There I was in my hotel in downtown Houston waiting for the Legacy 18 fights and waiting for Duane Ludwig to call for a phone interview. I had a few hours to kill before Mr. Ludwig called so I hung out at the hotel bar talking to some guy holding a poodle about why I was in town. Went back to my room and treated my non-smoking hotel sign with the same respect I treat stop signs with when no one is around. Then I got a call from a Denver, CO phone number, and I know my bill collectors call out of Oklahoma and Florida so I was okay to answer it.
MC: Well first off Duane I want to thank you for taking time out of your day to do this interview with me. I know you’ve been involved in kickboxing and Muay Thai since you were 15, that’s a long time.
DL: Yeah I won multiple belts in both kickboxing and Muay Thai, I’d have to say my win over Malaipet was my proudest one.
MC: Now you trained with Bas Rutten early in your career. What was that like?
DL: Intense, that guy brings a whole new level of martial arts; he’s 100% non-stop, full power. He’s a nice guy down to earth, but when it’s time to work it’s time to work. No bullshit to that guy at all, he scares me.
MC: So your fastest KO versus Jonathan Goulet was finally recognized as the fastest knockout in MMA?
DL: The UFC recognizes it as their fastest KO at 4 seconds but the Nevada State Athletic Commission doesn’t consider it 4 seconds and that’s where the fight happened.
MC: As long as The UFC recognizes it that’s all that matters right?
DL: Exactly.
MC: Well 4 seconds is fast, you must have felt real good after that one.
DL: It was pretty cool. I felt like a ninja for about 13 hours.
MC: Your last fight was in September of last year against Che Mills; you injured your knee in the fight and were unable to continue. How bad was the injury?
DL: It was pretty bad; I tore my ACL and Meniscus off the bone. It happened when he took me down and when I got up my knee gave out on me and I fell down, that’s when I knew something was wrong.
MC: So I assume you will be taking off most of 2013?
DL: Yeah.
MC: You’re teaching Muay Thai at Team Alpha Male now. What’s it like finally being the biggest guy in the gym?
DL: Haha, yeah I’m teaching over there; they are learning. The thing about those guys is they are all world class athletes and they put in their work. I think even without me they would still be winning their fights.
MC: Now Dana White was recently quoted saying, “One hundred more fighters need to be cut” after the first 16 were announced. With you being unable to fight are you worried at all about being cut?
DL: Well right now since I’m injured I am not an active fighter holding up any room on the roster, so I don’t think they would cut me. If they do, I’ll be knocking on their motherfuckin’ door…But I’m content right now coaching these guys; I’ll give them a solid year. In September I’ll be 100% from my injury and at that point I’ll make a decision, but right now I don’t even care to fight. I’m having fun living my life. Things are working out for me now, so I don’t even have an interest to fight. I’ve been going hard for a while now, since I was 15.
MC: So tell me, what is your opinion on TRT use in MMA?
DL: I’m for it if they need it. You wouldn’t deny insulin to diabetic. If you’re body has been going so long that it is not producing testosterone then they should take it. As a top level athlete you need testosterone, so if you need it, do it. Some people classify it as a steroid, but there are a lot of things that can be considered a steroid; but this is a naturally producing hormone that your body no longer produces. There are four reasons I know that will lower someone’s testosterone: 1. steroid use, that will fuck up your system 2. head trauma 3. cutting weight on a repeated basis 4. pushing your body so hard for so long. So 3 out of the 4 I have. I’ve been pushing my body since I was 15, I’ve gotten head trauma, and cutting weight. People have the right to use it so people just need to quit bitching; but people need to use it responsibly and not come up over the allowed limit. If they come in over the numbers they should be cut, they should be getting that shit from a doctor not some guy named Jamal.
MC: Matt Riddle was recently cut after a win for failing his drug test for marijuana. What are your thoughts on marijuana use?
DL: Well they say it’s banned because it’s a performance enhancer, I personally don’t feel it is a performance enhancer so I don’t think he should have been cut for it; but those are the rules. Fighters need to realize if they’re going to be using that shit, to cut it out with enough time to pass a drug test. Although I don’t agree with those rules either, but they need to go ahead and follow the rules because those are the rules. Matt Riddle is a father of 3 and he put his life into MMA and then they cut him after a win. Kind of a bad call I feel, but these are the rules. You know the UFC is the best in the business, so if that’s the guidelines they set those are the ones I’ll follow.
MC: What are your thoughts on this GSP versus Nick Diaz title fight? Dana said he is close to pulling Diaz again for lack of appearances.
DL: It kind of goes back to the same thing as Matt Riddle. You know what the rules are don’t mess with the fuckin’ rules. The UFC knows Nick Diaz doesn’t give a fuck what you tell him, he does what he wants to do. They know he’s not going to show up, don’t expect him to; but when it’s time to fight he will show up. You don’t need to sell Nick Diaz, he sells himself. What matters is when it’s time to fight he’s going to fight; don’t worry about that bullshit PR.
MC: Anyone out there you want to thank before we wrap this up?
DL: GLC2000, GLCDIRECT.com get 20% off with code “Alphateam”.
Follow Duane on Twitter @DUANEBANGCOM
Follow Mark on Twitter @MarkilloTX
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