MMA heavyweight Brad Imes discusses his unprecedented second gogoplata in a row. You don't want to miss this exclusive interview as Imes discusses the move that put him in the record books and speaks candidly about the rumors of him facing Brock Lesnar, Tim Sylvia's win over Brando Vera, Randy Couture's resignation from the UFC, his thoughts on Kimbo Slice and much, much more. Check it out!
PC: Congratulations on your win over Bo Cantrell.
BI: Thank you!
PC: I know you said you are just trying to have fun in these fights now, but 2 gogoplata's in 2 fights man? Damn!
BI: (laughing) This last one I didn't know what I was doing and I was kind of laughing to myself, like you gotta be kidding me. It's getting ridiculous now. The guy that I fought, I mean, he had a lot of experience. It was his 20th fight I guess.
PC: Yeah, he was a tough guy. I watched him fight live before.
BI: Yeah, he was tough. He dropped me with a right hand. I went to throw a lead knee and he stepped out of the way of it and stuffed the ankle and hit me with a right hand. It didn't knock me out, but it knocked me down. He jumped on top of me and I went for a leg and he fell back for a leg and I started to come up on top of him and he came into my guard and I just did it.
PC: How bad were you hurt from the right hand?
BI: Not bad. It really just kind of stunned me more than anything. I was kind of off balance and it knocked me down. The guy hits hard. I can't really figure out where he hit me because nothing on my face hurts. It's just one of those things. I talked to him after the fight and he said he was just amazed at how quickly I recovered from being knocked down. I told him that's kind of my M.O. I don't stay stunned for long (laughing).
PC: Yeah, you earned that in the Rashad fight.
BI: Yeah!
PC: Did he go to sleep or did he tap?
BI: He tapped!
PC: Welcome to the record books my man. You are the only person to pull off 2 gogo's from what I understand.
BI: Who's going to believe that? I'm sure on the internet they're saying its bullshit again.
PC: How does it feel to be the first person to pull that off?
BI: The first time I did it, I was a lot more excited about it. The second time, I was just, I don't know, it wasn't that big of a deal to me. It was kind of funny, but I didn't get as excited about it like I did with the first one. Of course, everybody that was there was pretty astounded by it because a lot of people had heard that I had one a month ago, but to actually see it, I think people were amazed that someone my size could actually do that.
PC: That was the first thing I told you when I heard you scored the first one. I would think it would be tough to land one on someone Bo's size with the broad shoulders.
BI: Yeah Bo doesn't have much of a neck (laughing). I was able to find it. He's a well built guy. The people I talk to that train with him in Sacramento said that he was in as good a shape as they've ever seen him in that fight. He was supposed to fight the week before on that same show in San Francisco that got cancelled. He was pretty excited to get the fight because he told me, "God, I was really counting on that fight to get some money." It worked out for both of us.
PC: The fight only lasted 55 seconds, so you got a quick payday and got out of there too.
BI: Yeah, it wasn't the same money I was supposed to get paid in San Francisco, but it was more than just the money I really wanted to get in there and have another fight and keep the roll going. I want to get in there about once a month and keep winning and having fights. I'm supposed to fight again November 24th in St. Louis, maybe against Warpath. I talked to him earlier today and he said they were trying to find an opponent for him. I asked him if he wanted to do it and he said maybe, he had to talk to his manager and see.
PC: I don't think Bo has ever been submitted before so for you to catch him in a gogo is pretty impressive.
BI: Yeah, I remember Bo from when I was training in Sacramento. Bo was an established fighter in that area. I think right after I started training, he fought Buentello for the King of the Cage belt so he's been around and he has some experience. I asked him if he knew what I was doing and he was like, "yeah, I knew what you were trying to do, I just couldn't get away from it."
PC: Those gogo's seem like they're coming pretty easy for you now. You're going to have to pull something else out of the hat, huh?
BI: I gotta come up with something else stupid to do. Gogo's are boring now!
PC: These fighters must not be watching any film on you man?
BI: He said he watched some film on the last one I did and he said, at first, he thought I was going for a triangle and then he realized what I was doing.
PC: I bet you were tickled pink when you felt him tap?
BI: (laughing) I was just thinking in the back of my mind, "This is just stupid. I can't believe that I'm going to win like this again."
PC: I'm sure Ben Rothwell isn't happy with you either?
BI: Oh yeah, I called him and left him a message like, "Yeah, I pulled off another gogoplata." I told him if he ever pulls one off, it's not even going to be cool anymore.
PC: Have you spoke with him directly since the fight?
BI: Oh yeah. I talk to Ben just about every day.
PC: Did he give you a hard time about it?
BI: Yeah, he gives me shit about it. I really feel now that in fights,and especially in that fight Saturday night, that I don't even think about it anymore, I just do things. On the ground, it's just coming second nature to me. I started thinking about some things after the fight that I did where I just reacted. I didn't have to think about it. He went for a leg lock and I automatically just pushed his knee up and went to step up into a mount and he countered it by coming up into my guard, but that was something that I didn't have to even think about; which is good.
PC: More than anything else Brad, just talking to you and seeing your last couple of fights, you could tell that you're having fun with it again.
BI: I'm having a good time. I'm starting to get a couple of opportunities to fight on some bigger shows. Mark Cuban's people with the HDNET shows have expressed some interest in having me fight for them and Elite XC on Showtime expressed some interest so there are some other big shows out there that would like to see me fight for them. Monte just got with M-1. I don't think that's going to happen any time soon, but there is always that option if I continue to win and keep doing well and then the UFC is always there too.
PC: That's a rumor I wanted to ask you about: the Brock Lesnar fight.
BI: I don't know where that started or even where it came from. Rothwell called me last week and asked if I was supposed to fight Brock Lesnar? I was like, "I don't think so." I called Monte and he said he didn't know anything about that so the UFC hasn't contacted me or Monte about that. I think someone just dreamed it up and put it on the internet and people ate it up.
PC: Tim Sylvia just got a big win over Brandon Vera. What did you think about that fight?
BI: I think Tim fought pretty well. A lot of people were upset that there was a lot of clinching going on, but Vera initiated a lot of that early. In the 3rd round, I think that all of the clinching with Tim wore Vera out because he had to deal with all of Sylvia's weight. In the 3rd round, he really got punished by Tim. I really think that Brandon should think about dropping to 205. I mean, there are some guys in the heavyweight division that Vera matches up well against, but when he fights guys that are that much bigger than him, that's really going to cause him problems. I like Brandon. I would really like to see him do well. I understand that after his fight with Tim, he said some things that were not very respectful about Tim, which I don't like too much, but all of the times I've spent with Vera, he was a very respectful guy. I don't understand why he would go and say those things. Maybe he's just trying to get people not to like him so they could want to see him get his ass kicked and he could get more money. I don't know. That works sometimes, you know? Shonie Carter told me that. He told me to get people to hate you and you will get paid even more.
PC: What do you think about the way the Randy Couture situation is playing out?
BI: I don't know. If what he is saying is true to where he feels like he's been disrespected by the UFC, then that's too bad. I think he's an icon of the sport and probably one of the most recognizable names and faces in the sport. He said he was upset because he didn't get any bonus money from the Gonzaga fight, which is too bad, but he is one of the very few guys that gets a percentage of the PPV buys. Taking that into consideration, but I don't really know enough about it to pick a side. It's too bad for the UFC and Randy as well. I mean, if he was able to go to M-1 and fight Fedor, I think that would be great for M-1 and the sport, but I still don't think you would get as many people watching it as you did in the UFC. Even though it's a huge fight, I still think it will only attract the hardcore fans and not the casual fans that usually by the UFC PPV'S. There are a lot of people that have a lot of brand loyalty to the UFC. They don't want to watch anything else. It's just like Pride, you know? Pride had great fights, but nobody in the United States watched them except for the hardcore fans. They probably didn't get 10% of the buys the UFC did.
PC: I had friends that had never seen Rampage fight before he came into the UFC.
BI: Yeah, I know. I remember when they brought Wanderlei out to do the staredown with Chuck. Nobody even cheered. They were like, "Who the hell is this guy?" It's awesome for the sport to get those guys over here, but you can't sell something to people who don't know who the hell these guys are. They have to see them fight and then you could work them in.
PC: What are your thoughts on guys like Brock Lesnar and Kimbo Slice getting involved in MMA?
BI: I think it's great for the sport. I think that Kimbo is actually going to be a good solid fighter. I think he's training with the right people and he hasn't really fought anybody of note, but he's making really good money. I think he made like 80 grand to fight Mercer which is unbelievable. I think that's awesome that those kinds of guys can go out there and make that kind of money. Brock's name has a lot of notoriety from the WWE and I'm sure that his contract that he signed in the UFC is pretty significant. I think it's great that those guys can go out and do that. I think Kimbo is being a little bit smarter about it than Brock is because Kimbo's not taking these huge fights in the UFC against guys that have a lot of experience. I think Brock would be better served fighting at smaller shows with guys who aren't as good and build his record up and get experience because he would still make a lot of money. When he gets in the ring against a seasoned heavyweight, you're going to see where he's at. He's been training for about a year in MMA and when I was training for a year, I had a lot of success on the show, but I wasn't ready to fight guys like Tim Sylvia and Arlovski and those people.
PC: Me and my partner were actually trying to think of someone in the UFC heavyweight division that he would match up well against and the only person I could think of was Jake O' Brien.
BI: That would be the most boring fight I think anyone has ever seen. That would be like when I saw Ron Waterman and Ricco fight like a year and a half ago and it was disgusting. It would go something like that I would imagine. I think that Brock is great for the sport, but I think he needs to gain experience before he jumps into the big league like that.
PC: It's always a pleasure to speak with you. Like I said, welcome to the record books. Go for 3 gogo's in a row now. Anything you want to say in closing?
BI: Thanks to Warrior Wear and Shocker Nutrition for helping me with my training and sponsoring me. Tell everybody to keep an eye out for my little brother. He has his debut on November 24th in St. Louis. His name is Brian Imes and keep an eye out for him; we'll see how he does.
PC: He won't be pulling off gogoplata's in his debut will he?
BI: (laughing) I don't know if he could pull off gogo's, but his ground game is not bad and actually his standup is pretty decent considering he hasn't been doing it for very long.
PC: Is he a big kid like you?
BI: Yeah, he's 6'6", but he's fighting at 205.
PC: Damn!
BI: He'll be about the biggest 205 pounder around. He's a good athlete, but we'll see how tough he is. I beat on him all the time growing up, so hopefully he's kind of tough.
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