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Interview with Jamie Varner - March 14th, 2009

Eastside MMA - Redmond, Washington

Interview and photos by Mike Renouard


WEC World Lightweight Champion, Jamie Varner, looked completely at ease teaching a seminar to a group of 20 or so students inside the confines of Eastside MMA in Redmond, Washington. Varner, along with WEC Superstar Urijah Faber, were in the Seattle area for Carnage At The Creek 5 held March 12th, as well as for this all-day seminar March 14th.


NW Fightscene had a chance to chat with Jamie Varner at the seminar. Still recovering from injuries sustained in his 5th round Split Decision victory over Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone in January, that was what our first question was about...


NW Fightscene: How are the injuries healing up from your fight with Cerrone?
Jamie Varner: As you can see I'm still in my cast on my hand. I got out of the boot on my foot a couple weeks ago so that's kind of nice. I can't spar because of my eye for about another six weeks. They're afraid of me detaching my retina. So just got to let my eye heal. I'm probably about 6 weeks away from really being able to get back into full swing.

NWFS: Then anything lined up or that they are working on?
JV: Looking at maybe late summer, like August, for a rematch with Cerrone. Richard Crunkilton and Bart Palaszewski were supposed to fight for the number one contender spot but Bart lost to that new guy [Ricardo Lamas at WEC 39], so that puts me in direct lineup I think with Cowboy again. I think that's the only logical matchup that they can make right now. I'll be looking at the future probably like a Shane Roller or something like that, possibly, because it looks like they're trying to groom him to challenge me for my title.

NWFS: Do you want to fight Cerrone again?
JV: Yeah, I mean I think its an easy fight. You know, hoping that I don't break my hand or my foot again, or get kneed in the eye. I think without my injuries, that fight could have been a lot easier. You never know, its always like a coin flip whether stuff like that happens. Its the first time its ever happened to me, especially in a fight. So I'm hoping that next time it doesn't happen, then that way I can put him away a little bit quicker. 

NWFS: Was this your toughest fight because of that reason?
JV: It wasn't my toughest fight. Hermes Franca was my toughest fight. It was a hard fight because he's very resilient. He took one helluva beating. I broke my right hand early in the fight. He had a good game plan. And I gave him way too much respect going out there... I gave him a lot of respect, broke my hand early, I don't know if it was the first or second round. I watched the fight and it looked like it could have been in the first round. I didn't feel it until the fourth round. I broke my foot in either the first or second round when he checked one of my kicks. Or its when I high kicked him, kicked him in the face. Broke my foot there. So I really didn't have much to offer besides my left hand. But this injury has been like a blessing in disguise, so I've really been able to develop my left hand. I've really been able to work on my jab and my hook. My hook is coming along really great. Working on my kicks and my knees so having had fought him and seeing how he reacts and the type of fighter he is, I'm going to change up the game plan a little bit and I'm just going to go after him, and I'm pretty sure I'll be able to put him away pretty quick.

NWFS: As a Mixed Martial Artist, how do you see yourself developing with each fight... like you said this is a blessing in disguise to work on certain things....
JV: You know, I started out as like a boxer/wrestler, but more of a wrestler to be honest. And I've been able to incorporate more jiu-jitsu in my fights and I've developed more Kickboxing. Also, every fight I get better. Every fight I get more confident. And two or three fights from now, I'm going to be a really dangerous human being. I'm only 24 man and I've got a lot of years left in this sport. I'm happy with my progression and I'd like to see me like five years from now to see where I'm at when I'm at my peak physically. 29, 30 years old, I'm kind of excited to see where that goes. I think in a couple of fights, I'm going to be pretty unstoppable. I just keep building momentum with every fight.

 

Even with the way that I beat Cerrone, I showed a lot that I could go five rounds. I can fight through injuries, it showed that I have a lot of heart and I had doubts in myself and in my training camp going into that fight. I had a lot of stuff going on in my personal life and my management, and being able to go out there and just lay it all on the line, really physically just lay it on the line... broke a hand, broke a foot... and being able to fight through all that stuff, it showed me a lot. I can only go up from there. That was the worst training camp I ever had for a fight. So I just think with a good training camp and the right mindset, I'm going to be a dangerous individual.

NWFS: Fighting in the WEC or fighting in the UFC, does it matter for you right now?
JV: Right now, like I said, I'm still real young in this sport and that's why they moved me over to the WEC. I was one of the youngest guys in the UFC at the time. And it was a good opportunity for me to build my name, gain some exposure, and gain some more experience. I've sparred with some of the best. I've sparred with Gray Maynard, Tyson Griffin, Sam Stout.. I've sparred with some of the big names in the UFC and I did great. Now I'm not going to sit here and say I beat them up or kicked their ass, but I definitely didn't get my ass kicked. I belonged in there with them so I know I'm one of the elite mixed martial artists. Fight Magazine has me listed as fifth in the world and I agree with that. I definitely think I'm a top ten fighter in the world in my weight class, and like I said, a few fights from now its going to be scary. A few years from now, I'm going to be unstoppable.

NWFS: Talk about your training partners. You had Carlos Condit training with you...
JV: Yep, Carlos Condit. I have Jade Porter training with me and he's undefeated as a pro right now. I have Steve Steinbeiss who's a great kickboxer. I have Ray Steinbeiss who's also an amazing striker, got great wrestling, he was a state champion in Arizona, wrestled on the all-Marine team, the Twentynine Palms. Got great workout partners. Got Estavan Payan, he's a 145 pounder and is about to fight on the new ESPN show, ESPN Deportes. Lot of guys, CB Dollaway, Ryan Bader, Aaron Simpson... I've got just a whole stable of horses man that I work out with. Steve Rosenberg, he's a great Jiu-jitsu guy, one of the top grapplers in the world right now. I got him and Gustavo Dantas who are pretty much my instructors and best friends and they help out my jiu-jitsu. 

 

The list just goes on.. I could sit here all day and tell you my workout partners, which its great to have. And a lot of those guys you don't know about and that's really good. I know who Cowboy was training with, I see who he was training with. I know all the guys and I know their styles and none of them are me. With everything I got in my gym, I can build a Cowboy. I got great Kickboxers. I got better kickboxers. I got great grapplers, I got better grapplers than him. Boxers, wrestlers. I have everything he can do and better, and I would even go so as far to say everybody in the UFC, you're not going to find a guy or a gym like Arizona Combat Sports where you have this stable of guys and workout partners. I've got K-1 level Kickboxers, I got World Champion Jiu-jitsu, I got All-American wrestlers. I got Golden Glove national champions for boxers. I got great guys to work out with.

NWFS: You've come up here now 4 or 5 times for Carnage at the Creek. 
JV: Yeah, I love coming up here.
NWFS: Bringing up stable of guys every time. Tell us about coming up here, what are your thoughts about it?
JV: Its awesome man. I started teaching in June of 2007 and I really found my niche man. Its a passion. I love doing this, its great. I just had this wave of guys... I took these little ducklings and they grew into... these geese I guess you could say. I mean I was able to just take these guys from just being like infants and just seeing them grow. They were just babies in the sport and now I got undefeated professional fighters. Jade [Porter] is 2-0 as a pro. I have Jesse Barrett who is 2-0 as a pro. Pat Runez who is like 3 or 4-0 as a pro. He's one of the top guys in the world at 125.

Varner, Porter, & Barrett - CATC 5                                 Runez & Varner - CATC 3 

 

And these are guys who started their mixed martial arts careers with me. So its great. Now they're kind of going on and I got them to that point, they're going to be able to move on to bigger and better things, and now I got a new wave of guys who are amateurs and are coming up. I've got 4 or 5 amateurs that are ready to fight. 4 of them are going to be making their debut here pretty soon. So its just nice man. Its cool and this is a passion of mine. I love fighting but teaching and coaching is my passion.


NWFS: In Arizona, are you able to find the quality and caliber of amateur fights and fighting events. I know Rage in the Cage has been there so long...
JV: Its hard. There's a lot of corruption still in Arizona. The Rage in the Cage is like the UFC of Arizona. Its really hard to get a fair shake at a show. Rage in the Cage, they have a lot of shows and they kind of bully and manipulate a lot of what goes on down there. Its hard to get a fair shake so I don't generally have my guys fight in Rage in the Cage, even though I do have a good relationship with them. I was one of their title holders for a while and that's where I started my career. I like my guys out of the state and getting them different experiences, giving them experiences that only fighting can give them. Being able to take a trip to Seattle and hang out. This is stuff they wouldn't have normally done if they wouldn't have been fighting, or if they wouldn't have been with me, or if we didn't have the opportunity to go fight at Carnage at the Creek. Its cool to take these guys on these trips and they get to see the world, and they get to do what they love and that's real cool.

NWFS: So what'd you do here last night? 
JV: Me and Urijah made a couple bar appearances and just had a good time. And just had some drinks. I'm down and out for a little while so I can party a little bit. And Urijah is kind of gearing up for a fight it looks like in June so as I'm hitting it hard, he's kind of coasting you know. He's taking it easy. But this is the first time I've really been able to party like this and go out and enjoy myself. I mean, even when I had my 21st birthday, I only had 2 drinks and then I had to go right back to the wrestling room and train. This is the first time I've actually really been able to enjoy myself and travel and have a good time. So its been really neat. Liquid Lime is the place where I've been hanging out mostly, and besides the Little Creek Casino, just kind of cruising and getting to see the sights and sounds. Eastside MMA, this is an experience that is cool to me [to] go see other peoples gyms and see what other people do.

NWFS: Sponsors?
JV: I don't have any sponsors, I don't have a manager. I'm kind of a free agent right now. That was part of the reason why I had such a hard training camp, I had a real falling out with my management. I had a car sponsorship through one of the dealerships there, got my car taken away, and I got screwed out of a lot of money through my old management. I should be getting $3500 a month for the next two years from my contract, but they pulled out of that. I wanted out from my management anyways, but I got screwed out of $11,000 from my Marcus Hicks fight. Money that just never got paid to me, so had a real big falling out. Didn't have a car for my last training camp, so I was just catching rides with people. I would run to the gym sometimes and its six miles away. That was kind of a pain, but a lot of times I was bumming rides off of everybody. And it was a good thing having Carlos [Condit] down there. Carlos moved a block away from my house, so I was able to either borrow his car or he was able to drive me to the gym. That was awesome. He was my main training partner and he's one of my best friends, so that was really neat. And just having him in the camp really helped out, keeping my head on straight because everything that could of gone wrong, went wrong in that training camp. I try to use Urijah Faber's outlook on life and just be really positive, but it was really hard to be positive during that time in my life. It was just really hard... But it paid off. Without struggle, there can be no progress. So that's how I live my life, and I try to find the good in everything. And like I said, hanging out with Urijah has really rubbed off on me, he helps me out a lot. He's a great friend to me and he's an even better person, better human being. 

NWFS: Would you ever want to go into his gym and do some training there?
JV: No. I love my gym. I love the Lally brothers and I love Arizona Combat Sports, I love my training partners. There isn't any place like that on the planet. I mean I can go to Urijah's gym but I wont have the same caliber of guys. They're very tough there and Urijah makes it work for him, but I need what I got. I got the best of everything, I got the best wrestlers, the best grapplers, the best kickboxers, the best boxers, and all of them do MMA. So its great, like the guys, everybody had their own niche, like I had wrestlers like Bader, CB, Aaron Simpson, start out wrestling, Great wrestlers, All-Americans, transition over to MMA. So I have them but they also put everything together. I have Steve Steinbeiss who was an undefeated kickboxer in K-1 who made the transition over to MMA. So he's more Kickboxer oriented MMA. Ray Steinbeiss started out wrestling but he became a really good boxer through time and he's an undefeated pro right now in boxing. And I have him. And like I said, my grapplers, Steve Rosenberg, Jacob McClintock, great guys and they both transition well into MMA.


NW Fightscene would like to thank Jamie for his time in taking this interview.

Check him out at myspace.com/fightkidd. Jamie's gym, Arizona Combat Sports, is located in Tempe, Arizona. More info can be found at azcombatsports.com


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