Sports agent Ken Pavia gives an update on several of his fighters, including Renato Babalu Sobral, Justin McCully, Rob McCullough, Phil Baroni, James Thompson, Sean Salmon and many more. Check it out!
PC: How is everything going Ken?
KP: Pretty good; pretty good.
PC: Babalu has signed a deal with Strikeforce. When can we expect to see him in the cage?
KP: He'll be fighting in San Jose. Looks like in late January. The deal is inked, but we still don't know about the opponent. We were hoping to walk into a title shot, but looks like we're going to have to get one fight in before we fight for the title.
PC: You have so many fighters. Is it tough trying to keep all of them busy in so many different organizations?
KP: I work the phones, you know? I work the phones 12 hours a day so as long as you have a good system, return all of your phone calls and work the phones 12 hours a day and stay busy, it's ok. It's a lot of work. It's not the glamorous job that some people make it out to be. You have to actually work, but I keep busy.
PC: How is Justin McCully doing and when can we expect to see him fight again?
KP: He actually got cleared from the elbow injury and was supposed to fight in Anaheim and then he reinjured it again in training. He's rehabbing it now and we're not sure what the time frame is. We're hoping maybe the first quarter of next year we could get back, but it's a chronic elbow issue that he's had for so many years of pro wrestling.
PC: Going back to Babalu for a second, do you feel like the UFC treated Babalu fairly?
KP: It depends on what day you ask me. I think that they had an example to set. I do think that Babalu's fine was a little aggressive, but that wasn't on the UFC, that was on the Commission. Babalu was a top contender and I was hoping the UFC would've given him consideration, but that's a part of it man. They cut the checks and usually the people that cut the checks are also the one's that make the rules. I think he's worthy of a belt. He got a shot and after a couple of tune-ups, I think he could've got a shot again. We'll pursue our avenues and I'm sure Babalu will have a lot of success in Strikeforce.
PC: Rob McCullough just successfully defended his WEC title last month and is on a 9 fight winning streak. What do you think of him as a fighter and how far do you think he can go?
KP: I think Rob McCullough has the best hands of anybody at 155 and maybe pound for pound anybody in the sport. I think the sky's the limit. I don't know who could beat that guy. He's the real deal. Unfortunately if you cut Rob McCullough's hands off and he had to wrestle and do Jits, he would still be that good, but nobody knows that because his hands are so good and his feet are so good that he doesn't get tested in the other aspects of his game. He works every day on his ground and his Jits and wrestling. I truly believe that he's such a good athlete and such a competitive fighter that if he had to rely on his wrestling and Jits, he would still be champion. I think you're going to really be in for a treat when somebody pushes him and gets him to the ground and he can show what he has on the ground.
PC: Is the UFC his ultimate goal or is he comfortable where he's at?
KP: When I first signed him, he said, "screw the belts and the fame, I want money. I don't want to fight until I'm 40 years old. Get me paid." I don't really think a title in an organization is what he's after. He's after security to be able to provide for his future and if that's with the WEC, then great, and if it's with the UFC, that's great too. We're just looking primarily in what provides him the best opportunity.
PC: Phil Baroni is going through a suspension right now. Is he in the gym training or is he taking it easy?
KP: He took a couple of months off, but he's gotten back into the gym as of late. When he took time off in the past, he fell into old habits; bad eating. He's Italian so he ate some pasta a little bit, but this time he did pretty good. He maintained a diet. He didn't get too far out of shape and he's back in the gym. It's difficult getting back in because he was in such great shape last time he was in and now he's in there as a normal guy. It gets discouraging, but you have to start somewhere. He's been back in the gym for about 2 or 3 weeks now and he works out so hard when he's in there. I expect to see him back in shape in a very short period of time. We have a hearing on October 31st in front the Commission and we're hoping to get the suspension overturned.
PC: There have been talks of James Thompson fighting Kimbo Slice. Could you tell us a little more about that?
KP: Looks like he's going to be fighting on the Showtime card in November. We're currently looking for opponents for him. There's talks of Kimbo and there's also talks of Antonio Silva, but they want to build him up, you know? They want to give him a couple of tune-up fights so that the American public can get more familiar with how good of a fighter he is. He's actually been training in Couture's gym and really taking his game to the next level. I think after a fight or two, he will fight either Kimbo or Antonio Silva, but first they want to give him a little exposure. It was their doing. It's not like we want to duck anybody at all so we want to put a little message out that it was Showtime's doing.
PC: Do you think that James problems have come from his training regimen and training at Xtreme Couture could take him to the next level?
KP: I whole heartedly believe that. He was one of these guys that was in a garage in England and probably wasn't on the proper diet and not getting enough cardio in. We have guys watching over his career now that have been doing this for years and years and have cutting edge training techniques. I think with Couture, he's going to really take it to the next level and people forget that he was 5-2 in Pride, but he will take it to that next level.
PC: Who are some of your other fighters that we could look for big things from in the near future?
KP: I have Sean Salmon this weekend fighting in the Hardcore Championship in Calgary against Marcus Vinicos. We don't overlook anybody, but we're expecting Sean to go out there and smash him and then Sean will be appearing on the Strikeforce card. I also have Gabe Ruediger this weekend against a very tough Gabe Rivas which is a very big step up in competition for Ruediger. Rivas is a game warrior who's been around for awhile. I have Vince Lucero fighting this weekend and he was supposed to be fighting Jeff Monson, but the call I had right before you was the Commission telling me Monson was suspended so they're looking for an alternate heavyweight for him. Lucero will be fighting this weekend against somebody. I'm excited about the Strikeforce event next month. Strikeforce has the first one day tournament in California history. They're going to have 4 guys at 185 and my guy Falaniko Vitale is going to be in it and Sean Salmon will be fighting as an alternate. That tournament is going to be a who's who of mixed martial arts. I'm very excited for that. I think we have a total of like 15 guys fighting next month.
PC: Your phone has been ringing off the hook huh Ken?
KP: Oh yeah!
PC: It's been a pleasure speaking with you my man. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
KP: Come visit mmaagents.com, it's our new website. It's a website where you could keep up with who our guys are fighting and where they're fighting at so come and visit mmaagents.com
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