UFC Hall of Famer and MMA veteran Dan "The Beast" Severn gets us caught up on his career, his future plans and much more. You don't want to miss what he had to say about Dana White and the UFC as well his thoughts on Mark Cuban's HDNet Fights. Check it out!
PC: How have you been doing?
DS: I actually have to sit down and think about that sometimes. I keep a rather busy schedule, but I do like what I do. I'm doing just a little bit of everything. I still step into the squared circle for professional wrestling periodically. I still climb into a cage every 6-8 weeks doing the mixed martial arts thing there and then any of the weekends between there, it's either doing appearances or seminars, speaking engagements and probably for the last 5 years now, I've been working with law enforcement. I've designed a defensive tactics ground program that several states have adopted and added to their training academies. I have a 10,000 square foot training facility on my property where I teach daily classes. Teaching amateur wrestling is still my first love. I also teach professional wrestling, mixed martial arts and I have other instructors that teach boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai and things of that nature. I know there are a few more things that I probably left out, but that's it in a nutshell.
PC: You are still competing and winning fights at 49 years old. What keeps you motivated?
DS: I do a lot of speaking, for example to high schools. Tomorrow I will be at the Branch County Career Center and they will have people from all types of businesses there to talk about the importance of education. There will be people from all walks of the community there; from an air conditioner guy to a mechanic to a who knows what? They're bringing me in there because I represent 2 things. First off, I'm a professional athlete and I have this training facility on my property so I have that ongoing and that represents two phases. What they like about me is that I do have a teaching certificate from Arizona State University. Most people don't realize that I am an actual teacher, although I haven't really had a chance to teach yet. I've coached at two Division I Universities; Arizona State for five years and Michigan State for three years. I've been basically self-employed ever since the 1992 Olympics. Most people only know me because I've climbed in cages doing mixed martial arts and worked for the WWF, but that's actually such a small portion of what I've been about. Quite frankly Percy, I won my first national title back in 1972 so when I tell people that I've been terrorizing young athletes here for decades, I mean I've been terrorizing them for decades. Most people are a flash in the pan, but no, I'm pretty much a proven commodity. I've been around a long time and, like you say, at age 49, I still scare the young bucks pretty good.
PC: I know if I pissed you off, I would be scared to run into you.
DS: The thing is, when anyone gets to know me, they can't believe how easygoing of an individual I am. It was the great Jim Brown who was one of the commentators in the early days of the UFC that actually gave me my nickname, "The Beast." He told me I was like a Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He said, "you're one of the nicest guys in the world, but when you turn it on," and he asked me how was I able to do that? I'm thinking Jim Brown here, who was somebody I watched as a kid, asking me something like that, I actually got kind of giddy there on that kind of thing.
PC: How much longer do you see yourself competing?
DS: I used to give an answer to that. I used to be like, "Oh, maybe one or two more years and I'll be completely done." I don't even answer that question anymore because I have people saying, "didn't you say a couple years ago thatÂ…" Maybe I just shouldn't answer that anymore. Realistically, as long as I'm winning the lion's share of my matches, I will continue. That's kind of a twofold type of answer because in a sport like mixed martial arts, the reality is if you're losing, you're probably getting hurt. I'm 49 years of age so I do not heal the way I once did. That's just the reality of father time. As long as I'm winning the lion's share of my matches and I'm not getting hurt, I'll continue to do this. I would rather retire on my terms rather than have some young athlete more or less wreck me into retirement. That's really what I'm looking to do.
PC: You are in the UFC Hall of Fame. Did you ever try to get a position over there?
DS: No. It has changed. The game has changed and the company has changed. The UFC is coming under more scrutiny all of the time. It's not the same product that it once was. I do a lot of things with mixed martial arts. I work with a lot of other companies. I do have a passion for the sport and I would like to have a positive influence in the direction of the sport because the bottom line is, you're taking care of an athlete. I really don't see that happening with a Dana White at the helm of the UFC. I think they've done a lot of good things for the sport, but at the same token, they have a cocky, conceded arrogance that is coming about them and I don't care for it. It's changed and I don't know who the leadership comes from. From what I know, they have the two brothers, the Fertitta brothers, that own basically 90% of the UFC and Dana White owns the other 10%, but Dana White is kind of the face of the UFC and seems like he is the one making the most comments about everything that's going on. He may not be the best person that should be out there articulating his opinions. If he is, they may want to bring somebody in there to groom him a little more and help him on his presentation skills. I politically danced around that one a little bit (laughing).
PC: When you came into the game, it was an underground sport. Are you surprised at its popularity now?
DS: I'll answer that twofold. When I watched the first two events take place because I'm in the same area, Coldwater, Michigan, and at the time, it didn't have PPV capability. It was a buddy of mine out of Detroit that watched the events and brought it to my attention. He said, "Hey, you ought to be doing this." I'm watching guys get stomped in the head, kicked in the face and I'm thinking, "you know, these are not exactly the skills I possess." He told me there was a guy in there that was doing this stuff called Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and of course he was referring to Royce Gracie. Did I know what Jiu Jitsu was? No, but I said it kind of looks like wrestling to me and I had all kinds of magazines that said, "Do you want to be an Ultimate Fighter?" I filled out the entry blanks, sent them in and as the old cliché goes, the rest is history. After I saw it and then being a part of it, I'm thinking, "This is some pretty wild stuff." Knowing the mental mindset of Americans, we're a country that has…we're very over populated with individuals that have ADD. We like to see action all of the time. We are trigger happy with our TV tutors. I'm thinking this had enough action to it where it could become very popular. The thing that really hit big was the Spike television show The Ultimate Fighter in January 2005. To back up a little bit, I met with Art, who was the creator of the Toughman competition on FX, and I can't think when that was; probably seven or eight years ago. He lived about three hours from me and I set up a meeting with him. I basically pitched him an idea and told him to let me put on one no holds barred match. I told him he could do his regular show with the ring and the boxers, but let us do one no holds barred match and you will see the response from the viewership and the people in attendance. Think if he would've jumped on board at that point. That was before there ever was a Pride that existed. It was before Spike TV existed. He could've controlled an awful lot at that time had he listened to me. It was funny, a couple of years after that, he contacted me wanting to get into it and I'm like, "it's too late now." I told him the timing was back then and it's too late now because it's other opportunities now. To start up something that is really going to rival the UFC, you need something like what Mark Cuban has. He owns High Def. TV. That could be a real viable player, but how much does he know about the sport? He better surround himself with good people that really know something and have some creative ideas because there are a lot of fight companies. What's going to make you different is some type of creativity that comes along with it. I didn't see it, but I was told he was on "Dancing with the Stars" so this is someone that doesn't mind getting out there and doing things. He also owns a professional team and he seems like the kind of guy that really doesn't mind getting out there.
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