MMANews.com's own Chris Howie recently caught up with one of the most exciting fighters of any weight-class, Phil Baroni for an in-depth interview. Baroni headlines the Strikeforce MMA show live on PPV June 22 against the legendary Frank Shamrock. Chris caught up with Phil to discuss this fight among a number of other topics. Below is a complete transcript.
PHIL BARONI INTERVIEW
Chris Howie of MMANews.com: This is Chris Howie with MMANews.com and today I am speaking with The “New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni. How ya doing today Phil?
Phil Baroni: I'm doing good. How are you doing over there today?
MMANews.com: Not doing too bad at all Phil. You're almost two weeks out from your fight with Frank Shamrock on June 22nd. You must be looking forward to this one.
Phil Baroni: Of course I am. It's a big fight and I'm a big game fighter. It's going to be a big night and I'm looking real forward to it.
MMANews.com: How is training going for the fight?
Phil Baroni: Training is going great, I'm right on schedule. I'm in great shape. My mind is right, my body is right, and I'm ready to go to war.
MMANews.com: How is your cardio and weight doing at this point?
Phil Baroni: My weight is good. I could make weight tomorrow if I had to.
MMANews.com: This fight with Shamrock is for the vacant Strikeforce middleweight title correct?
Phil Baroni: That's right.
MMANews.com: What are your thoughts on Dana White stating if you defeat Baroni he will give to a chance to get back into the UFC?
Phil Baroni: Well, It's not a chance, it's a shot at the title. I could fight in the UFC any time I want and so could Frank Shamrock. It would be stupid not to have us in the UFC. What I want is a title shot and Dana told me if I beat Frank Shamrock I'll get it. Look at the roster of the UFC, they're a bunch of bums at 185 lbs. So I'm going to take care of this small problem first and go over there and win a world title.
MMANews.com: Your upcoming fight with Shamrock has been in the works for some time now. How do you see the fight going when you get in there and the bell rings?
Phil Baroni: Well it can go one of two ways. He can try and stand with me and he is going to get knocked out quick. If he tries to play it smart and move around, go for takedowns it will take a little while longer but he'll still get knocked out. I'll just punish him for a while but either way he's going to get knocked out.
MMANews.com: Have you worked on your ground game?
Phil Baroni: My ground game's good.
MMANews.com: Where are you training at now?
Phil Baroni: I'm training at Randy Couture's gym in Las Vegas where I live and I've been stopping in and out of AKA in San Jose.
MMANews.com: How have things been going training at Randy's gym?
Phil Baroni: Shawn Tompkins is my head coach right now and everything couldn't be better. I'm right on schedule. Everything is perfect in camp and falling right into place.
MMANews.com: The UFC Middleweight champ right now is Anderson Silva. How do you feel you matchup with someone like Anderson?
Phil Baroni: Anderson is a strong guy. I think I match up really well. He's a great champion and a great fighter but, I mean he's not a big puncher. He was submittied by Ryo Chonan in the third round and I knocked out Chonan in under two minutes. I think Anderson is a really skilled fighter but he'd have a hard time with me, talent or not.
MMANews.com: What were your opinions of Zuffa buying Pride?
Phil Baroni: Ya know, good stuff from Dana White and Zuffa, they are a good organization to fight for. I like Pride and like the idea of there being two big shows out there to fight for. It's good to have an organization that can rival UFC and give them competition. Really, it doesn't make much difference to me. I'm glad I got to fight in Pride when they had 10 minute rounds, stomps on the ground, and knees to the head on the ground. I'm glad to have been a part of all that and someday people will look back and see some crazy, legendary stuff. There was some amazing fights in Pride and I'm happy to have fought for them. I'm glad I fought for the UFC and I'm sure I'll be back there again.
MMANews.com Do you have a preference to fight for either organization?
Phil Baroni: Not really. Whichever one has the best fighters in the world. At the time I felt Pride did and that's why I was over there. I felt that the Pride middleweights with Dan Henderson, myself, Misaki, Yuki Kondo, and Denis Kang were all better than the Rich Franklin's and, ya know, Evan Tanner, Nathan Marquardt in the UFC. I wanted to be the best in my weight class so that's why I was there. Right now I'm not sure where the best 185 lb. fighter in the world is. I think you'll see him June 22nd in Strikeforce. I'm pretty sure about that.
MMANews.com: How do you feel you match up with Rich Franklin?
Phil Baroni: Rich Franklin? I really don't think he has much for me. I've been sparring with lefties a lot so him being a lefty is no problem for me. He's not a wrestler so he's not going to look to take me down and hold me down and control me. He's an aggressive and tough fighter but I don't think he can take what I can give and I'm sure I can take what he can give. I don't think he's a good match-up for me. I really don't see him being a problem for me, I really don't. He's a good fighter and a great champion. It would be a real bad night for him and a good night for me.
MMANews.com: All personal things aside, what are your opinions on Frank Shamrock as a fighter?
Phil Baroni: Frank's a legend ya know? He's a great fighter. He's very well rounded. He's probably forgot more shit about fighting than I know. Bottom line is this though: I'm gonna smash his head off. I'm stronger, faster, meaner, and I'm hungrier. I think I want it more than he does. In fact, I know I do.
Baroni challenges Frank Shamrock on PPV on June 22 …
MMANews.com: I actually had the chance to interview Frank back in May…
Phil Baroni: Yeah I seen.
MMANews.com: …and he said that he wanted to stand the fight up with you.
Phil Baroni: Yeah that's what he's saying. Everybody says that [laughs]. It's either he thinks I'm stupid and that I can't be on the ground with him or he actually thinks he can stand with me and I'm going to punch him and then he'll go into survival mode and start shooting and trying to get the fight to the ground. He's not going to stand with me. There's no way he's going to stand with me.
MMANews.com: What did you think of Frank's fight with Renzo [Gracie]?
Phil Baroni: It's tough to say. He looked pretty good standing but then again he was fighting Renzo and then he didn't look that good on the ground but again, he was fighting Renzo. Gracie's made the ground game. Gracie wasn't really going for submissions or hitting him on the ground he was just holding him there. Frank couldn't get to his ground offense because he was being controlled so what can I really take from that fight? Not much. People say Frank looked like this and Frank looked like that but not much happened in that fight. Frank can talk all the shit he wants about being a stand up guy and a knock out artist but who the fuck did he knock out? I'm the the knock out artist. I'm the one that fucking knocks everybody out. If he stands up with me it's just going to be another knock out. He's a ground guy. Renzo was just controlling him, holding positions, passing his guard and Frank couldn't get anything going. So what could you really take from that? Not too much. He'll do whatever it takes to win. He's a game fighter and a game competitor and he's not going to want to lose to me so I'll be ready at all times.
MMANews.com: What was your opinion when Frank said he was “old school” and he thought the strikes were legal?
Phil Baroni: Yeah Frank's old school. Well I'm old school. I'll fly over to Japan right now and fight him in Pride rules. I'll fight him with any rules he wants to use to fight. I'm not going to look for an easy way out. If he does something dirty with me I'm going to do it back to him worse. If he knees me in the head I'm going to take him down and stomp his fucking head. He picked the wrong cat if he wants to get dirty. I think he's talking a lot of shit and his mouth is writing checks his ass can't cash and he's bitten off more than he can chew. I was on the radio with him today and he was saying I was a stepping stone and I was this and I was that. Well I'm a pretty big fucking stone to be stepping over. He's going to trip over me and fall flat on his face.
MMANews.com: Frank was saying you were a stepping stone?
Phil Baroni Yeah he was saying I was a stepping stone and he was going to move on to bigger things. There's nothing bigger than me. I'm the biggest name in the Middleweight division. I mean really who else is there? Who would be a bigger fight for Frank than me? Rich Franklin? I'm going to bring it to Frank and see what Frank's made of. No one does it the way I do it. We'll see in the first 2 minutes if Frank's got what it takes, otherwise he'll be getting carried out on a stretcher.
MMANews.com: Are you going in with the mentality that you want to hurt Shamrock?
Phil Baroni: I go into every fight with that mentality. I want to hurt him as fast as I can. Every punch I throw has bad intentions on it and everything I do is to hurt my opponent and seperate him from consciousness.
MMANews.com: Now you mentioned earlier if you beat Frank you could get a shot at the UFC Middleweight title. Anderson Silva defends his title in July against Nate Marquardt, who do you see winning that fight?
Phil Baroni: I'm not too sure. I think they're both small 85 pounders. I think they're both good but I'll give the edge to Anderson Silva. People give the edge on the ground to Marquardt but they forget Anderson is a black belt [in BJJ]. I give Marquardt the edge in wrestling. Should be a good fight I think it'll go to whoever is in the best shape and whoever wants it more. It should be a good scrap and whoever wins that fight, I'd like to get in there with. Either one of those guys will be a good matchup for me.
MMANews.com: Who are some other middleweights you would like to get in there with?
Phil Baroni: I like to get in there with the best you know? I think one of the best 185 pounders in the world is Trevor Prangley and he's going to be fighting for the Bodog title. He's by far one of the best in the world. He's big, strong, he's gritty, he's well-rounded, good on the ground, good wrestler, good stand up, he's a good puncher and can take one and give one with the best in the world. I think he's a really-really tough guy and he's very overlooked. There's a lot of tough guys out there. There's Denis Kang, Dan Henderson, Matt Lindland, those are the toughest but the one people seem to forget about is Trevor. He's the one nobody wants to fight. Everybody wants to fight Dan Henderson, he just knocked out Wanderlei Silva and everyone wants to fight Rich Franklin because he was the UFC champion. Everyone wants to fight Anderson Silva because he's the champion now but nobody is saying they want to fight Trevor Prangley.
MMANews.com: That's true you don't hear Prangley's name mentioned very much and not so long ago he was in there in the top 10.
Phil Baroni: It is true. He's a force.
MMANews.com: Do you think Dan Henderson will go back to 185 and fight middleweight or do you think he'll stay at light heavyweight.
Phil Baroni: From what I hear he's looking to wrap it up. He's accomplished a lot of his goals. He's a champion in multiple weight classes. I think he just wants to win that UFC title. The guy has money and he's been wrestling forever. From what I gather I think he's going for that title. I don't think he's coming back down to middleweight. I work with his stand-up coach who coached him for Wanderlei Silva [Shawn Tompkins] and he said he thinks he'll most likely be staying at light heavyweight. Dan's crazy you know? He fights anyone. I say he's probably sick of dieting and he'll stick at 205. He beat Wanderlei Silva and there was never a more dominant champion in the sport at 205 than Wanderlei Silva.
MMANews.com: Who would you pick in the Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva fight people have been clamouring about for so many years that seems to be a possibility again?
Phil Baroni: I think that fight has lost its' appeal. I really don't care anymore. I'm not sure who would win it, they're both great fighters and I'm friends with Chuck but I'm not really interested in that fight anymore. I think a bigger fight now would be Wanderlei vs. Rampage, even though Silva has beaten him twice I still think it could be a big-big fight. Dan Henderson vs. Rampage Jackson is an interesting fight but there's no storyline there, bad blood, there's nothing intriguing there. So I think the fight they should have done was Wanderlei Silva vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson but I'm not the promoter I'm just a fighter.
MMANews.com: Did you catch your old friend Matt Lindland vs. Fedor Emelianenko [laughs]?
Phil Baroni: [laughing] Yes. He's a tough guy that Lindland. I think he would have gotten that takedown if Fedor didn't use some “smart” tactics and used the ropes. Lindland's tough man, he's gangster. Just like Dan Henderson. They come from the same mold. They'll mix it up with anybody.
MMANews.com: Ok Phil, if you had to make a prediction for your fight with Frank Shamrock, what would it be?
Phil Baroni: I'm going to knock him out and I'm going to knock him out bad. Bottom line is when I beat people I ruin them. I don't think there has been a fighter that I've knocked out that has came back the same and had a good career. Look at Dave Menne, he was a great champion and was beating the best of the best and I destroyed his career. Then you have Ryo Chonan who beat Anderson Silva and was on a roll and then I ruined him and he hasn't been the same since. Amar Suloev he was never the same since I knocked him out. He got a little gun shy. I break guys and I'm going to get on top of Frank and I'm going to break him.
MMANews.com: Great Phil. Now is there anyone you would like to thank?
Phil Baroni: Yeah, my agent Ken Pavia. He's doing a great job getting me sponsers. I'd like to thank my training partners and the guys that helped me get ready for this fight. My coaches and the guys from Randy Couture's gym. I've got to thank everyone man. I'm a tough kid but I wouldn't be where I am with the right people guiding me in the right direction.
MMANews.com: Anything you'd like to say to your fans?
Phil Baroni: Yeah, this is a big fight and I'm going to rock the house. This will be an exciting fight and a big night. You'll definitely want to see this especially if you're a fan. I'm going to knock Frank Shamrock out. It's going to be the fight of the year. It's the most anticipated fight at 185 lbs. and one of the most anticipated fights of the year. It's not going to be no [Oscar] De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather. It's going to be a war. I'm going to take it to him and knock him the fuck outta there. He's not going to coast to a decision.
MMANews.com: Oh, since you mentioned the De La Hoya vs. Mayweather fight that is a question I meant to ask, what is your opinion on boxers entering MMA?
Phil Baroni: I fought [Yosuke] Nishijima and he was a cruiserweight champion and a great boxer and I beat him in a few minutes. I love boxing and have been boxing for years but it's a different sport, a different animal. There's no way a boxer without wrestling skills or without submission skills could get in there and fight with a mixed-martial artist. There's no way. Boxers have hard times beating up wrestlers. So there is no way a boxer guy can get in there and fight one of the guys that are in there now that know everything. There's nothing that a boxer is going to do that an MMA fighter hasn't seen. Everybody tries to punch everybody.
MMANews.com: Good point. Ok, Phil well I'd like to thank you for your time. I really appreciate you sitting down and doing this with me.
Phil Baroni: No problem man, No problem. Anytime, Thank you.
MMANews.com: Good luck against Shamrock.
Phil Baroni: Thanks man.
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