"I'm going to beat the shit out of her and I hope she does the same to me. That's what is going to make it so wild," stated female mixed martial artist Tara LaRosa as she talked about a potential rematch with Shayna Baszler. You don't want to miss what else she had to say as she talked more about Baszler and shared her thoughts on Gina Carano, Kaitlin Young, her difficulty in negotiating with EliteXC, her next fight and much more.
PC: How have you been doing?
TL: I've been doing pretty good. It's been crazy. It always seems to go from like 0-60 instantly. I get no offers and then I get offers from everybody.
PC: I hope you are getting some offers. I'm ready to see you in there again. Have you been training or just taking it easy?
TL: Oh yeah, I've been training. I'm always training. I haven't been burning it up real hard, but I am back to doing two-a-days. I'm trying to get ready and fix some things for whatever comes up.
PC: Why do you think it's been so hard
well, I know why it's so hard for you to get a fight (laughing), but did you think it would be this tough to get a fight lined up?
TL: It's not so much that it's tough to get a fight because there are people that are willing to fight me. I'm not saying, "Nobody wants to fight me because I'm at the top." That's completely false because a lot of people do; a lot of people want rematches. I am more than happy to give them, but the problem is the promotions don't want to negotiate. They will make me an offer which sucks and then I'll make them a counter offer and then I don't hear from them for 3 months. It's like, okay, way to negotiate; thanks guys! That aspect of it is very frustrating, but shoot, no, everybody wants to fight me which is great. Who knows if I could win them all again, but we'll see.
PC: You've been doing a pretty good job of beating people up.
TL: (Laughing) They do a good job of beating me up and then I miraculously pull out the finish.
PC: You haven't lost a fight in 5 years. What do you think are your keys to success and consistency?
TL: The mental aspect. I am an absolute basket case, but for some reason, when I get into the ring, everything clicks and I'm able to pull it together really, really well. I think that's my strongest attribute in MMA is that I'm extremely resilient. I'm able to stay extremely focused under pressure, especially when I'm losing. I could really work through things and be able to pull it out. My ring savvy and my mental state is probably my best attribute.
PC: When do you think we could realistically see you fight again?
TL: I'm hoping for June. If not June, then July and if not July, then August (laughing). I'm in talks right now with 3 major promotions. 3 of them want to work with me. Of course one of them is EliteXC. I've been talking to them for the past year, but we haven't been able to come to an agreement on anything. They're the ones I was talking about earlier when I say they make me an offer, I make a counter and I never hear from them again. I'm like, "Yeah, rock on!"
PC: So some time this summer we should see you fight again?
TL: Yeah! I did have a pretty good offer for May 16th in the IFL. They wanted to bring me in for a girl they had and she declined to fight me after she had called me out over the years numerous times. What are you going to do?
PC: You have to get rid of those Youtube clippings of your fights and she might have fought you.
TL: Well, if you type my name into Youtube, the first fight that comes up is my loss to Jen Howe. That's a rough looking fight; it's hard to watch. I just took unanswered shots. Honestly, I don't even remember what happened after I went down the second time. I don't remember leaving the ring, the post-fight interview, the doctor checkup, the ride back; I don't remember shit from that fight.
PC: That's a loss you can't avenge either because she doesn't fight anymore, huh?
TL: I know, but you know what, at the time, she was better than me so honestly I don't regret that. That's not something that I'm like wanting to avenge. It doesn't bother me. I took a loss at a time when I was still growing and ripping as a fighter. I may not be the same person I am today if I didn't have that. I look at it as a positive.
PC: Well, one girl I know definitely wants to rematch you is my girl Shayna Baszler. Is that a fight you would like to have?
TL: (Laughing) That's my girl. Yep, that's my girl. Shayna is probably one of my best friends; we bullshit back and fourth all of the damn time. That fight is going to be SICK! Honestly, we are so well matched up and evenly matched, it's a 50/50 crap shoot. I think she may have better kicks and I may have better hands. She may have a better Muay Thai traditional clinch and I probably have a better wrestling clinch and tie up. On the ground, it's as even as it gets. She comes from a Machado background and I come from a Gracie background. It's going to be a sick, sick fight.
PC: A lot of people will read this Tara and think you guys are friends and we'll get a glorified sparring session, but that does not seem to be the case.
TL: Oh, hell no! I'm going to beat the shit out of her and I hope she does the same to me. That's what is going to make it so wild. I have a lot of respect for her, her camp, the people she trains with, the way she trains and the time and effort she puts into the sport. I wouldn't
I think it will be disrespectful to her to bring anything less than 110% into the ring. We both love the sport and we both love to compete so that's what makes us such great friends.
PC: Did you ever think women's martial arts would be where it is today?
TL: No, honestly I did not because you always hear the comparison to the WNBA or women's boxing and stuff like that. Quite honestly, you can't compare women's MMA to stuff like that at all. It's really its own entity. There is no comparison at all.
PC: Do you think we'll ever see you guys compete in the UFC?
TL: Not anytime soon. I actually got a chance to ask Dana White that question. I went up to The Ultimate Fighter tryouts because some of my teammates were up there and I just sort of rode along. I went up to him and I got my picture taken with him and I asked him. I said, "I understand you don't want to put women in the UFC and that's fine, but how about the WEC?" I figured it's a smaller promotion and it's where the up and comers are and stuff like that and his response to me were different from the ones I hear online and everything. He was probably just being really polite. He said, "There are just not enough women in the sport to make really good matchups yet," which I disagree with, but that's his opinion and I'm cool with that. Maybe there aren't that many high-level matchups to be made consistently. I kind of see where he comes from because if he did do a women's division, he would want it to be consistent; not just one every 3rd show or something like that. He wants like 1 or 2 on every show and I do kind of agree with him on that. There aren't enough high-level women in the sport yet, but it's growing and it will get there. It will become a reality, I do think, for that to become possible. It will just take time that's all.
PC: Everyone seems to think that more high school kids will start looking to find an MMA gym rather than try out for football or something like that. How far do you think women's fighting is from that?
TL: I really hope that's not the case. I hope kids can be involved in team sports and MMA. It teaches you discipline, teamwork and social value on how to work with others. Honestly, I do believe in team sports and I hope one is not abandoned for the other because I do think it takes a discipline and a respect for some of those attributes that you mentioned to get into MMA and be successful. Yes, I hope there is a major surge in MMA training and everything because it's not just a fad and also I would like to see people continue to go out for the football teams, wrestling teams, cheerleading, track, cross country and field hockey.
PC: When I spoke with Kim Couture, she told me you were one of her favorite fighters to watch. What are your thoughts on her getting into the sport?
TL: I'm not really sure because at first, I kind of frowned at it because it looked like a big publicity stunt with her "Smoker" being on HDNet and everything. I was like, "Come on!" But she got her an amateur fight and she did it and trained for it so that's cool. Do I want to see her go pro instantly on a big card? No, but I'm really glad she's doing amateur events and building her way up to pro so I can respect that. I respect that a lot. It takes a lot of work to get good at this. It's not actually something like a fly by night thing. You can't think because you're a tough street fighter or you do a lot of cardio that you could be really good. It takes more than that and I think she recognizes that so I have a lot of respect for that. I didn't know she even knew who I was so that's pretty cool.
PC: I asked what other fighters she liked to watch and you were one of the first one's she said.
TL: Wow! Rock on!
PC: You and Gina Carano and Kaitlin Young.
TL: Isn't she [Young] cool dude? That chick is on fire. Did you see those highlights of her fights? She had 3 knockouts in one night.
PC: I did see that. That chick is bad!
TL: Is she? I would not want to mess with that standup. Girl, if I ever have to fight you, we're going to the ground.
PC: Do you like her chances against Gina?
TL: I think her chances are pretty good. I really do. I think that the 3 minute rounds are going to work against her [Gina]. They are more in her favor because I think the longer the fight goes, the more probable that Gina is going to gas out honestly just because of the giant weight cut and I suspect her cardio is not awesome. If it goes to a decision, I think Gina is going to win because of hometown advantage; meaning home promotion advantage. I would look for Kaitlin to push the pace of the fight and for Gina to gas out and for Kaitlin to pick her apart. That's what I think. I could be completely wrong and Gina could pull a submission out of her ass; who knows, it's MMA. That's what makes the sport so awesome.
PC: I know you made some comments about Gina not taking the sport seriously because how much weight she puts on between fights. Do you think she doesn't take the sport seriously and if so, do you think EliteXC should promote girls like Shayna more?
TL: I mean, I understand why EliteXC pushes Gina the way they do. She's a really pretty girl and she's
sex sells and that's what it comes down to and that's what they want to push, but what bothers me about Gina is she doesn't take the time to catch up on her skills to become extremely legit as the face of women's MMA. I really do think they should push people like Shayna Baszler and Kaitlin Young and the people that are actually 100% serious about the sport. Gina just doesn't seem to take it as a career like I think she should and there are other women out there that do. It seems like MMA is when she has time I think and maybe I'm wrong, but that's what it looks like to me. Maybe she could surprise us all. I am hoping.
PC: It was an honor and pleasure to speak with you. I hope you secure a fight soon. Is there anything you would like to say in closing?
TL: I just want to thank my team, Philadelphia Fight Factory. I am under new management. I actually took on a manager, which I am super stoked about because now I don't have to flip the switch from manager to fighter in 5 minutes right before I get on the mat. Matt Stansell is my manager and it's kind of cool because he's a fighter too and I just got with them this week. So yeah, a big thanks to NCFC Fight Management. I haven't fought since November and I'm dying over here.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]