Female boxing sensation turned mixed martial artist Mia St. John talks about her recent debut in MMA and the reason why she decided to pursue a career in both sports. Check out what she had to say about her new MMA career, her upcoming title fight in boxing, her thoughts on Gina Carano and much more.
PC: Congratulations on getting your first win in mixed martial arts?
MSJ: Thank you!
PC: I know it was a short performance, but how do you think you did?
MSJ: I really don't know about my performance because it wasn't long enough. I threw a few kicks and landed a straight right and that was that.
PC: It was definitely a quick knockout, but how did you feel in there? Did it feel a lot different than boxing?
MSJ: No, it's kind of difficult because of the gloves. When they brought the gloves into the dressing room, I was like, "Whoa, this is crazy!" It was like a bare knuckle fight. I questioned them about it and they told me it was 4 oz. gloves. I told them, "No they're not!" It was no way those were 4 oz. gloves; not the ones I used anyway. They were like 2 oz. That was really hard to get used to; just being in the dressing room wearing them felt really weird. Also, not wearing any shoes felt really weird.
PC: I'm sure that was tough to adjust to.
MSJ: Yeah, and I don't like that because I'm so used to having support for my ankles and not having that, I just felt really naked and unprotected and even when she went down, even though the ref told me to stand back, I don't even know if I could've or would've jumped on her. I wanted to make sure she was okay.
PC: Oh, my goodness. That's not good (laughing).
MSJ: I know, but that's boxing.
PC: I'm sure it was tough getting used to because in boxing, you're constantly concerned about your grip and circling so you have to make sure you pick the right type of shoes and now you're wearing none.
MSJ: I know. With the lack of gloves and footwear, I just felt naked.
PC: What made you want to get into MMA Mia?
MSJ: I mean, the obvious. Boxing kind of took a back seat to MMA with the UFC coming out. We just don't have as many fights as we used to and we could still make pretty good money in boxing, but it's starting to turn around to where you could make more money in MMA now. There are a lot of people that are switching over to MMA now with me. It was something new and really challenging and it's exactly what I did when I was in Tae Kwon Do and Christy Martin started getting a lot of media attention opening for Tyson and Don King had made me an offer to go pro in boxing and so I switched there too. I gave up Tae Kwon Do for boxing for the same reason. I grew to love the sport and now, 12 years later, MMA has come to the forefront and I'm like, "Ok, I'll switch to MMA."
PC: Is this something you're looking to do long term? Would you like to sign with a major organization?
MSJ: I'm going to fight again in May with X-1 again in Hawaii and, you know, probably have a few more fights after that. I don't know how far I'll go being that I'm at the end of my career pretty much. I justÂ…I don't know. I thought I would take it one fight at a time and see what happens. The good thing is I have great experience. I've been fighting for so many years. I started when I was 6 years old so I'm used to the crowd and the cameras and all of that, but whether I want to stay in that type of fighting, I don't know. I mean, I love it, but it's brutal!
PC: It sounds like it's a little too brutal for you Mia if you want to check and make sure your opponents are okay.
MSJ: (laughing) It's the same with boxing though because we have a lot of head damage in boxing. In boxing, it's a lot of brain damage that goes on and we feel it in different ways. We have memory loss, loss of reflexes and things like that, which is more long term damage. In MMA, I come home with a torn quadriceps or an AC joint and there's bodily damage, not so much brain damage. It's a different kind of pain and being that I'm at the end of my career, I don't know if I want to incur that much more pain (laughing). I love it and it's fun for now, it's challenging for now and I'm making money at it. If I ever decide that I don't want to do it anymore, then I won't. I don't need to do it. It's kind of how I'm feeling on a day to day basis.
PC: Will you consider boxing again or is that a thing of the past?
MSJ: I am. I'm going to be boxing for a title in April in Sacramento.
PC: You're a busy woman.
MSJ: Yeah, I still love boxing. That's my heart.
PC: Would you ever want to try out a cage or would you rather stick to the ring in mixed martial arts?
MSJ: I think it will be fun to try a cage. I'm taking baby steps. I was in a ring and I have to get used to the small gloves and no footwear so next time, maybe we'll try a cage.
PC: It seems like this fight came out of nowhere. How long had you been training in mixed martial arts?
MSJ: Yeah. I have been training and actually I had 3 pro debuts set up prior to this one that finally happened and each one got cancelled so I've been training for about 7 months now. The fights previous to this one, I just had one injury after another. I was finally injury free and able to go through with it. I did it and I liked it and I'm going to do it again (laughing).
PC: I'm sure you already know there's not a lot of women that are going to want to stand and trade with you. Do you think you could hold your own on the ground when they start trying to take you down?
MSJ: I still don't know yet because I haven't done it in front of a crowd; just in sparring. I don't know how I would react when the time comes. Obviously, my gameplan is to always stay on my feet because I don't have that experience, although I'm trained in being on the ground, but I don't really want to sayÂ…I think if I even say, "Oh yeah, I'm good at ground," it would be insulting to the ground fighters that have been doing it for so many years. They would look at me and go, "Oh, you're good at it huh?" After only 7 months I don't even want to go there. I will say that it's challenging and I love it. I love working my ground game. It's a lot of fun. Whether I will ever be able to fight the girls that are real good in ground fighting, I don't know. I'd love to challenge myself one day and do it and see what happens, you know? I think I fought the best in boxing. I fought the very best women out there and I've never ever ducked anybody in boxing and I don't feel any different about MMA. When I'm ready, I'll fight anyone; when I'm ready, when the time is right; just like I did in boxing.
PC: Gina Carano is considered the Mia St. John of MMA. Have you ever seen her fight and if so, what do you think of her as a fighter?
MSJ: I've never seen her fight. The MMA women aren't really known yet to the general public. I know of her, but I've never seen her fight. Yeah, like I said, whatever makes business sense, I'm definitely up for it. People have brought her name up and like I said, I'll fight anyone when the time is right. As long as it makes business sense because I'm a business woman first and foremost I am a business person. I am all about business. I will fight anybody if the price is right. I'll fight Mike Tyson if the price is right.
PC: I don't know if I could back you on that one (laughing).
MSJ: (laughing) I will run around that ring. I will run as fast as I can.
PC: Do you follow mixed martial arts, like the UFC and other organizations?
MSJ: I watch it because I like to see what they're doing on the ground. I get more enjoyment out of watching them do standup obviously. That's what I find exciting. I like to watch them on the ground too because I can learn from them, but I really like to see them stand.
PC: Do you think a lot of boxers, male or female, could make the switch over to mixed martial arts?
MSJ: No. I think they can, but when they actually do it, I think they find out that it's more difficult than they think. Even though I took years of Tae Kwon Do, I very much have a boxer's mentality. I think that may get in the way of MMA. You have to get rid of that. Like I said, when your opponent goes down, we have such an instinct to go to our neutral corner rather than jumping on them. I don't know. I think it's harder than people think. Then you have to throw in the knees and the elbows, and sure we do that in boxing, but you don't want to get caught doing it. We're sneaky about it so for someone to say, "do it openly"; it's strange.
PC: I think my eyes are getting bad because I read somewhere that you are 40 years old.
MSJ: Ugh. Uh huh (laughing).
PC: How do you stay so beautiful? What's your diet and workout routine like?
MSJ: (laughing) I can tell you at 40 years old, it is so hard. When I was young, like years ago when I was fighting, it had been relatively easy. In fact, all of these years I've been fighting it has been easy to train until about 2 or 3 years ago, it got really tough. I had a lot of injuries and I still trained the same amount, but it gets harder. I have to really push myself. It takes a lot of discipline. The eating is hard too because now I gain weight easier and I have to be really strict. As we get older, it's like we put on weight easier. We get tired more often. I do it because I have to because my life is on the line. When you get in that ring, people are trying to take your head off so you better be in condition and I love it. I still love it. I love running every day, I love lifting weights, hitting the mitts and hitting the bag; I love that stuff. It's just so hard.
PC: Even when you're not preparing for a fight, do you watch what you eat?
MSJ: I always watch what I eat 24/7. Do I have ice cream once in awhile or cake once in awhile? Of course I do, but I try to keep a pretty clean diet all year round no matter what.
PC: It shows Mia.
MSJ: Aw, thank you!
PC: You don't look any different from when you did your first Playboy spread so I have to ask for all men, would you be interested in doing another spread for Playboy?
MSJ: Oh, I would love to. I'm still very close to Playboy and I still go to the mansion. I love Hugh Hefner and I'm still very close with them and they've done so much for me over the years. I will definitely do it.
PC: Who approached you with the idea to pose and at first, was it the craziest thing you had ever heard or did it come natural to you?
MSJ: Playboy had approached me and we had talked to Bob Arum about it because he was promoting me at the time. Playboy and Bob Arum discussed it and came up with a good marketing plan and at first, I wasn't sure, but like I said, I'm a business woman and when the numbers made sense, I was like, "Okay, let's do this." It actually worked out great. I got a lot of endorsements out of it.
PC: Was it weird for you to get nude in front of cameras?
MSJ: Yeah, it was very strange. Believe it or not, I'm a very shy person; very shy. It was really difficult at first. I don't know if you saw the photos, but they're so tame. They told me whatever I didn't want to do, I didn't have to so I was able to pick out the pictures so I made sure I didn't show that much.
PC: I think every man in the world saw those pictures Mia!
MSJ: (laughing) Okay!
PC: It was a pleasure speaking with you Mia. Good luck with your mixed martial arts and boxing career. Thanks for the call. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
MSJ: Thank you so much! I want to thank all of the fans that email my website, www.miastjohn.com. I love you and I read all of your emails and thank you so much for all of your support.
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