Adam Santarossa talks to Brian Ebersole ahead of his fight at UFC 133 this weekend-
Brian how has preparation been? You’ve been moved up to the main card, how are things looking ahead of UFC 133 this weekend?
Yes I’m pretty happy about that, I mean it makes my managers job easier attracting some sponsorship, but in the end its still 15 minutes in the cage, it doesn’t matter where I am.
You’re taking on Denis Hallman, what do you know about him and what are you preparing for?
He has had about 80 fights, he is a really good grappler and wrestler, and he doesn’t really like to get hit.
Looking at his record he has had 50 wins, 13 losses, he has had some impressive victories, including most recently over Karo Parisyan. What is your game plan going into this fight?
I just need to upset his game plan. I know he will want to grapple, but I don’t know how he wants to go about it. I have to frustrate him, and hit him in the mouth, every now and then, and keep him on the back foot
Now, you’re an American, but you moved to Australia a number of years ago, and you have been pretty active on the Australian scene and you have been involved with coaching and training in Australia. From your perspective, what changes have happened in the Australian scene now the sport is growing so rapidly?
I think the big difference now is that gyms are starting to take their training more serious, so that what is going to raise the level. Promotions can offer all sorts of different structures, tournaments, big fights and titles, but that’s not really what’s most important. It’s about the training. So, in the gyms as kids get better and better, you’re going to see better people fight, and it doesn’t really matter on what show. Hopefully the promotion thing will start to take off, were you’re going to entice kids to compete in a more strategic way, instead of going out there just to do it. We need kids to look at it as a way out, and plan their careers a little bit by saying “hey in three years, I want to be making money doing this” or “I want this to be my job” or using it to get to the UFC.
A lot of people you talk to on the Australian MMA scene, they can’t wait to get to the States. You have based yourself in Australia. Is it detrimental to a young career being in Australia?
The kids saying they can’t wait to get to the States are those not taking the best advantages of the resources they have in Australia anyway. So with that attitude what’s the point of going over to America and wasting all your money?
I guess my situation is a little different. It wasn’t until I got to Australia that I could really train 2-3 times per day. In Melbourne I have really good training facilities and training partners, and in the States you have so many guys, but you can only train with one guy at a time on the mat. But as long as I’m getting what I need over here in Australia, then I’m quite happy. I have a couple of black belts that have stepped up and given me some of their time and I have a great striking coach so I’m getting some really great work in here in Melbourne.
The biggest thing you’re known for is the arrow you shave in your chest hair, letting your opponents know where your chin is. How did this come about?
I fought a kick boxer, who was coming from overseas, and I watched him wrestle in a jiu-jitsu tournament on YouTube and he didn’t look very comfortable, so before the fight I shaved an arrow and told him he had to hit me in the chin to beat me. It kind of stayed from there and I have done it in most of my fights since.
You’re known now, for doing these crazy things. Do you have anything else up your sleeve?
I have a fan contest at middleeasy.com, so my next masterpiece on the chest hair is going to be determined by the fans, and I am a bit nervous for that because the website is handling all entries so I have no idea exactly what ideas are coming in and I think they get the final say as well.
Finally how do you see this fight going, and what are your future plans in the UFC?
I just hope to keep getting easy fights, and then renegotiate my contract. That’s my plan.
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