I came in at 196. I ended up learning a lot from that fight. I made the mistake of fighting the name and not the person. That’s a mistake a lot guys make when they get a big fight. I gave him a lot of respect, and I didn’t fight my fight, but rather I fought to survive. Going into that fight I built a game-plan around all the things I wouldn’t do, rather than all the things I should have done. As a result I went to a decision at the end of three rounds and I ended up losing. Had I fought that fight like I typically do I may have won that fight. It was an enlightening fight. Shonie Carter definitely has a lot of skill, and he deserves to be where he’s at. He did a great job getting where he is. I think he’s kind of winding down at this point, but I’d like to fight him again.
BK- Did you feel that working with Tito was a major advantage over working with Ken?
JH- I think so, over six weeks, that’s a lot of time to make or break somebody. I think Tito did a real good job keeping all his guys conditioned and in good shape. I think that Ken didn’t put a lot of focus on his guys, and he didn’t really keep their conditioning up. You’re not going to learn a lot about how to fight or to do new thing in six weeks, but what you can do is improve your conditioning. I think Ken really did his guys a disservice, where as Tito, Dean and Sol really did a lot for their team to keep them healthy
BK- While on the show, did anyone think it was unfair that Randy Couture came in to cheer on Ed Herman, while Rory dealt with Kendall’s pranks?
JH- I don’t think so. What are you going to do if Randy Couture wants to come and visit? He was as kind and supportive to everyone else there as he was to Ed. It just so happened that he and Ed had a prior relationship. At the time nobody said anything. Everybody was as excited as Ed was to see him.
BK- In you first match you came to a close decision with Tait, who was later offered a chance to come back, and possibly face you again. How do you feel about him refusing the opportunity?
JH- You know Tait lost that fight, he said that in his world he won that fight, but he had an opportunity to come back and prove it, and he chose not to do that. So, his bad man. Myself, if I’d lost that fight, I’d have given a body part for the opportunity to come back and fight again. He’s got to live with that decision for the rest of his life, and he’s taken a lot of hits for making that choice. He made a bad decision I think he realizes that now.
BK- How do you feel about Kristian not taking the fight?
JH- I can really see his point. He had cuts on his head, and no matter who he fought those cuts would have opened back up again. I can understand his decision not to fight, he was hurt. You don’t heal up that much after 2 weeks. Cuts take a long time. I can understand Kristian, but Tait’s decision he’ll have to live with.
BK- You were an underdog throughout the show and now going into the finals.
JH- That’s the story of my life. People judge a book by its cover. A lot of people don’t know who I am, and I live to prove people wrong. Do not underestimate me you never underestimate somebody. Come Saturday night there will be another example proving that point. He (Bisping) may believe whatever he believes, and the fans might really be impressed with his record. The fact is I’m coming to fight, under dog or not. This underdog has a sharp bite. It’s going to hurt just the same for anybody that’s on the other side.
BK- In the show you came out like a real scrapper, and liked to stand and throw punches, but your record has seven wins all by submission. Why is that?
JH- People get lazy, they get lax. Most of the times, the submissions have been given to me. That’s really what happens. I’ll take any opportunity that’s given me, and most of the time when people get tired they hang their head,. I feel real comfortable with that choke, and I’ve taken that opportunity when it’s presented.
BK- Did working with Tito help you discover some area you needed to focus on in the future?
JH- In some ways it does. There are areas where I need to improve. And I’ve been working on it. I just recently moved up to Quest right before I had the opportunity to go on the show. So I had only had a couple months of formal training before I started fighting on the show. My wrestling isn’t as sharp as it needs to be, and I’m not much of a Jiu-Jitsu fighter. I’m a scrapper, and I come to fight. I’ve been working a lot on improving those aspects of my game. Kind of trying to build up a game-plan for the 24th. Something that they are going to have a hard time dealing with. Rather than trying to force my game-plan on somebody else I try to exploit their weaknesses.
BK- Tito has a big match coming up, and there are stories he injured. How's his health?
JH- He rolled his knee somewhere in the show, and kind of hurt it a little bit. I know when he fought Forrest he apparently only trained for four weeks, because his knee was messed up. I really don’t know how injured he is.
BK- Any prediction for his fight with Ken?
JH- I‘m going to check that box that says other.
BK- At what weight do you feel most comfortable fighting.
JH- I’m not a 205’er. I shouldn’t be at this weight class. I just happened to work myself into a position to fight in the finals for the contract. As soon as this is over I start cutting down to 170.
BK- Really 170? Do you have a vision of your future at 170 competing with the likes of Matt Hughes?
JH- Absolutely. I’d love to fight Matt Hughes. Maybe not right now, give me some time to get use to fighting at that weight, and get some more UFC time under my belt, and I’d love to fight Matt Hughes. It’d be a great time. We’ll see how much better I get over the next year or two. Right now I’d think I’d have a hell of a time with him, but you grow pretty fast once you are in the environment, and once I’m ready I think it would be a hell of a fight.
BK- A lot of fighters don’t perform as you would expect on the show, why is that?
JH- It happens that way. It’s real hard to fight on the show. You’re out of your environment. Everything that’s normal about your life is different. Your training is different. You're stuck in the house around people you don’t really enjoy being around. It really makes for some bad showings for people. You really fight out of your element. Frequently it doesn’t go really well for people. I think the fighting you guys saw on the show was a little bit more sloppy than I like to be. Believe it or not, I’m usually more aggressive and more focused with my strikes. Hopefully this Saturday, I can show that.
BK- On the show you remained focused, and you talked about your son as a inspiration for you. Can you tell us about it?
JH- When my son was 18 months old we found he was born with brain cancer. It’s a type called Medulla Blastoma, which is a tumor that attaches itself to the brain stem and the cerebellum. So we went to the hospital and they found a tumor about half the size of an adult fist. He was rushed into surgery and they did a 12 hour operation, and they removed the tumor for the most part. During the process he went septic a couple times. He bled out over three times, with them replacing the blood as quickly as he was losing it. So we went through that and then we found ourselves over the next 8 months doing chemotherapy treatments, all the time we lived in the hospital constantly for about four months. We took care of him during the entire process my wife and I would lay in the bed with him for days on end going through the cancer treatments, and he never complained. The doctors gave him a very minimal chance of success, and he just turned 5 the other day. The kids my hero he grew me up, and we’re closer ever year we’re that much closer to what they consider to being in remission or cured. We make it another couple years and he’ll be ok.
The thing about it children don’t know how to quit. Kids aren’t born with the ability to quit. Adults teach them how to quit. By telling them not to do things to stop doing whatever they’re doing. So a child when they get sick, they are just so strong. My son really taught me what it meant to be strong. When I go into a fight I kind of laugh about it. What are you going to do to me? Beat me up? Give me a break, come do your worst. Come break my arm. Whatever you do it doesn’t compare it doesn’t compare to what I’ve seen and what my son has been through. I can lose a fight because someone is better than me, but I refuse to quit, to give up. I just won’t do it.
BK- You have the biggest fight of your career coming up this Saturday, how are you preparing right now?
JH- We’re just focusing on some of the basics, mostly just keeping the blood flowing stay sharp so I don’t come in lethargic. I think one of the worst things you can do is take too much time off before a fight and lose some of the sharpness you worked so hard to gain.
BK- So you’re ready for Mike Bisping Saturday?
JH- He (Bisping) and I almost got into a fight this morning in the hallway. I don’t think there is any doubt that either one of us wants this. Either way I can’t lose in this fight. I’ve gotten this far and I think I’ve touched a lot of people with the ability to do what I’ve done. For me that’s payment enough honestly. I’d love to win, but I’ve already won on a lot of levels and he can’t take away what I’ve already done.
Check out Josh’s match with Mike Bisping on The Ultimate Fighter finale Saturday June 24th on Spike TV, and learn more about Josh at his website-
http://www.bringthepain.tv
-A big thanks to G-Row, from the TUF forums for helping set up this interview, and the speedy graphic help from Sean R. Smith.
Discuss this interview and the TUF season 3 Finals here. (http://www.bloodyknux.com/forum/showthread.php?p=482246#post482246)
-Jim “DC Books” Kirkland (http://www.bloodyknux.com/forum/member.php?u=270)
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g178/dcbooks/josh.jpg
Josh talks about his career, TUF season 3, and his up-coming fight with Mike Bisping.
A father of three with a degree in Computer Information Systems seems like an unlikely candidate to be "The Ultimate Fighter," but that’s exactly what Josh Haynes is. At 5’9 and weighing 330lbs, Josh with the blessing of his wife Jennifer made a decision to pursue a career in mixed martial arts and now that decision has changed his life. Eight years later, now down to 205, and training with Team Quest in Oregon, Josh “Bring the Pain” Haynes promises to bring an exciting fight to the The Ultimate Fighter finals this Saturday June 24th on Spike TV.
BK- Prior to doing the show, the biggest fight you’d had was against UFC veteran Shonie Carter. Did facing a journeyman like Shonie put you off?
JH- That was good fight, one of my first fights at 205. I came in at 196. I ended up learning a lot from that fight. I made the mistake of fighting the name and not the person. That’s a mistake a lot guys make when they get a big fight. I gave him a lot of respect, and I didn’t fight my fight, but rather I fought to survive. Going into that fight I built a game-plan around all the things I wouldn’t do, rather than all the things I should have done. As a result I went to a decision at the end of three rounds and I ended up losing. Had I fought that fight like I typically do I may have won that fight. It was an enlightening fight. Shonie Carter definitely has a lot of skill, and he deserves to be where he’s at. He did a great job getting where he is. I think he’s kind of winding down at this point, but I’d like to fight him again.
BK- Did you feel that working with Tito was a major advantage over working with Ken?
JH- I think so, over six weeks, that’s a lot of time to make or break somebody. I think Tito did a real good job keeping all his guys conditioned and in good shape. I think that Ken didn’t put a lot of focus on his guys, and he didn’t really keep their conditioning up. You’re not going to learn a lot about how to fight or to do new thing in six weeks, but what you can do is improve your conditioning. I think Ken really did his guys a disservice, where as Tito, Dean and Sol really did a lot for their team to keep them healthy
BK- While on the show, did anyone think it was unfair that Randy Couture came in to cheer on Ed Herman, while Rory dealt with Kendall’s pranks?
JH- I don’t think so. What are you going to do if Randy Couture wants to come and visit? He was as kind and supportive to everyone else there as he was to Ed. It just so happened that he and Ed had a prior relationship. At the time nobody said anything. Everybody was as excited as Ed was to see him.
BK- In you first match you came to a close decision with Tait, who was later offered a chance to come back, and possibly face you again. How do you feel about him refusing the opportunity?
JH- You know Tait lost that fight, he said that in his world he won that fight, but he had an opportunity to come back and prove it, and he chose not to do that. So, his bad man. Myself, if I’d lost that fight, I’d have given a body part for the opportunity to come back and fight again. He’s got to live with that decision for the rest of his life, and he’s taken a lot of hits for making that choice. He made a bad decision I think he realizes that now.
BK- How do you feel about Kristian not taking the fight?
JH- I can really see his point. He had cuts on his head, and no matter who he fought those cuts would have opened back up again. I can understand his decision not to fight, he was hurt. You don’t heal up that much after 2 weeks. Cuts take a long time. I can understand Kristian, but Tait’s decision he’ll have to live with.
BK- You were an underdog throughout the show and now going into the finals.
JH- That’s the story of my life. People judge a book by its cover. A lot of people don’t know who I am, and I live to prove people wrong. Do not underestimate me you never underestimate somebody. Come Saturday night there will be another example proving that point. He (Bisping) may believe whatever he believes, and the fans might really be impressed with his record. The fact is I’m coming to fight, under dog or not. This underdog has a sharp bite. It’s going to hurt just the same for anybody that’s on the other side.
BK- In the show you came out like a real scrapper, and liked to stand and throw punches, but your record has seven wins all by submission. Why is that?
JH- People get lazy, they get lax. Most of the times, the submissions have been given to me. That’s really what happens. I’ll take any opportunity that’s given me, and most of the time when people get tired they hang their head,. I feel real comfortable with that choke, and I’ve taken that opportunity when it’s presented.
BK- Did working with Tito help you discover some area you needed to focus on in the future?
JH- In some ways it does. There are areas where I need to improve. And I’ve been working on it. I just recently moved up to Quest right before I had the opportunity to go on the show. So I had only had a couple months of formal training before I started fighting on the show. My wrestling isn’t as sharp as it needs to be, and I’m not much of a Jiu-Jitsu fighter. I’m a scrapper, and I come to fight. I’ve been working a lot on improving those aspects of my game. Kind of trying to build up a game-plan for the 24th. Something that they are going to have a hard time dealing with. Rather than trying to force my game-plan on somebody else I try to exploit their weaknesses.
BK- Tito has a big match coming up, and there are stories he injured. How's his health?
JH- He rolled his knee somewhere in the show, and kind of hurt it a little bit. I know when he fought Forrest he apparently only trained for four weeks, because his knee was messed up. I really don’t know how injured he is.
BK- Any prediction for his fight with Ken?
JH- I‘m going to check that box that says other.
BK- At what weight do you feel most comfortable fighting.
JH- I’m not a 205’er. I shouldn’t be at this weight class. I just happened to work myself into a position to fight in the finals for the contract. As soon as this is over I start cutting down to 170.
BK- Really 170? Do you have a vision of your future at 170 competing with the likes of Matt Hughes?
JH- Absolutely. I’d love to fight Matt Hughes. Maybe not right now, give me some time to get use to fighting at that weight, and get some more UFC time under my belt, and I’d love to fight Matt Hughes. It’d be a great time. We’ll see how much better I get over the next year or two. Right now I’d think I’d have a hell of a time with him, but you grow pretty fast once you are in the environment, and once I’m ready I think it would be a hell of a fight.
BK- A lot of fighters don’t perform as you would expect on the show, why is that?
JH- It happens that way. It’s real hard to fight on the show. You’re out of your environment. Everything that’s normal about your life is different. Your training is different. You're stuck in the house around people you don’t really enjoy being around. It really makes for some bad showings for people. You really fight out of your element. Frequently it doesn’t go really well for people. I think the fighting you guys saw on the show was a little bit more sloppy than I like to be. Believe it or not, I’m usually more aggressive and more focused with my strikes. Hopefully this Saturday, I can show that.
BK- On the show you remained focused, and you talked about your son as a inspiration for you. Can you tell us about it?
JH- When my son was 18 months old we found he was born with brain cancer. It’s a type called Medulla Blastoma, which is a tumor that attaches itself to the brain stem and the cerebellum. So we went to the hospital and they found a tumor about half the size of an adult fist. He was rushed into surgery and they did a 12 hour operation, and they removed the tumor for the most part. During the process he went septic a couple times. He bled out over three times, with them replacing the blood as quickly as he was losing it. So we went through that and then we found ourselves over the next 8 months doing chemotherapy treatments, all the time we lived in the hospital constantly for about four months. We took care of him during the entire process my wife and I would lay in the bed with him for days on end going through the cancer treatments, and he never complained. The doctors gave him a very minimal chance of success, and he just turned 5 the other day. The kids my hero he grew me up, and we’re closer ever year we’re that much closer to what they consider to being in remission or cured. We make it another couple years and he’ll be ok.
The thing about it children don’t know how to quit. Kids aren’t born with the ability to quit. Adults teach them how to quit. By telling them not to do things to stop doing whatever they’re doing. So a child when they get sick, they are just so strong. My son really taught me what it meant to be strong. When I go into a fight I kind of laugh about it. What are you going to do to me? Beat me up? Give me a break, come do your worst. Come break my arm. Whatever you do it doesn’t compare it doesn’t compare to what I’ve seen and what my son has been through. I can lose a fight because someone is better than me, but I refuse to quit, to give up. I just won’t do it.
BK- You have the biggest fight of your career coming up this Saturday, how are you preparing right now?
JH- We’re just focusing on some of the basics, mostly just keeping the blood flowing stay sharp so I don’t come in lethargic. I think one of the worst things you can do is take too much time off before a fight and lose some of the sharpness you worked so hard to gain.
BK- So you’re ready for Mike Bisping Saturday?
JH- He (Bisping) and I almost got into a fight this morning in the hallway. I don’t think there is any doubt that either one of us wants this. Either way I can’t lose in this fight. I’ve gotten this far and I think I’ve touched a lot of people with the ability to do what I’ve done. For me that’s payment enough honestly. I’d love to win, but I’ve already won on a lot of levels and he can’t take away what I’ve already done.
Check out Josh’s match with Mike Bisping on The Ultimate Fighter finale Saturday June 24th on Spike TV, and learn more about Josh at his website-
http://www.bringthepain.tv
-A big thanks to G-Row, from the TUF forums for helping set up this interview, and the speedy graphic help from Sean R. Smith.
Discuss this interview and the TUF season 3 Finals here. (http://www.bloodyknux.com/forum/showthread.php?p=482246#post482246)
-Jim “DC Books” Kirkland (http://www.bloodyknux.com/forum/member.php?u=270)