Matt Pena, the boxing coach for Matt Hughes, Robbie Lawler, Tim Sylvia, Jens Pulver and several other fighters, talks about his recent move from the Miletich Camp to the newly formed H.I.T. Squad. You don't want to miss what he had to say as he discusses his initial involvement in mixed martial arts and what it's like to work with some of the biggest names in the sport. Check out what he had to say about Hughes, Lawler and much more.
PC: Matt, how is everything going my man?
MP: Everything is going great! I had an amazing time with my family and friends over the holidays. I'm real excited about the grand opening of the H.I.T. Squad Training Center down in Granite City, Illinois. I'm about to head to Utah to help Jeremy Horn prepare for an upcoming fight in the UFC and I look forward to seeing his young crop of fighters to work with.
PC: Your grandfather is legendary boxing trainer Alvino Pena so I'm pretty sure you were in a boxing gym at an early age?
MP: I was in the gym probably at about four or five years old. I had my first fight at the age of six. It was pretty much something all of the boys in our family had to do in order to eat (laughing).
PC: Coming from the family and history that you came from, how much pressure did you feel to be involved in the sport of boxing with the last name Pena?
MP: Growing up in the area as a Pena, there was definitely pressure to excel at fighting. You didn't want to embarrass your grandfather's name or hinder all of the progress that he made, as well as my uncles in the sport. It was just as rough in the streets too because people knew what your family did and there was always someone looking to see how tough they were. I had a little more self control than most in my family, but not always! But yeah, we definitely weren't raised to be stepping stones for anyone.
PC: At some point, you stopped boxing and began training. Why did you stop boxing and was it a no-brainier for you to follow your grandfather's footsteps?
MP: I hoped to fight professional as soon as I got out of the Marines, like my brother and our uncles, however it never happened for me. I broke my right hand too many times, kept experiencing setbacks. One year, I had my hand in a cast for like eight of the monthsÂ… I didn't even turn pro yet. I had a beautiful daughter, Audria, that needed some financial support and things like insurance so I put the whole fight thing on hold. In the meantime, I would still help my grandfather train kids at his gym. I really fell in love with it. Being more of a boxer than brawler in my time really allowed me to break stuff down and teach effectively.
PC: Who are some of the fighters you look up to now and back when you were coming up?
MP: To be honest, I looked up to more guys in my gym than professional fighters. My uncles, Pat and Mike Pena, did really well as amatuers winning national titles. There were a couple other great fighters in our gym like Fernando Gonzales, Michael Nunn and Mickey Bates, then later, Antwun Echols and Leonard Overstreet. I did enjoy Ali, Alexis Arguello, Aaron Pryor, Julio Cesar Chavez and eventually others like Tyson, De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr. Then, once I started coaching, I began watching a lot of old school stuff that I really enjoyed like Ray Robinson, Joe Louis, Willie Pep and Archie Moore. Man, anything I could get my hands on to watch, I did. I didn't care if there was no sound or how choppy the footage was.
PC: Coming from a boxing background, what were your initial thoughts when you first saw mixed martial arts?
MP: I have some family that's been in martial arts for some time. I've never been so proud to consider boxing as the only form of effective combat sports. I actually was in the Marines, out on a ship for six months, and guys would get these tapes of the Gracie Challenges before the first UFC. I though it was some pretty amazing stuff. Even more amazing was BJJ at that time.
PC: Pat Miletich pretty much put Iowa on the map as far as mixed martial arts goes. How did you eventually hook up with him?
MP: The Miletich name definitely put Iowa on the map. I'm sure Pat himself would admit that others helped put the Miletich name out there, like Jeremy Horn, Jens Pulver, Tony Frykland, Robbie Lawler, Tim Sylvia, Monte Cox and the names can keep rolling. I actually met Pat when he would come to my grandfather's gym when he was a teen. I was a little younger still (laughing). Pat earned his name as a scrapper there long before MMA. Growing up in the Davenport Boxing Club in those days wasn't an easy thing to do. If you earned your stripes there, you were going to be set pretty much in the Midwest region.
Pat eventually sent guys down to my grandfather's gym though to work on their stand-up game. My grandfather is definitely a boxing purist and wouldn't settle for people "Crazy Boxing" in his gym so I would work with a few and eventually I was asked by some of his fighters to come down during sparring night to help them out. Mike Whitehead and Spencer Fisher were the first that I worked with there. Both guys rapidly improved their abilities and next thing you know, I was training almost all of his top guys.
PC: You've worked with some heavy handed fighters and good boxers as well, like Jens Pulver, Drew McFedries, Robbie Lawler and Tim Sylvia. Who is the hardest hitter out of those guys and who do you think could be something special in boxing?
MP: I would say Pulver and Sylvia are similar to each other where they have freakishly great crosses. Some people hit hard; some people have that X Factor. They both have that X Factor in their cross. If their cross lands, it's usually time to think about the after party. On the other hand, you have Lawler and McFedries. These two guys can hit you with either hand, with any kind of punch, and hurt you. Because of their atheleticism, I would see McFedries and Lawler making the better transition to boxing. However, Lawler is definitely the most dynamic at this point. In all honesty, being hit by any of those guys is hazardous to your health.
PC: How did you become a boxing coach for the popular reality show The Ultimate Fighter?
MP: Jens Pulver and Matt Hughes. I owe both of these guys for giving me that opportunity. I've trained both fighters so when they were chosen as coaches, they asked me to come out there and help get these guys ready to fight. All I can say...4-0 baby! In the two years I did it, the finalists were my boys!
PC: What is that like working with these kids that will probably be future stars and teaching them the game?
MP: For the most part, it was great. Now Spike does recruit personalities as well as fighters so I can't say every one of them was amazing. However, they always had a great attitude and put forth 100% effort for me. It was very similar to working at MFS though. There was tons of talent around; a coaches dream.
PC: You have now moved on to the H.I.T. Squad (Hughes Intense Training). How tough was it for you to leave Miletich Fighting Systems?
MP: Leaving MFS was hard for a lot of reasons. I put a lot of myself, my heart, into many of them. I got a lot of great returns in championship wins and a lot of great moments. However, I felt like some of my favorite fighters hadn't quite reached their potential yet. I wanted to complete the job. At the time, I really did feel like we were a family. Nobody really wants to leave family. I also was leaving an area where my real family lives so it was tough on many levels. However, on the other side, I could do things the way I wanted. I was starting a gym with a couple of my best friends, Matt Hughes and Robbie Lawler. The area that we were going to was a hotbed for boxers back in the day and was relatively untapped in terms of MMA. We had an amazing investor, Jeff Cooper, that made some strong commitments to us. This was just an opportunity that I didn't want to regret in life if I didn't take it.
PC: Do you think it was just time for a legend like Matt Hughes to go out and start his own thing?
MP: Hughes can best answer that. All I know is that is one busy guy. He has a very young family and I know he always thought about them and missed them when he was away training.
PC: Matt Hughes just lost a one-sided fight to Georges St-Pierre. He' running his own gym now. Would you like to see him step away from competition?
MP: Matt is still one of the best fighters in the world. He just has to ask himself is he still loves to prepare and compete. There is no shame in losing to GSP. It can just be rough on the ego when you've dominated everyone for your entire career.
PC: Matt has relied so heavily on his wrestling skills, but he always seemed to want to get a knockout win. Was it difficult getting him to use his hands in training?
MP: Matt is the type of competitor that will do most anything to win. Sure, I bet he wanted a KO. He may have even walked to the cage with the thought before. I don't know. Once the fight starts though, he wants to make you pay for any single mistake. If it's exploited by a takedown, kick, or punch, I don't think it mattered to him. He just wanted to make you pay.
PC: What are the crop of fighters over there at H.I.T. Squad looking like?
MP: It's still very early. The grand opening is on February 9th. We've had a great response so far. I'm going to invite many people in to tryout for our team that we'll give special attention to. Getting ready for Matt's fight, there were many fighters that I was excited to see down there. It's definitely coming together.
PC: Floyd Mayweather Jr. is talking about coming into mixed martial arts. How do you like his chances in this sport?
MP: Not a good choice for him. I'd like to have him come to the H.I.T. Squad grand opening and we can show him why. I'm not saying that some boxers couldn't come make the transition and do very well. I just don't think he can. He is the best boxer pound-for-pound in my opinion, just not the right background and not the right style to make it work.
PC: Is there a boxer out there that you would like to have the opportunity to work with?
MP: I would like to see Kermit Cintron make a stab at it. He hits hard, he's long for his weight and has wrestled extensively in the past. We're almost in 2010 soon; it's not 1990. You have to have more than one discipline in your background to do anything in this sport.
PC: The boxing vs. mixed martial arts debate seems to be ongoing. Do you think there's enough room for both sports?
MP: It's tigers and gorillas in my opinion. Both of them are bad boys when it comes to fighting. They have different styles, but they are brutal and interesting. I just think they had to pin one against the other to generate interest and gain part of the market, however, they will both be around for some time.
PC: When can we expect to see Robbie Lawler in action again and how is he doing?
MP: Great question for him and Monte Cox. All I know is, I can't wait. Robbie Lawler is an amazing and exciting fighter. I loved being there for his fight in Hawaii, but I can't wait to bring him back to the UFC. I'd love to see him fight GSP or Silva. I know the guys that watched him fight Diaz years ago will have their thoughts, but see his last four fights and tell me it's the same fighter. He has the same power, but definitely not the same fighter. He is going to do big things in his future. I look forward to that.
PC: Good luck in all of your endeavors. I hope we can get at least one more fight from Hughes. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
MP: Thanks for your time and interest and to the fans of all of my fighters, thank you. You guys mean more and carry more weight than you will ever know. I know they look forward to performing for you guys in the future and I promise to continue to work hard and building the Pena name in MMA and boxing. Oh yeah...H.I.T Squad baby! What!
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]