UFC lightweight contender Joe "Daddy" Stevenson talks about his upcoming clash with Kurt Pellegrino at UFC 74 and much more. Check out what he had to say about his new fighting strategy, his prediction for the fight, and why he feels that no one enjoys watching boxing's undefeated pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight.
PC: What have you been up to Joe "Daddy?"
JS: Nothing. I've just been hanging out in Vegas. I just got my kids, as you can hear. I have all 3 of them now, so I have a whole gang. The problem about getting your kids in the summer is you have to take them to everyone you're friends with. We're going to be traveling literally across 1,000 to 2,000 miles; just so everyone get's to see the kids. Other than that, everything is going good. Afterwards, of course I'm going to be training my butt off. Right now, I'm just kind of dabbling in the gym. I like to call it: trying to get in shape to get in shape.
PC: What is your weight looking like?
JS: About 180. Fat and happy. If I wasn't, I would be a jerk to talk to.
PC: We didn't get a chance to talk after your fight with Melvin Guillard. Congrats on that.
JS: Oh, thanks man!
PC: Although it wasn't long, how did you feel about your performance?
JS: I think we train really hard to make the fight really easy and that fight was really easy; and not because Melvin's a slouch. When your gameplan is mixed with hardcore training, you can't go wrong. When you put hardcore training along with a good strategy, it's like Special Forces. Delta Force. Their not running everywhere like Navy Seals. Their walking calm and collective out there. Everything is planned out. They know at what time to shoot who. They know when to engage and when not to engage and when you do that, no one gets killed, no one gets hurt and everyone comes back safe. It's the same thing in fighting. You put a gameplan together to attack your opponent's weaknesses and then you make sure you push the pace to where your gameplan is effective and not his, and its going to happen. I was really pleased with the outcome of the fight. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to hit him more, but I was happy that I didn't get hurt or he didn't get hurt, so it was cool.
PC: After training 6-8 hard weeks in camp, does it kind of suck to only have the fight last 27 seconds or do you look at it as you guys don't get paid by the hour?
JS: No, we don't get paid by the hour. It would be silly to say we get paid by a 15 minute fight or 25 minute fight. The fight is the easy part. If you prepare right for it, the training is the hard part. You're going to get hurt, your ribs are going to get jacked, your face is going to get mangled and you'll get cauliflower ears; you don't get cauliflower ear from wrestling around and a boxing match. You get cauliflower ear from training and sparring and that's where that comes from. It's the same thing with the fight game; you're going to get your bumps and bruises. You're not going to be 100% going into any fight. When you are, it is cool as heck, but it doesn't happen to often.
PC: Word is you're going to be fighting Kurt Pellegrino at UFC 74
JS: Oh, no, no, no! That's going down. I'm excited about that. I am already training. It is at UFC 74 right here at the Mandalay Bay.
PC: How much have you seen of him and what do you think of him as a fighter?
JS: I think he's really cool. I think he's a tough fighter. He has good wrestling and good Jiu Jitsu. I have no idea why he would take a fight with me because his Jiu Jitsu is not better than mine. His wrestling may be good, but I got him in standup and Jiu Jitsu. That just sucks to be him.
PC: Pellegrino has been submitting a lot of people. Being that you like to fight on the ground, do you have to be careful with your ground and pound with this guy?
JS: I'm not going to try and submit anyone. You could always figure on me trying to hit them unless they give me something. If they give me something, I'm going to take it, but I'm never going to force a move from now on, but anything they give me, I take. From now on, it's I'm going to take you down and hit you.
PC: Your last few opponents have been just giving you their necks too.
JS: Yeah, exactly. I think that's the way to go. When you start trying to do the grappling and Jiu Jitsu stuff, it's good, but sometimes you get in trouble because some people are not good at grappling, but their good at getting out of moves and hitting you; so I'm changing that up.
PC: Going back to the Melvin fight real quick. What do you think of all of the positive drug tests we're getting back in MMA?
JS: Aghhh. People make mistakes. We're young; we do stupid stuff and have bad influences in our life. I was thinking maybe he was surrounding himself with the wrong type of people and maybe that's because he just haven't lived life to know better, but that will change. I really would rather not talk about it because I'm not one of those guys that think any press is good press.
PC: Lightweights are in high demand right now. What did you think of Nate Diaz winning the show and what did you think of BJ Penn beating Jens Pulver?
JS: I thought Nate was really good. He's been good for a while. I thought BJ beating Jens was inevitable because the size difference and gap. This game isn't that hard to figure out when you're involved in it. My boy Gray's fight was bad ass. I didn't like how the guy handled himself afterwards. Emerson was like, "I can feel him going out." Nah, nah! No one taps to someone that is unconscious, that's crap. Gray rolled over because he felt the tap and he lost that intensity. When it's over it's over and you lose that intensity. I thought it was bullcrap.
PC: Do you feel like a win over Pellegrino should warrant you a shot at the title?
JS: I don't even care. I want that title and it's going to be there for me. When I fight for that title, you'll see me step it up even more. As of right now, I want to beat whoever is in front of me.
PC: Yeah, it seems like you've taken a real patient stance on the title situation. You're not going to beg for a title shot?
JS: No, I'm not getting on my knees for a title shot. In my last fight, I said it, I only get on my knees to thank God or to ask my wife to marry me. Other than that, I'm just chilling.
PC: Who would you give upset of the year to so far?
JS: Upset of the year to? Dude, it's so many that I can easily say, but I have to say Matt Serra over St. Pierre. I would've lost my house. If the devil would've popped up in front of me and asked me to make a wager, I would've been like, "Sure, you're crazy man."
PC: What were your thoughts on the lightweight fight from a couple weeks back, Spencer Fisher vs. Sam Stout?
JS: Sammy is my friend. I think the southpaw jinx was on him. My boy has a chin and if you look at their face after the fight, one of them looked like they could go to church in the morning and the other one couldn't. Spencer could have won the fight, but I thought it was possibly a draw just off of the damage inflicted. This isn't amateur fighting. In amateur boxing, if you hit a guy 32 times, you've won that round. This is about damage inflicted. It's just like Mayweather vs. Oscar. If Oscar wouldn't have been fighting in the fight, no one would've watched because Mayweather doesn't fight. He just runs around and Oscar brought that fight. He had to fight him because their was no other draw. Oscar can fight anyone he wants and people will watch it because he's going to bring a fight.
PC: What's your prediction for the Pellegrino fight?
JS: I predict like Mr. T did in Rocky, Pain! It's going to be a fight. When you have two styles that clash, it could be a boring fight. I'm not going to let that happen. He's going to have to try and submit me while I hit him in the head and I'm going to try and not submit him and hit him in the head. I'm going to make sure I'm pushing the pace. If you get two grappling guys or two Jiu Jitsu guys, the fans think the fight is so boring, but if you know Jiu Jitsu, you would understand, "Oh, he was going for this the whole time." You get two fighters like Castillo and Hatton together and someone's going down. Period.
PC: Joe, it's always a pleasure man. Good luck in August. Anything you want to say in closing?
JS: Catch UFC 74 and I'm eating some Ritz crackers and that's about it.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]