On Friday June 19th, veteran MMA fighter, Landon "The Show" Showalter, will be battling George Stork at the Strikeforce Challegers event at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Washington. NW Fightscene had a chance to catch up with Landon inside the confines of the gym he owns, the Arlington Kickboxing Academy, and had a long chat with him about his 9 year fight career, the Ultimate Fighter Tryouts, his fight team & gym, and juggling everything while still being a full-time family man...

NWFS: What are your thoughts on fighting in the Strikeforce Challengers show which has been billed as an event for up and comers...
Showalter: You know, I've been on a lot of different shows... Strikeforce, Strikeforce Challengers, UFC, whatever. They're all getting to be pretty big shows. I personally don't care whether is Strikeforce versus Strikeforce Challengers. I mean its the same card really. Same organization. You're still getting paid. You're still getting the same TV. Showtime, they're still playing it just like they play Strikeforce. No difference to me whether its Challengers or Strikeforce. 

NWFS: Did you sign more than a one fight contract?
Showalter: Nope. Hopefully, I'll have a good performance and this will lead me to bigger things. I'm pretty confident it will.

NWFS: You last fought nearly a year ago in Korea at Spirit MC. Tell us about that situation. Why have you had such a long layoff?
Showalter: Basically because I signed a two year contact with Spirit MC. I was supposed to have a minimum of three fights. I did my first fight, I had an injury going into that fight so I was laid up for months and the outcome wasn't what I planned obviously. Ended up kind of gassing out and getting caught in a submission at the end of the fight. But that really isn't the reason why they haven't brought me back. It's because they keep postponing it. First it was supposedly the main event got injured. That was more of an excuse than anything and then I know that Elite XC was one of their backers. They went under. Then they gave me another date and that got postponed again. I've turned down a bunch of fights because of my contract and then finally they released me so I can fight wherever I want as long as its not Korea, because the organization hasn't been active. That's pretty much it in a nutshell. That's why I haven't fought in the last year. 

NWFS: But you're ready to go..
Showalter: I've been training consistently the whole time thinking they give me a date, training for my date and then it gets postponed. So I've been training consistent regardless of a lot of letdowns basically. Just haven't got in the ring but I have been active as far as training goes.

NWFS: You said you had some injuries. Touch on those, not fighting for a year but actually training. How's your body, because you're a veteran of the sport. You've been fighting for what, nine years?
Showalter: Yep, nine years. So this time, this will be the first time that I've actually trained for a fight without actually fighting. We've decided because of the last four years I've been struggling with my back and my hand and whatnot so I didn't do any sparring for this fight. I didn't do anything but strength and conditioning. Put on more muscle. Usually at this weight class, I'm fat. This time I put on a lot of muscle and I'm injury free. And I'm in great cardio shape. I can run six miles without even hardly breaking a sweat in about 45 minutes. That's no problem. Lot of conditioning drills, lot of sprinting. Lot of nasty, nasty cardio. Concentrating on lifting to strengthen my back. 

NWFS: Who have you been training with?
Showalter: I've done some technique stuff with Charlie [Pearson] but mainly I've been training with Sally Krumdiack. She's a sports science specialist. Actually people don't know but she's a great, great strength and conditioning coach. I feel like I'm in the best shape of my life because of her.

Pro MMA Fighter Sally "Slick" Krumdiack in action

NWFS: And that something she's doing more now?
Showalter: She's been doing it but she's just mainly been training me and a few other clients over the past year or so. She's got her own little business going on where she's a mobile trainer basically. She's really good so if anyone's looking for a good trainer for that reason she's awesome. [Visit her site at krumdiack.com]

 
NWFS: Talk about The Ultimate Fighter tryouts. They were back in April. I heard you made it through and got the call to go down to Vegas. Tell us about that whole experience. The tryouts, the time in Vegas...
Showalter: I actually wasn't even sure that I was going to do the tryouts but I was taking my heavyweight, Matt Kovacs, to do it and since I was there... I decided to do it and the experience was different. I wouldn't do it again. I'm glad I did it to experience it, but the tryouts were very long and you only had two minutes to impress Joe Silva. I was actually surprised that some of the people who were trying out how they weren't as aggressive as you'd expect. You got 120 seconds to impress this guy so... I did it, obviously impressed them. I did well in grappling.

 When it got to the striking portion, I knew it wouldn't be a problem for me. I watched most people and not to rip on anyone but I definitely didn't see that skill in guys and I felt I was probably one of the best strikers there. That was the easy part for me. Did the striking. I think the interview process was probably the hardest part. It was like a panel interview and had 4 people there. They were just in your face aggressive. They'd try to mess with you, f*** with your head a little bit. Still, I've been doing this a long time, been in front of the camera. That was no problem for me.

Got my call back, and flew me out to Vegas. Same deal, basically they set us up in a hotel, gave us our schedules. Basically it was just medicals and another interview, and you had to deal with a lot of pricks. All the rest of the fighters. I think that I'm a little older... quite a bit older than most of the guys trying out for the show so my maturity level was a lot higher than them... It was interesting but would I do it again, no. Not at this point in my career. That was like f*** it, I'm going to try it and if I make it on cool its my shot, but if not whatever. 

NWFS: And they cut the Middleweights and went with the Heavyweights... Were you disappointed when that happened or were you well, I gave it my best shot?
Showalter: Of course I was a little disappointed because I made the decision this is my only shot towards that show. Not that I was really excited to sit in the house with a bunch of dickheads for six weeks or whatever. But it was my opportunity to get my foot in the door and finally get into the UFC. So I was willing to make that sacrifice. So yeah, I was disappointed. I got that call and I asked them why they cut me, that they'd give me something like did my interview suck or didn't' think my skill level was high enough or whatnot. But they said no, your skill level is great, that's why we brought you out. Your interview was good, all your medicals were fine. And I was like, what's the problem, and they were like well, we don't have a reason. You're great, we like you, or we wouldn't have brought you out. That didn't make any sense. So I kind of just left it at that. Figure that maybe they'll just call me up to fight. In a way I was just relieved to get my answer and not have to worry about it anymore, but I did get in front of the UFC and I know they like me. So who knows what that could lead up to.

NWFS: Tell us about your fight team and gym.
Showalter: The fight team, we've got a lot of young guys that are real green and then you got some tough kids. I've got a couple standouts that you guys have seen fight and have done fairly well. Couple of guys that have turned pro, one that I'm going to turn pro after one or two more fights. First off, we got Matt Coble who I turned pro. He really didn't get any amateur title shots because he had beat the guys who had won the titles earlier. And I was thinking should I turn him pro, turned him pro just a little bit early I think but now he's really developed... he's a tough kid, talented kid, a hard worker, and now I think finally we're going in the right direction. He came off a win over there in Yakima. He was in the main event. Fought a guy named Armondo Corona who was 12-2. And stuck to the game plan and pounded him out and looked great. Matt's looking really good.

Of course we got Matt Kovacs, who's more of the big heavyweight, heavy handed guy. Either knocks someone out or gets knocked out usually. We lost a fight by decision just because we didn't train hard enough. That's the problem with heavyweights, they don't' have to be quite as disciplined as the lighter weight guys because they don't have to cut weight. So they think they can get away with more shit. But if he hits you, you're going to sleep. And he's a tough guy and he's a game day performer. And he really performs well and he likes the show. He likes to be in front of people. He likes all that shit so he does well on game day.

Out of my amateurs I'm ready to turn pro we got Mr. Lopez. JJ. That kid is tough as tough, and he's undefeated. Seven knockouts, one decision. Kid hits as hard as any 85 pounder I've played with but he fights at 45. And he's got just power. His ability. He's short and stocky, he hits hard and he just has no fear. And he listens well. And he's a really talented kid. So one or two more fights, as long as he's got a good outcome I'm going to turn him pro. 

NWFS: He's got those hands but he also has such a great ability to scramble...
Showalter: Scramble! The kids an athlete. He's very naturally talented for this sport. And again, where Matt Coble comes in, he's a scrambler. Guys that move around usually tend to have good luck. And the rest of the team, just a lot of young guys, you never know what's going to walk in the door. If they do their first fight, if they're going to stick around. That's really hard to say. Couple of tough kids, like Victor [Barajas], Victor is a late bloomer. He's really tough, will fight anyone, anytime, on any notice, has a lot of ability but sometimes makes some green mistakes and gets caught in some stupid stuff. Lost a couple of fights we probably shouldn't have lost by getting too excited, and leaving his limbs out. But he's a tough, tough kid and he's going to be really tough in a couple of years.

As far as the gym's going, its going good. Consistently growing. Actually need more mat space you know. That's a good problem, but the overhead for a MMA gym is also expensive so I don't have a lot of extra money to put large amounts of mats down at one time but I'm going to save up and by a mat here and a mat there. Do fundraisers or something like that. Or a sponsor would be cool. For anyone who's looking for that. 

NWFS: And you got the submission tournament, Saturday the 20th. Your second one. Tell us about that. 
Showalter: Basically, I've been around the business a long time and I've wanted to eventually.. obviously I'm not going to fight forever. I'm getting a little bit older so that's probably in the near future so.. don't know when but within the next few years. I'm not going to fight until 40 like Randy Couture. The Revolution's been really successful but not everyone wants to drive all the way to the other side of Washington just to do a grappling tournament. Not everybody likes the same style of rules. I think they're great for certain styles but for more MMA type grapplers and No-Gi guys, I think that the point system slows people down.

Charlie did the Lockflow Submission tournament a way back and I kind of picked up on those rules. Basically the beginners will still use a point system because they're new. But all the intermediate and advanced, I don't allow points. You have to finish the grappling match in order to win, or if it goes to the time limit, the most aggressive guy who's in charge of the match gets the win. We don't do draws. That pushes the pace, makes it more entertaining, makes them work on their skill set a lot more. Our first one was fairly successful, I didn't lose money. All venues take time to build up. I'm not quite sure how the seconds one going to go. 

I have put in cash prizes to make people want to compete more. The last time we did a hundred bucks to the guy, he got a trophy and a hundred bucks for the coolest submission. Most technical submission. Fastest submission. Then the team trophy went to Marcelo Alonso's gym for most wins. And of course we had an absolute division where they got a championship belt for winning, so its pretty cool. I like it and its fun. Less drama than all the fight stuff too. Not a whole lot of territorial issues... I've seen people do a lot of shows and its a lot of work, and you have to be really careful about stepping on people's toes. For me, I'm a low drama type of guy, this is a little safer for me. I don't have to deal with as much shit, pissing people off. You know, make a little money doing something I love. And help the sport grow. I'm cool with that. 

NWFS: You recently got married and have a couple of kids. Tell us about juggling the fighting and the gym with getting in family time.
Showalter: Its difficult. Its great. I wouldn't change it. I married a great woman. Cheryl has been a huge supporter of my career of course. She doesn't like to see her husband get punched in the face all the time. She's used to it but you know, what wife wants to she her husband get jacked around to make money. But she supports me, she knows I love it. And I make a decent living, doing what I'm doing. And the kids, Chase, it doesn't even phase him. I've been doing it his whole life. Either way, I asked him the other day if he wanted to see me retire or keep fighting and he doesn't care ether way. My daughter would like to see me quit. She's a little older. She gets it. She's turning 14 in December. But again, they all support me.

As far as like my schedule, its kind of hard on them. I'm never home, I'm traveling a lot. I get grumpy, especially when I'm cutting weight. The kids miss their dad, and of course my wife misses me. So it gets difficult at time but you really need to have an understanding family. And I do. I'm pretty fortunate there. And as far as juggling the family life and the gym life, I tell you what, I don't have much time to myself. I'm either here training and any second I have off I'm with my kids and my wife. Every once in awhile, I'll go out and I really have to plan it. I just don't have time to. But I love it. Its better to have too much of a life than not have a life. So its cool.

NWFS: So do you have any sponsors for this coming fight? 
Showalter:  Dethrone. You've seen Nick Diaz, and Josh Koshcheck and a lot of the guys are being sponsored by Dethrone. Its a great brand, I like it, its kind of a different style. Its more of the bling style, the foils and stuff. Matt Foyer has been the guy I've in contact about that. He's been a really good guy to work with... So my whole crew will have a Dethrone shirt when we walk out. ADX is a new short, a really high quality short. They're kicking down some shorts for my fight. Local sponsors like J.R. Phinickeys support my team, so they kick down a little bit of money for that. So that's about it. I'm not too worried about being a rock star. I just do it because I love the sport. If I get bigger cool, then I'll ask for that paycheck. But its just nice to have a little bit of support from these guys. 

NWFS: Any shoutouts?
Showalter: Just thanks to Charlie [Charles Pearson] as always. He's always been a good mentor, a great brother, an awesome manger. Obviously I have to thank my wife Cheryl and my kids for supporting me, always being there for me and putting up with me. I'm a hard man to deal with. I'm a dick all the time when I'm cutting weight and stuff so its nice that they can put up with me, and still support me there. My Students. Obviously Dethrone,  J.R. Phinickeys, and basically all the MMA fans. The sport keeps growing. Obviously NW Fightscene for doing the article and helping the sport grow locally.

NW Fightscene would like to thank Landon for taking the time out of his schedule to speak with us. Visit him online at myspace.com/landonshowalter. Visit his gym, Arlington Kickboxing Academy online at www.arlingtonkickboxingacademy.biz or in person at 21108 67th Ave. NE in Arlington, Washington.

The gym's number is (360) 435-8814.