American Mixed Martial Arts fighter, Ed Herman, will match up against Joe Doerksen at UFC 78 on Saturday, November 17th. The MMA fighter took some time to talk to BuddyTV the other day about his training for the fight, his thoughts on being an Ultimate Fighter contestant, and who he'd like to face in the octagon. Check out the full interview transcript and the mp3 audio below.
Hi I'm Rob Symington with BuddyTV and I'm here with Ed Herman today. How are you doing Ed?
Good man, not too bad.
It is really great to have you as an interview guest today on BuddyTV and I'm definitely looking forward to watching your upcoming fight here. Are you still training with team quest in Portland?
I am. For sure.
So how's that going? What's a typical day of training look like for you?
Things are going great! Typical day is like, 2-3 work outs a day. Team practice about 3 everyday where we do some technique and mainly sparring. Conditioning. We all get together and basically throw down. And in the evening technique and conditioning again, so I've got a full day.
So how are you feeling coming into this upcoming fight? Are you 100%?
Yeah I feel great. Ready to go man. Injury free. Training went real well. Ready to beat somebody up.
So what do you think about David Terrell having to drop out and you fighting Joe Doerkson now?
You know I kind of had a feeling that he was going to pull out. He's know for doing that. I couldn't blame his either. He probably saw some of my footage and decided ... but I'm excited to fight Joe. I'm excited to revenge one of my losses. I'm ready to go.
So what's your prediction for this fight? How do you think you're going to finish him?
It could be a three round battle. I'd like to knock him out and finish him. He got knocked out in his last fight so, it can be done. I'd like to pull of a TKO or KO.
So you plan to keep this standing then?
Not necessarily keep it standing. I'm looking to duel with my hands a little bit. Beat him up in the clinch. Hurt him, maybe finish him on the ground with some elbows, strikes ... whatever happens. I've been training my hands real hard and working on my standup. So I'm going to look to hit him hard on the way in and beat him up on the clinch and finish him on the ground or in the clinch.
Do you have any rituals or anything you do for good luck before any of your fights?
No, not really. I mean I'm sure I do similar stuff, but I don't have anything specific. Anything crazy.
What do you think about some of the people that talk badly about the Ultimate Fighter contestants? Saying you guys haven't had to pay your dues and you're just automatically getting to fight in the big show?
You know I think that's bull#@!$ because there are a few guys, yeah who are on that show with no experience, but I'm one of the guys who's on that show with a lot of experience coming in. The UFC offered me a contract before I even went on the show, I just decided to do the show instead because I thought it'd be better for my career. So those people can kiss my ass because I was working hard for years before I got into the UFC. I worked my way up and I deserve to be here and I'm going to prove it on the 17th.
Definitely looking forward to seeing this upcoming fight especially since I always like those kind of, revenge fights. Do you keep up with the Ultimate Fighter series yourself? Do you actually watch that?
A little bit. I do a little bit.
Are you also looking for a rematch with Kendall Grove or Jason MacDonald?
Most definitely, of course. I'd also like to fight Kazuo Misaki. He's ranked in the top 10 and I lost to him a few years ago in Japan. So any one of those three guys after this I'm looking to knock off next.
Alright. Who are your favorite mixed martial artists to watch currently?
We'll you've got to give it to Anderson Silva. I definitely give it to him, a lot of respect. Of course Randy is an exciting fighter to watch. Man there's a lot of tough, exciting guys ... St. Pierre is an amazing athlete. He's definitely one of my favorites.
So on the 17th when you're sitting in the back and waiting for your turn to get to the octagon, do you ever watch the other fights? Or do you pretty much ignore everything else that's going on that night except for yours?
We usually have a live feed in the back, so I'll sit there and watch them a little bit. But, nothing too crazy.
So what's your favorite thing to do besides fighting?
I like to go out and ride quads and rip it up. Hang out withy my friends and do a little partying. Hang out with my family.
Are you still living in the Vancouver area? Or have you pretty much migrated down to Portland?
I've lived in Portland for the last six years now.
You mentioned there's a few guys that you basically want to get in the ring against to set the score straight. Is there anyone else beyond that, that you just think would be a really good match-up for ya and that you'd like to get in there and bang a little bit?
I mean there is, but I'm not going to call anybody out. It's not my style really. There are a lot of guys that I think I match up well against and that I would beat their ass. I'm not going to name any names because I don't want to be a dick, but I'd like to start with Kendall of course. Or MacDonald or Misaki. And we'll go from there.
Before you fight coming up here, do you have any appearances coming up that are going to be in New Jersey?
No. Not before my fight, no.
Ok. Well is there anything that you'd like to say to your fans before we go?
I'd just like to thank the fans for backing me up, all of what you do and supporting me. And I'd like to thank my sponsors obviously: Warrior wear, Condom depot, Serious pimp and real cash flow along with stagger clothing.
Alright Ed. I want to thank you for your time today and from all of us at BuddyTV we wish you good luck and much success on November 17th.
Thanks a lot man.
Alright thanks a lot Ed.
Interview Conductor: Rob Symington
Photo Courtesy: Condomdepot.com