Bloodyknux.com intervjuar Josh Thomson

Bloodyknux.com har en bra intervju uppe med Josh Thomson där han pratar om hans bråk med Frank Shamrock, sin framtid i Strikeforce och ett eventuellt möte med Gilbert Melendez med mera.

Bloody Knux- So obviously a lot is being made of Frank’s comments at the Playboy Mansion, and the feud you guys have had going. Give me some background on where it all started.

Josh Thomson- Javier(Mendez) was my trainer and his, and he use to call him in from time to time and say hey, I need you to work with Josh and come in and give him some good work and let him know he’s on the right path. That’s kind of all it really was until Frank decided to leave AKA he thought all the fighters were going to go with him because he was a fighter, and everyone stayed. Everyone said no we’re going to stay here, because this is where the training is. We have a good facility, and Javier looks out for us. Frank’s record from the past hadn’t been the best for picking opponents for his fighters.

So we decided to stay at AKA, Mike Swick, John Fitch, myself, Trevor (Prangley), all of us decided to stay, because that’s where we trained. I think he was a little upset at that. Some things where said with regard to him fighting Phil, I basically was on a forum, and said I thought Phil would have the upper hand, because Phil had been fighting recently, besides the fact that Phil had been fighting the top guys. Phil’s never ducked anybody; he’s always wanted to fight the best. A week later there’s a video about Phil and me being gay on line. So, I’m like alright, it’s on. So the video sort of said we were afraid to talk about him in front of him. So I wanted to make sure that it was shown I wasn’t afraid to say anything I wanted to in front of him, so I made the shirt. I wore the shirt after one of my fights, one of my fights he happened to be commentating, so I put it on right in front of him. The only thing that separated us was the cage. I smiled at him, and let him know I was thinking about him. I got fined $500 dollars and was indefinitely suspended.

That was on a Friday, and I talked to Armando Garcia on the following Tuesday and explained what it was all about. Armando knew about the beef, but I understand why I shouldn’t have done it. The kids in the audience shouldn’t have to see that thing. They should look up to you, and you should be a role model. I think I got my point across to Frank, that I’ll say what I want right in front of him. It was kind of a snicker, and that was that. Frank waved at me and smiled back as he always does.

Even before he fought Phil I went up to him, and said, “I want to let you know, good luck, hopefully no one gets hurt, best of luck to you and have a good fight.” That was it, and he was like “Ok, Thanks” and walked away. Then he comes back with these comments while he’s working as a commentator. There’s one thing to speak your opinion, another thing to do it in a joking manner, but there was nothing along those lines, like “I know Josh has a girlfriend.” There was nothing. If there had been a “hah-hah” after it, I could see it, but he just said, “It’s a little known fact.” I don’t generally start my jokes off with I perceive this as a fact. I think the shirt thing really got under his skin. I’ve sold almost 200 of them, so there are people walking around San Jose in that shirt.

"I think the shirt thing really got under his skin."

BK - Are you seriously considering legal action?
JT - Well, it is potentially hurting my sponsorships. I’ve had sponsors calling me asking, “Is this true?” and who knows who isn’t calling. Maybe I will pursue it until there’s a written apology, and he openly admits that he lied. Maybe I’ll pursue it for money or some sort of apology. I want his credibility wrecked like mine. He’s discrediting me, so that has go both ways. I don’t really know where we’re going with it yet, but I do know there needs to be some sort of action taken because of who he is. If he gets away one time, he’ll get away with it again.
It’s not like it was some unknown guy saying it. He’s got that name recognition, and people look to him for the inside scoop on the fight. He’s suppose to filling folks in on background inside information, and people hear that and think, “Oh, if Frank said it, he would know, it must be true.” To the average fan they think, that’s Frank Shamrock, he must know all the skinny and the down lows of all these MMA guys. If it had been somebody like Matt Lee, whatever, they’d say who’s Matt Lee, I don’t know that guy. Because it was Frank it people take it seriously.

BK - How’s Gilbert’s hand, and when will he be ready to fight you?
JT - I think the two of us are both looking to make a lot of money when we do fight, and the other thing is Bodog is bringing a lot of their guys, so Gilbert and I kind of train to gether, and we could really use each other to mop up all the Bodog guys and then focus on eachother. I think our payscale needs to go up quite a bit, and overall we’re happy with what we make, but we’d like more to face eachother. We sapr 3 days a week, and we know on an entertainment level he pushes me when I need to be pushed, and I push him. For that fight there’s no holding back, and I don’t see it going past the second round or third round. One of us getting knocked out or subbed, the fights not going the distance.

BK- Bodog had a big presence at the last Strikeforce show on Showtime, so that relationship going to continue?
JT- Looks like Bodog and Strikeforce are going to be working together and bring a lot of Bodog’s stable in to face us in Strikeforce.


BK - Who might Bodog bring it?
JT - They’ve got Marsvidal, Mike Brown. Yves Edwards. I know Yves been on a losing streak, but he’s a tough guy, and he’s joined ATT so he’ll turn it around. Another thing, Eddie Alvarez has been talking with us, and he’s going to potentially become part of AKA. That’ll be great for myself, as we’ve aquired Frankie Edgar and Chris Ligouri. I’ve never had anybody to work with. All I had was Gilbert, and all I had was John Fitch, Josh Koscheck, all great guys, but they’re all big, walking around at 190. I think when Eddie comes down, and starts working out with John fitch and Josh Kosceck and Swick, he’s going to realize how big those guys are. I think Fitch right now is 202. He’s going to realize those guys fight at 170, and I don’t think right now there a pound for pound better fighter than Fitch right now, except maybe Fedor. Fitch right now is on fire. He just trains trains trains.


BK - Last time we talked to you was before your match with Clay Guida, and you had some bad feelings after that fight.
JT - Yeah, I think everybody does after a loss. Things have changed after that fight. California checks a lot better for grease before a fight. I think it was intentional, but maybe he doesn’t shower. I don’t know. He’s had a couple losses that could have gone either way, maybe he got shafted on them. Maybe you don’t like someone, but you have to give credit where credit is due. I think potentially he could have won all three of those fights, and with his big win over Aurelio which I actually thought he would win, because Aurelio didn’t do to good against Mishima. I remember that was a close fight. Clay brings it non-stop, and Aurelio settles in on the bottom a little too easily. Once he gets taken down and put on his back, he relies on his submissions, and I though Clay could potentially avoid those submissions and ground and pound him out.

BK - He’s certainly had plenty of practice avoiding subs from guys like you.

JT - Well maybe we’ll see it again someday!