8pointmma.com's Podcast

Hello everyone, and welcome to the inaugural episode of 8 Point MMA.com’s: Month of Bellator Special. With Bellator Season Two quickly approaching 8 Point MMA.com has agreed to sit down and interview every fighter that will be competing in Season Two. This week we will be starting with all the Bellator Featherweight Tournament participants.

First up, we have Wilson Reis. Wilson was on Bellator's first ever season, and ended up losing to eventual tournament winner, and now Bellator Featherweight Champion Joe Soto. Wilson got the call to return to Bellator and compete in their Season Two tournament. When asked about getting a second chance at the title Wilson told 8 Point MMA.com, "I was very excited and very happy to come back in Season Two. I'm excited to get in, beat three opponents, and win the title. That's my goal right now."

Wilson is matched up with Shad Lierley for his opening match up in the tournament. Wilson realizes Shad is a threat, but told us "I think it's a great match up. I know Shad is well rounded, I (have) watched his footage. I'm very excited about the fight, I think his style is a great match up for me. I look forward to being better (than him).

Shad's background before MMA was in wrestling, where he was a top college wrestler. With Wilson being a submission expert, we asked him if he thought this played out to his advantage and he said, "My Jiu-Jitsu is a big advantage for me. I know it's good for me, because now I am learning my striking, and my wrestling. I love to wrestle, it's one of my favorite sports. I think that fact that Shad is a very good wrestler is going to make the fight tough for me. At the same time though, it's fun because I love to wrestle."

Wilson will be one of the few returning fighters from Bellator Season 1. When asked about this providing a possible advantage, Wilson said "It benefits me because I know how to fight three times in three months. You have to come with a good game plan. Especially after your first fight, you have to be smart. How to be ready, and keep your body in shape."

Click the podcast to hear Wilson talk about a possible rematch with Joe Soto, how he has grown as a fighter since Season 1, and more!!!

Today 8PointMMA.com was able to catch up with the ever exciting Chris Lytle. Chris just won a fight against Brian Foster at UFC 110 in Australia. Chris told us, "It was a good win for me. I watched his last couple fights. I was pretty impressed with the way he fought, a pretty quick victory for me is what I really wanted. I wanted to show that I am more than a one dimensional fighter. I was looking to throw punches but he kept trying to tie it up and get the takedown."

Brian Foster's game plan caught Chris off guard however, "I thought he was going to be much more aggressive, really looking for a stand up war. He was trying to be much more technical than I thought. I was trying to come in with big shots, and he was trying to just take a shot, and move away. Pick me as apart, as opposed to stand and bang, which is what I thought he was going to do"

With his Submission of the Night award, Chris has moved into the All-Time earnings leader for UFC Locker room Bonus Awards. He laughed when asked about the record, and told 8PointMMA.com, "That's a fantastic thing to have. I'm just glad that my last few fights have been getting recognized for doing good things."

Click the podcast to hear Chris's thoughts on who he would like to fight next, the experience of fighting in Australia, and more!!!

We have been doing an in-depth special about the new Tapout House, that Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Leonard Garcia opened up in recently. There is no better person to talk about that experience with, than Carey Vanier. Carey has been through the Tapout House now and emerged with a contract with Bellator.

We asked Carey about the transition to a new environment, “When I was down there I did not know what to expect. My first visit down there, it was all new guys from different parts of the country. Some guys were pros, some guys were amateur. Also, it was the first time that I was meeting “Cowboy” and Leonard.”

Carey also noted he had a lot of fun outside of the gym too, “”Cowboy” took us all out shooting, dirt biking, played a lot of “zombies” in Call of Duty, we played a lot of that game.”

“It was a really good experience for me. I got really close with Leonard and “Cowboy”, and I got to see what it was like to be a pro fighter. To see the day in, day out stuff that they do. At least for me, the #1 question was what do those guys have, that I don’t have. That was one thing I really enjoyed. I got a friendship with all the guys in the house, every single one of those guys had something different to offer. I really have a close relationship with Bobby, he is Leonard’s younger brother, we click.”

Carey also noticed a change in his fighting game in his time training, “My striking. There’s one thing I can tell you about Jackson’s camp, and it’s those guys bang. The days that we sparred, we’d go at it. It was my first time being a gym where everybody is as good, or better than you. The competition level is always high. It’s almost like a sink or swim, especially when you go to the Pro class. I’ve seen guys that came down to the house that thought they were ready to go into the pro class, and work out with the guys that were pros. They weren’t ready at all. I got in, and I had to learn how to swim.”

Click the podcast below to hear the full interview where Carey talks about cornering in a WEC fight, to what he liked most about the house, and more!!!

For Part 2 of our week-long special into the Tapout House we were able to catch up with standout WEC fighter Cub Swanson.

Cub is very amazed with the progress that has been made with the fighters in the Tapout House. He mentioned to us, "It's great. It's the kind of thing a lot of people want to do. Giving a lot of people the chance to come, and step up their training. They can be in the atmosphere of training full time."

Now a top fighter himself, Cub was quick to recognize the benefits something like this could have had on him when he first made his entry into MMA. "I had something similar to that. I would go up to Big Bear with Joe Stevenson. This is the first one that I have heard of that is not pieced together."

For fans that are considering a trip to the Tapout House themselves but are on the fence, know that guys like Cub make regular appearances at the house, and help with the instruction. "I come out here quite frequently and help out as much as I can when I am here, get in some good training."

The fighters in the house will also be used to hep guys like Cub with thier upcoming fights. When asked about using guys from the house for his training camp Cub told us, "I'm going to use the best guys I can possible. A lot of the guys here are pretty damn

In the late parts of 2009, Leonard Garcia and Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone decided they wanted to make a place where fighters of all skill levels could come and train with pro fighters, and live the fighter life.

Thus the Tapout House was born. Now open for operation with Leonard and Donald as Co-Owners, the Tapout House is really beginning to get rolling, and has been in operation for almost 6 months now.

When asked to describe the Tapout House, Leonard Garcia told us "Basically the Tapout House is mine and Cowboy's home. It's a nine bedroom house that is sitting on ten acres of land, we just had all the room in the world. Normally we would hold camps where we would bring fighters from different places to live and stay with us. We decided it was a good idea to start letting anybody come out. Anybody that's trying to make it to the big show, or anyone that is trying to better themselves. What people get to do, they pay $500, they come out here and live with me and Cowboy. Basically go through the routine we go through every day as MMA fighters. We train two, maybe thee times a day, five days a week."

We also asked Leonard what caused him to start the Tapout House and Garcia told us, " We have such a good team at Greg Jackson's, guys who are high level at pretty much anything, and everything. Instead of bringing only high caliber fighters in, we can give anyone a chance. It's good to see new styles, a lot of the guys whom are young and hungry, are developing new styles. It's something that you have to see everyday, otherwise it can catch you by surprise. That's where the idea came from."

Although the Tapout House can be compared to The Ultimate Fighter House, there should be none of the nonsense that has plagued The Ultimate Fighter House here. Leonard said "There's no rules as far as leaving the premises. There's a big line between our house and The Ultimate Fighter House. We have all types of activities out here. We have three four-wheelers, two dirt bikes, we actually have a dirt bike track out in the backyard. They can come out here and free their mind, and not just be cooped up in one spot. We have stuff to get your mind off training. It's a big difference in the stress release I believe."

Click the podcast below to hear all the other information about the Tapout House, and find out 2 of the upcoming members on The Ultimate Fighter Season 11!!! Stay tuned the rest of the week, we will have a daily podcast from a different member of the Tapout House. Tomorrow will be Cub Swanson.

Today 8pointmma.com was able to get some time with UFC Lightweight Gray Maynard for a quick, 8 point interview.

Gray may have lost in The Ultimate Fighter competition to Nate Diaz, but he avenged that loss at Ultimate Fight Night 20 last month. Gray said "It felt really good. It was a tough fight, he's a tough kid, i'm just glad to get the win."

Click the podcast below to hear the full interview including Gray's thought's on Couture vs. Coleman, Florian vs. Gomi, thoughts on a potential match up with teammate Tyson Griffin, and more!!!

Today 8PointMMA.com was able to catch Eddie Alvarez for a quick, 8 point interview, to discuss his return to fighting, his desire to fight UFC Kingpin BJ Penn, and more!

Eddie was able to give us a little light into his possible schedule to return to competition, after a knee injury. "The end of April I will be back in action, my rehab is knee is going excellent. I'm actually recovering much faster than I expected. Dr. Moore from Temple, did an awesome job on my knee, and I'll be back to 100%."

Click the podcast below to hear Eddie's thoughts on avenging his defeats, his thoughts on fighting at Welterweight again, why he would love to fight in front of a home crowd, and more!!!

We apologize for the background noise, the only time Eddie was available was at an Airport, so there is some commotion.

Bellator Featherweight Champion Joe Soto connected with 8pointmma.com today, to have an exclusive chat about his Bellator Season 1 performances, thoughts on a Megafight with Bellator Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez, and more!

We asked Joe about how his Season 1 Tournament win felt, and he told us "It was amazing, a dream come true. It was defiantly the opportunity of a lifetime, and I just took advantage of it. It felt good, going out there, being the underdog, and was a great accomplishment."

Click the podcast to hear the rest of the interview including Joe's thoughts on the Bellator format, and his goals for 2010, and more!!!

Bellator Featherweight prospect, Joe Warren caught up with 8pointmma.com today, and was gracious enough to give us some of his time to talk about all the things going on in his life, and the upcoming Bellator Season 2, where he is slated to be in the Season 2 Featherweight Tournament.

Joe is very excited to come stateside to fight finally and informed us, "Bellator is first class, upcoming. We see eye to eye on a lot of things. I'm still going to be able to fight in DREAM, and win my belt back over there. It should be a pretty eventful year for me"

Click the podcast to hear Joe's thoughts on Joe Soto, fighting in Michigan, and more!!

8pointmma.com was able to catch up with Strikeforce fighter Jay Hieron after his fight with Joe Riggs. Jay was able to dominate Riggs for 3 full rounds and has set himself up as one of the top contenders for Nick Diaz's Welterweight Championship.

Hieron was very excited about his win and told us "It feels great, at this point in my career this is the type of fights i want, the type of wins I want. My stock goes up, move forward and move onto bigger and better things"

Jay has his eye on Nick Diaz's belt however, and feels he deserves his title shot. Jay went on to add "I believe everything happens for a reason, and the way my career is going it's just making me mentally stronger. Which is going to make me a stronger competitor in the long run."

Jay also talked about his future with Strikeforce. "It all depends, I'm just relaxing this week and negotiating. We are still with Strikeforce, they just don't have any fights but they could still match a negotiation, you know match an offer form another organization. I like Strikeforce, they have great fight, they are coming up, they are hot right now. I would like to fight for them, but I got to look out for my best interests. Again, we will see what happens and if they want to invest in me, and if they want me to fight for the title. There is a lot of things we have to discuss, and contract stuff. At the end of the day Im in a good position, I have a good options, and I'm blessed for that."

When asked if EAsportsMMA.com's massive crash that caused almost no one to see his fight with Riggs bothered him Jay told us "You know that's just the story of my life, my career basically. I go through all this stuff, I've been through more stuff than anyone has been through in their career, or just as much stuff. I don't know what I have not been through. So when they told me about that after the fight I wasn't surprised. It is what it is, I don't have any control over that. At the end of the day I was victorious, I had a good fight, I felt I had a good performance, that's all I can ask for."

Nick Diaz's had a quite a dominating win at Strikeforce, Jay said "He looked good. As a fighter I respect him. He's well rounded, he's got good BJJ, good boxing. But there is holes in his game, and I think I match up well with him. I think that's a great fight. Not just for for me, but for the fans. I think that's the fight that makes sense."

"It's two dominant wrestler, 2 guys that are up in age, that are going at it. Randy Couture is up in the game, he's a pioneer and a legend, and so is Mark Coleman, it's a great fight. If your a fight fan, and know a lot about this sport, you like this fight. Again, some people just want to see 2 guys beating each others heads in slugging with no technique. Personally I think it's a great fight and I'm behind Randy 100%," is what Hieron had to say about UFC 109 Main Event fight between Randy Couture and Mark Coleman, which has received some criticism.

Click on the podcast to hear the full interview including Jay's thoughts on "Mach" Sakurai possibly getting a title shot, his impressive 7 fight win streak, and more!!!

WEC Featherweight Contender Leonard Garcia is in training for his fight at WEC 47 against Diego Nunes, but he had a few minutes to give 8pointmma.com for our usual, 8 question interviews.

Leonard's opponent Nunes may be coming off a loss, but he is a very game opponent and Leonard was quick to recognize that. When asked about Nunes, Leonard responded with "I think he's a really tough guy. He's only been beat one time, so he's not used to losing. When you fight someone like that, you really have to take them to the breaking point. I know he is going to come hard, and he like to stand. So it's really exciting for me!"

Leonard still has his eye one fighting the best of the best however, when asked about future opponents he would like to face he gave a very aggressive, and admirable response. "Jose Aldo, you know I think me and Aldo would be a great fight. Of course you got to position yourself to get a title shot. That's one of the fights I am really looking forward to doing in the future. As of right now there's so many names, there's Mike Brown, Urijah Faber, Raphael Assuncao. Those are three of the top guys that I have in my sights for sure. Brown, cause he's got a victory over me. I would really like to get in there and see how I do against him, without the nerves of fighting for a title. Urijah is a name that's been around forever, and he's also a tough guy. The thing is, at this weight class every fight seems like it could be for the title."

Leonard scored probably the biggest win of his career at WEC 36 against UFC Legend Jens Pulver. When discussing the fight with Leonard he said "That one for me, was extremely satisfying. TO be able to get in there with a guy like Jens, and perform how I did. It turned everything around for me, it was like the icing on the cake. Jens was like a hero of mine, I watched him fight in the early UFC's, watched him fight Urijah for 5 rounds. I am just glad I was able to hit him early, and get him out of there."

We also asked Leonard about teammate, and recent addition to the Bellator roster, Carey Vanier, Leonard offered nothing but praise. "Carey is a phenomenal athlete, when he moved into the house with us we knew he was very athletic. But the thing about really athletic guys is sometimes their work ethic isn't as good as someone's like mine. I HAVE to work twice as hard as Carey to be as good as he is at one thing. What I noticed about Carey is he is not that way. He is extremely athletic but he works SO hard. That's an attribute to his success. I think Carey would be able to give (Bellator Lightweight Champion) Eddie Alvarez fits, at that weight. He's a great athlete, he's got a phenomenal chin, he's a southpaw, and a good wrestler. I'm excited to see how far he goes, with Carey he's the only thing that can hold himself back. If he really let's go he can defiantly become a title contender up there real quick"

Finally we asked Leonard about the upcoming fight between his teammate, UFC Champion Georges. St-Pierre vs. Dan Hardy. Leonard was quick to praise Hardy, but he admits the odds are stacked against Hardy, "Georges St-Pierre all the way. I think Dan Hardy is a great fighter. But everyone thought Thiago Alves was a great striker, and yous see what Georges did to him. Georges is defiantly on another level right now. When that guy comes in there to train, you are going in there wondering what he's going to hit you with. It's not a matter of how good you do against him. It's like I won't let him beat me with this, so he will have to beat me with that. He's going to be the champ for a good, long while.

Click the podcast below to hear the full interview in which we also discuss the fighter that surprised Leonard with his skills, his home away form home in Ohio, and more....

Today 8PointMMA.com caught up with new Bellator signing Eric Schambari to ask him 8 quick questions about the recent signing with Bellator.

Eric holds a professional record of 11-1 and trains out of Marc Laimon's Cobra Kai in Las Vegas, Nevada. Eric is on a 4 fight win streak after having some medical issues recently, and is the first announced Middleweight in the Bellator Tournament.

We asked Eric about how he has done so well after a long layoff and Eric replied "After my time off from the medical issues, I really went back and adjusted my game to go more for the finish, ending fights instead of having drawn out to decision. Since than I have been able to finish 3 of my 4 fights this year, I think they stood it up early in one of them or I think I would have 4 finishes."

When asked about what he thought of the Bellator Tournament Format Eric was quick to respond with "I like it, it keeps you busy, and basically you get a fight every month. You get to line up to see who's the best, then from there face the champion."

When asked about Bellator Middleweight Champion Hector Lombard Eric thought he "matches up good with him" but not before noting "Hector is a beast".

Click the podcast below to hear the full interview including Eric discussing the best fighter he has ever trained with, Joe Stevenson's legendary squeeze, and more!

8PointMMA.com recently got some one on one time with the always entertaining Wes Sims for a quick, 8 point interview in relation to his upcoming fight this Saturday vs. Bobby Lashey in Strikeforce: Miami.

Wes Sims is a UFC Veteran and most recently was a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter Season 10: Heavyweights. He has fought some of the top fighters in the world including Tim Sylvia, Antoni Hardonk, Kimo, Mike Kyle, and Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir. He was picked up as a late replacement in Strikeforce, after a string of embarrassing fight changes for original opponent Lashey.

When asked if he felt this fight was important for his career Wes responded with "It's just another fight, you know I took the fight here on about 5 days notice. They called me here last week, they procrastinated until the beginning of this week, Monday. I signed the contract, now I'm here in Florida training for the fight"

When 8pointMMA asked Sims further about this fight Sims said "I think they are babying Bobby Lashey, giving some opponents that they think he can get some wins on. but, NEWS FLASH: I'm not the guy"

Sims also confirmed his upcoming second fight with Tim Sylvia on March 20th under the Adrenaline promotion, "I've got a fight March 20th, one I have been waiting for practically an entire career, again. I get to beat the hell out of Tim Sylvia. Retire him, put him in some old folks home"

Sims also entertained us when he talked about his "other" plans to make some extra cash "If I get some time I might go work out in the Stud Ranch is Vegas. A thoroughbred like myself, I will make tons of money!"

Click below to hear the full interview!

Today 8pointmma.com was able to catch up with Bellator Lightweight Carey Vanier, and get a quick 8 point interview with him.

Carey is the most recently announced fighter for the Season 2 of the Lightweight Tournament, and has a long history in sports. Carey wrestled in high school and went on to become an All-American wrestler at Ridgewater College. He brings an impressive 7-2 record into Bellator and is now training at Greg Jackson's camp in New Mexico.

When asked about now working out with the infamous Jackson Submission fighting camp Carey said "That's been working out really well. Last summer when I went down there was a turning point in my career for me, because it gave me an opportunity to see where I was at compared to a lot of the other professional fighters."

8pointmma.com also asked Carey about his recent signing with Bellator and Carey replied with ""I always knew I was going to make it to the big show, I just did not know when, and where I was going to make it to. So for me, I am really excited, cause I finally get to show the rest of the world all the hard work I have been putting in for the last couple years, and get a chance to shine"

8pointmma.com also asked Carey about how he thought he matched up with Bellator Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez, Carey replied he thinks that "I match up well with everybody. On my feet, I'm a threat. On the ground, I'm a threat. On my back, I'm a threat."

Click the podcast below to listen to the full interview and 8pointmma.com would like to thank Carey again for his time!

8pointmma.com lined up an interview with Bellator CEO and co-founder Bjorn Rebey today for our 3rd podcast.

Bellator is a new fight organization that has been rising through the ranks very fast with their tournament format, and stable of great fighters. The are about to start Season #2 which will be broadcast on multiple stations, and Bellator stands poised to become the #2 promotion in MMA very soon.

When asked about how Bellator has manged to find all their great talent Bjorn responded. "Primarily through aggressive scouting, we have got a team of REALLY talented people whom are working for the company, you know looking under every rock, going to every gym talking to people throughout the world."

When Bjorn was discussing the plans for having 4 events in Florida in 2010, Bjorn did note "But we are going to be making some announcements next week relative to additional venue partners we got in other parts of the country."

Also Bjorn was asked about his favorite moment in Season 1 of Bellator and said, "My favorite moment from Season 1 was a moment that no one ever saw. There was a fighter that fought for us that had been originally been offered a spot to fight in the tournament, his name is Diego Garijo. He had a fight on a show we did, the show where Joe Soto beat Yahir Reyes for the 145lb title. Diego had a fight on that card that is probably one of the top 2 or 3 Mixed Martial Arts fights that I have ever seen"

Click the podcast below to hear the full interview where we also asked Bjorn about the possibility of Bellator in Michigan, what fighter in season 1 surprised him, among other topics!

8 Point MMA was able to catch up with Strikeforce fighter, and former IFL Welterweight Champion, Jay Hieron. Jay is fighting on the upcoming Strikeforce: Miami card against UFC Veteran Joe Riggs. We discussed his upcoming fight, his past with the IFL, and even things such as the roots of Xtreme Couture.

When asked about this upcoming fight, Jay said "I think this is a great match up! At this point in my career, I want to fight guys with names, and Joe Riggs definitely has a name. He has been around the sport a long time, and has fought a lot of tough guys, I am excited for this fight"

8 Point MMA also asked Hieron whom he thinks he matches up better with, and he gave a very insightful response "I match up well with both of them, it just depends on whom I'm fighting, or who am focused for. If I'm fighting Riggs, I'm getting up for Riggs. If I'm fighting Diaz, I'm getting up for Diaz. It's a different fight, they are both southpaws so it is kind of similar, but I match up well with anyone I'm fighting. You know, I can adapt to any situation."