411 MMA Interviews: Bao Quach
Posted by Jeffrey Harris on 04.08.2010
Bellator featherweight tournament competitor Bao Quach speaks about tonight’s fight with Georgi Karakhanyan, regulations and testing for steroids in the sport, his training regiment, and much more! Check out the full interview for all the details!
Bao Quach (17-9-1, MMA) is a featherweight fighter whose resume consists of fights in such MMA promotions as World Extreme Cagefighting, Affliction, Elite XC, and Strikeforce. Later this week, Quach will be making his debut in the highly anticipated new season of the Bellator Fighting Championships. Bao will be competing in the upstart MMA promotion's featherweight tournament against MMA veteran, Georgi Karakhanyan (12-1-1, MMA), also making his debut in Bellator. Bao will be going into the tournament with more experience and more fights than any of the other competitors. Recently, 411mania got the chance to speak with Bao about debuting in Bellator and his upcoming tournament bout:
Jeffrey Harris: Your opponent in the first round tournament is Georgi Karakhanyan. Do you have any thoughts on your opponent?
Bao Quach: I don't think he's been tested in any big fights. I don't think he's really fought anybody that's really that good. I think my fight with him will be a big test for him because I think I'm one of the first bigger featherweights he's fought. I look forward to it because we were supposed to fight back a while ago at another show and that fight fell through and now I get the chance to fight him so it's going to be an exciting one to watch.
Jeffrey Harris: So how excited are you to be a part of this featherweight tournament in Bellator?
Bao Quach: I'm honored to be a part of this tournament because they've brought in a lot of guys that are good, up and coming guys and guys like Joe Warren who's got a pretty big name after beating Kid Yamamoto and Chase Beebe . . . and some guys with impressive records and I'm really excited about being in this tournament because I get the chance to prove my skills and get up in the rankings with the fight.
Jeffrey Harris: Karakhanyan is a practitioner of Shotokan Karate, a style people said was irrelevant to MMA before Machida brought it back. Are you concerned at all working against a karate expert like Karakhanyan?
Bao Quach: I'm not worried about that at all. I don't think – I think if he's going to train, he's going to train boxing and Muay Thai, I don't think he's going to use his karate stuff on me. I'm not worried about that. I've been working on the ground a lot – been wrestling a lot, so I don't think it's going to be a factor.
Jeffrey Harris: Do you have a game plan on where you want to take this fight be it standing or on the ground?
Bao Quach: I think I'm going to be stronger on the ground than he is, so I'll work him up against the fence, take him down, and work my jiu-jitsu game on him.
Jeffrey Harris: You've fought for Affliction, Strikeforce, EliteXC, and WEC. Do you have plans to settle and have a home perhaps in Bellator?
Bao Quach: I'd like to settle down in Bellator, and I think they're a pretty good promotion. And they pay good and whatever happens, happens. I've just got to kind of see what happens along the way because up or down, I'm happy with Bellator . . . and I want to fight where people will see me on TV and stuff, you know.
Jeffrey Harris: With Bellator's expansion, this is a great opportunity for you with their fights shown on FSN and NBC. Potentially more viewers will be seeing you than ever before even when you fought in WEC. That must be pretty exciting.
Bao Quach: Yeah, I really like that because of my cousins and family around the states and stuff, I always want them to watch me fight but they can't.
Jeffrey Harris: Are you still training with Team Oyama? And who are your main coaches and training partners there.
Bao Quach: Yes. My coaches are Colin Oyama and Giva Santana. My training partners are Shane del Rosario, Giva Santana, Mohamed Kayed is my jiu-jitsu partner, and we have a couple other featherweights.
Jeffrey Harris: When you got into this sport there wasn't a lot of room for lighter weight classes. UFC hadn't gotten back to lightweight yet. But now, with promotions like WEC, fighters in the lighter weight classes are becoming more well known and getting more recognition. Overseas, featherweights have now been adopted by DREAM and Sengoku. So how does it feel now that lighter weight classes are getting a lot more respect and recognition in MMA?
Bao Quach: I think it makes MMA a lot better because there are different places you can fight if not the UFC. And when I started fighting I started off at 155 because I never thought I was going to take it seriously, I was just fighting for fun really. And when I started fighting in Japan, they had lighter weight classes and I actually didn't really like fighting in Japan all that much and I'm glad in the US it got a lot bigger because I don't have to travel to fight over in Japan where it's like biased to fight over there. It's a lot easier for an American fighter over here to fight.
Jeffrey Harris: You feel the judging in the Japanese promotions favors more the Japanese fighters. Do you feel that was the case when you fought Hatsu Hioki to a draw in Shooto?
Bao Quach: Yeah, I thought that was one of the cases. I was brought over to get my butt kicked and obviously that didn't happen and I got a draw. I came out of that fight unscathed and his face was all battered up. I don't know how you get a draw from that, you know, looking for the damage stuff. I was kind of annoyed fighting over there after that.
Jeffrey Harris: It sounds like you were working on your ground game for this fight, is that something specifically you wanted to hone up?
Bao Quach: Yeah, it's something I want to hone up because I think he wants it on the ground also. I'll be ready for whatever he has coming. I'll be ready for his takedowns and I think he should be aware of my takedowns too.
Jeffrey Harris: Earlier you mentioned you got into fighting for fun, but now have you made the transition into focusing on fighting and training full time for MMA or do you still have to balance it with other things?
Bao Quach: I'm able to fight for a living because I'm working at the Team Oyama Gym, I train and I coach. I have a job there and I teach classes. It kind of works well. I can train in my classes and I've got good people there, good students, and they give me a challenge. It's a real good set up for me. I'm set up real good, and I'm very blessed to have everything I've got right now.
Jeffrey Harris: After starting your fighting career at lightweight, how comfortable do you now feel fighting at featherweight and would you still be comfortable fighting at lightweight as well?
Bao Quach: I'm comfortable fighting at featherweight. At lightweight, guys are too big now you know. When I first started fighting, no one was cutting weight. I didn't even cut weight. I just walked in at 155 . . . and to be competitive you have to heavy at your weight, what you're fighting at, you know. I'm really comfortable at 145. I think I could probably even make 135, but I don't really like cutting weight that much.
Jeffrey Harris: With the way some fighters cut weight, do you think there needs to be more regulation about that because when I hear guys cutting down to 170 and then weighing in the day of the fight at like 200, that just sounds crazy to me. Or do you think with the way the sport is evolving and growing with more wrestlers coming in that are already used to cutting weight, this is just what the sport is moving towards?
Bao Quach: Yeah, I don't think that's a big problem. If they make the weight the day they make the weight its cool, but I think what should be regulated is like growth hormones, steroids, and all that because I think that's what really ruins the sport. And there are guys that are taking all sorts of stuff. I think there needs to be heavy regulation on that. I think if you test positive you should be banned.
Jeffrey Harris: How did fighting and MMA start for you when you first started fighting for fun?
Bao Quach: I had a couple friends training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and they invited to come train with them at some dojo I believe in Elisa Viejo and I tried it and after I tried it, I fell in love.
Jeffrey Harris: Any people or people or sponsors you would like to thank before the fight?
Bao Quach: I would like to thank Iridium Sports Agency, I'd like to thank my coaches at TeamOyama.com, and all my friends and family out there that support me. That's pretty much it.
Jeffrey Harris: Thank you so much for your time. I'm really looking forward to this tournament. Good luck with your fight.
Bao Quach: Thanks a lot man.
Bao Quach and George Karakhanyan will fight at Bellator 13 on April 8. The fight will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Net. Remember you can get all the latest and greatest coverage on MMA, fighter interviews, as well as the best and quickest play-by-play coverage of the big events at 411mania.com. So remember to bookmark the site or save it to your homepage. You can also follow 411mania on Twitter:
