411 MMA Interview: Shonie Carter

Posted by Don Abato on 06.06.2007

Shonie Carter has spent 21 years in the fight game. He's seen it all happen from the ring to the Octagon. He's also one of MMA's wildest characters. It doesn't matter if he's wearing one of his trademark "Shonie Pimp Suits" or knocking someone out with a spinning backfist, the native Chicagoan never fails to excite the crowd.

Don: If you fight you'll get kicked off.

Shonie: They aint gonna mess with me. All them big buff dudes. I'm like look here playa.

Don: Look up my highlight reel.

Shonie: It was funny because when I was auditioning I was wearing one of my Shonie suits, one of 'em called me Morpheus. I turned to him like, I do know jiu-jitsu! And kung-fu and karate and all that. And then the guys recognize me from a fight, then they was like, "Aww fur real?"

These cats, they were trying to beef with me a little bit. One says, "how good can you fight?" I said watch this (brings up right hand and punches himself in the jaw. Licks cheek and gives me stare.) I said you can't hit me that hard.

Don: What'd he do? Did he back off?

Shonie: Oh yeah! They backed off, they chilled out after that.

Don: So if you make it onto "I Love New York" what kind of flavor are you looking to bring?

Shonie: International flavor. The truth. I'm not a mack daddy. I'm a daddy mack. You know, I don't give no slack.

Don: What about reppin' Chicago?

Shonie: Till the day I die! I rep Chi-town and I rep mah brothers: 0811 0311 hoo-rah, semper fi till the day I die(Shonie served in the US military.) That's how I roll. I mean, they're gonna put me on the show. They need a real man, not one to cry, fall down the stairs, bring her roses, that can't back up whatever her or her mamma say. You know? If they don't put me on the show, ergh! That's the wrong answer. You know? They're gonna put me on. I know it!

Don: What'll your strategy then be to win her heart. She's a hard lady to win over.

Shonie: Keep it real with her. I'll be nice to her. I'll be a gentleman. But I'll be like, if I'm telling her to come here, COME HERE! I'm a lazy lion. I don't pursue, I don't chase women. I mean I'll put in a little effort. (shows and inch) A LITTLE EFFORT! But the thing is, women want something that's not easily achieved or attained. If you go after it like too hard, she don't want you. I've seen all the mistakes those guys have made. (shrugs shoulders) I don't make those mistakes naturally.

Don: Let's talk more about your progression. Military man, martial arts man, now you're a reality star, you're looking to do it again, things have gone well for you.

Shonie: Well you know, before the reality show I've been doing it 21 years. A lot of the fighers, they're still fighters. I wanna be business man about it. As I slowly make that progression into the other side of the cage or ring, I mean, yes I wrote a book cuz I know what my future holds for me.

Honestly, even if I'm physically able to still do this, I've got no more than 3 to 4 more years. I won't be Randy Couture at 43, winning the world title. I'll be done by 38, 39. It'll be Shonie the ring announcer, Shonie the color commentator, Shonie the referee. Shonie the promoter. Let me give you one that's really scary: Shonie the fighter manager. (Evil laugh!!)

Don: It's a natural progression though

Shonie: Yeah it is! I'm already Shonie the instructor coach, I've got a 1 year old son and a 5 year old son, that know armbars. One's a southpaw one's a orthodox.

Don: For a long time, you practically were the face of mma in chicago, from your perspective because you've seen the whole thing develop here. How awesome is for the sport of mixed martial arts in Chicago and everywhere?

Shonie: It's amazing. Because this is still a boxing city, but now we're the new sexy. Justin Timberlake didn't bring it back, (rasies hand) did anybody get the memo about Justin bringin' sexy back? We're we all busy? No. I wasn't busy, they just didn't get it to my people. Now we're the MMA sexy. The progression of ultimate fighting, mixed martial arts, the whole thing has come full circle. We're athletes, we're respected athletes. And the progression is ongoing. I'm a give you an idea of how old I am. I was 50 fights into the business when I was in UFC 24. I remember being that first mixed guy who wasn't doing jiu-jitsu or karate. I was punching, kicking, throwing, working submissions. Now I look at these guys coming out of high school and college who are siging contracts, multiple deal contracts, whereas even if they make 4 or 5 grand their first fight. My first world title I won 500 dollars and a pat on the back. See ya next week. Now these kids, I'm an undercard to them after 5 world titles. But, I'm looking at what they're doing, what took me 10 to 12 years they're doing in their first and second year. And i'm glad that we finally got regulations, rules, weight divisions, real referees. Only thing we're missing still are real judges. Gawd! We get some real judges who were real fighters, who know that body shots in the guard don't hurt.

And the crazy part is, is it's gonna get even better. The generation behind this generation that's behind me. There are two generations behind me that are now fighting. Like I said, I have a 1 year old and a 5 year old who are now.. my 1 year old son can throw quadruple left hooks. The 5 year old can throw a picture perfect side kick. Now we got women who are doing this.

5 to 10 years ago there were no cameras that were following us around. There were no pretty ladies for us to sign their boobs. There were no trading cards. There were no sponsors. I'm glad to still be a part of it.


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