"He's a real tough guy and I have a lot of respect for him, but don't count me out. I'm bringing a hard pace for this fight. I'm not going to show him any respect once we're in that ring. Outside of the ring, I'm a nice guy and a respectable guy, but once I get in there, I'm not going to show him no respect. The plan is to go right at him. I'm coming out hard and I'm coming to fight," stated Strikeforce welterweight contender Luke Stewart as he talked about his clash on Friday with Joe Riggs. Check out what else he had to say about Riggs, his training, Shonie Carter pulling out of the fight and much more.
PC: How are you doing Luke?
LS: I'm good man. I'm about to get a little workout in here right now.
PC: Was the late replacement from Shonie Carter to Joe Riggs a big deal for you?
LS: I can definitely adjust, but it is a big change. Shonie and Riggs are two totally different styles. The good thing is I've been preparing for a southpaw so that worked out. Stylistically, Shonie is way more technical and is more of a gameplan fighter than Joe. Riggs is going to come out throwing heavy bombs and looking for that KO right off of the bat so I have to be careful for that. I have a little bit more of a different strategy with Riggs than I had for Shonie. I'm flexible, I'm ready to go and I'm in shape so I figured why not take the fight.
PC: Coming off of the first loss in your career, how excited are you to get back in there and into the win column?
LS: I'm really excited to get back in there. A minute after my last fight, I wanted to get back in there. It just wasn't me in there. I feel like I have to show the fans that that's not the real Luke Stewart that they should expect to see. In my last fight, I wasn't really there mentally as much as I should've been and I had some injuries going into that fight that I probably should've respected a little better. I learned a lot from that experience and if anything, it's going to make me a better fighter and make me come back harder.
PC: Riggs is coming off of a loss as well due to the back injury. He's fought Nick Diaz, Matt Hughes and some other top guys. What do you think of him as a fighter?
LS: Obviously Riggs has a ton of experience and he's been in there a lot more than I have and against some tough competition. He's a real tough guy and I have a lot of respect for him, but don't count me out. I'm bringing a hard pace for this fight. I'm not going to show him any respect once we're in that ring. Outside of the ring, I'm a nice guy and a respectable guy, but once I get in there, I'm not going to show him no respect. The plan is to go right at him. I'm coming out hard and I'm coming to fight. I'm not giving up to anybody under no circumstances. I have a lot of experience in some aspects and he's got a lot of experience in other aspects. Obviously in MMA, he's fought more than I have, but if I wasn't confident, I wouldn't be stepping in there with him.
PC: It's no secret were Joe wants to fight. Do you want this fight to be played out on the ground or does it not matter to you?
LS: With my background and his background, I'm sure people are saying, "Luke's going to want to take it to the ground and Joe wants to keep it on the feet." I'm sure Joe wouldn't mind getting on top and trying to ground and pound just like he would like to knock me out on the feet. I think this fight could play out in a lot of different scenarios. I'm comfortable wherever. I definitely want to showcase my standup a little more than I have. I have standup skills, I just need to get more comfortable with it in the ring. I've been getting some real good sparring in and I knew Shonie would be a tough guy to take down and slippery on bottom so I was already training to keep it on the feet a little bit and train my wrestling a lot more. I always train in things I need to work on; that's all I do even in the offseason. I feel good about it.
PC: Was there any pre-fight talk or build-up to where you would have rather faced Shonie or is it all about Riggs now?
LS: At this point, it's all about Joe Riggs. I was excited to fight Shonie too. He's a showman and I was looking forward to all of the hype that was built around the fight. I like the way he builds up the fights. I was disappointed he had to pull out. I was kind of suspicious because he had that fight 3 weeks before, like, "is Shonie going to make it to the fight?" I didn't hear anything from his camp so I assumed everything was good and a week before the fight, he pulls out. That was kind of disappointing. I wish he would've pulled out sooner, but I'm just rolling with it and taking what's given to me and right now, it's Joe Riggs so I'm going with it.
PC: Strikeforce isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Where would you like a win over Riggs to place you in the Strikeforce welterweight picture?
LS: I need to get back on track. After I beat Riggs, hopefully it will put me in some type of title contention. I would love to fight for the welterweight title. We'll see what Mr. Coker lines up for me next. If everything goes well for me Friday, I hope to be in title contention within the next couple of fights; definitely within the next year or so.
PC: Luke, good luck Friday night. I hope you can get back on track. Is there anything you want to say to close out the interview?
LS: Yeah, thanks man! I want to give a big shout out to On The Mat and Throwdown. I want to thank all of the guys that helped get me ready, Ralph Gracie, my coach, James Cook and David Alexander, all of my friends and family and my girlfriend Lisa, who gives me a ton of support.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]