411Mania Exclusive Interview with Mike Ciesnolevicz!
Posted by Lotfi Sariahmed on 09.04.2007
Do you know when the IFL Finals are? Well, do you? While you're figuring that out, 411Mania's Lotfi Sariahmed talked to Mike Ciesnolevicz about the Finals and his bout set for later this month. In this exclusive interview, Mike talks about everything from his opponent for the Finals to the World Grand Prix and getting started in MMA!
When your team has names like Rothwell, Palaszewski and Markham, it's easy to get lost in the shuffle. But Mike Ciesnolevicz has quietly become a rising star on a Silverbacks team that's full of them. After losing his first two bouts in the IFL, Ciesnolevicz has won his last five and has a place in this year's finals and the World Grand Prix. 411Mania's Lotfi Sariahmed got the chance to talk to the Silverbacks light heavyweight on his career, his team and his bouts coming up.
411Mania.com: So how does a guy who went to the wrestling powerhouse Lock Haven University end up in MMA?
Mike Ciesnolevicz: Actually I went to Lock Haven to increase my wrestling knowledge and make myself a better wrestler so I could compete in MMA. I've had the dream of being in MMA way before I went to Lock Haven, like two or three years before that. So I actually dabbled in all the different arts and I wanted to get a teaching degree and Lock Haven had a good teaching program. They also happened to have one of the best wrestling and boxing programs in the country. So it ended up being the right choice.
411Mania.com: So you went to Lock Haven just to help you get into MMA. How did you end up joining Pat Miletich and his team?
Ciesnolevicz: I went to Lock Haven to teach and all that and I started boxing and wrestling. I was taking these amateur fights and I did pretty well and I won. I really wanted to see how far I could go with this. So I had a friend who was coming to Iowa to train with Pat Miletich for a week to see what it was all about. He didn't feel like making the drive himself. It was like an 18-hour drive from where he lived. He asked me if I wanted to drive up with him to train and I was just like, "Man, when am I going to get that opportunity again." So I jumped into a car went up for a week and was pretty much hooked. Pat told me he thought I had some potential. He said, "Go home, tie up all your loose ends, come back and I'll train you." I actually packed up my car and I couldn't see out of the windows of my car.
I'm pretty sure I should have won unanimous decisions.
411Mania.com: Before we look to the finals lets go back to your bout against Alex Schoenauer in the semis. You took the first fight in a controversial decision and you took the 2nd fight by split decision in the semis. Would you like to fight him a third time to put this "controversy" to rest or is it even worth it?
Ciesnolevicz: I have no problem with Alex at all. In my head I don't feel like I barely won both fights. Both times I'm pretty sure I should have won unanimous decisions. It doesn't matter to me if I fight him again. I felt like I won both fights hands down. I felt like the fact that he got a split decision was good for him.
411Mania.com: Lets talk about who you're facing for the Finals about 2½ weeks away. Jamal Patterson is the normal starter for the New York Pitbulls at light heavyweight. But he's dealing with a knee injury. Andre Gusmao has fought a few times for the Pitbulls in Patterson's spot. Do you know who you're facing on the 20th?
Ciesnolevicz: Honestly I've heard it's going to be Andre Gusmao as of this week. But I could care less. It's going to be Andre from what I heard though.
411Mania.com: Last week I talked to Bart (Palaszewski) about how he dealt with preparing for three different opponents for his semifinal bout against the Anacondas. Now you're dealing with a bit of the same dilemma in preparation for the finals. How do you prepare for what is essentially Fighter X?
Ciesnolevicz: Pat always tells us that you don't prepare for a specific opponent you prepare just to fight. You need to be as well rounded as possible in every aspect and just go out there and act like the guy is great at everything. Be ready for everything. We're a pretty well rounded camp. I feel like I've been training for Jamal trying to look at some of the things he does. Now I'll just switch to Andre. But it's not a big deal. I'll be prepared for either one of them now.
I'll show that the first time wasn't the real Mike C out there…
411Mania.com: So Andre Gusmao is your opponent. You've already fought Andre once before and unfortunately you ended up taking the loss there. What has to change in the 2nd fight for you to walk away with the win?
Ciesnolevicz: The first fight, not to make excuses, but he was kind of an x-factor. I didn't know anything about the guy. I went in there not knowing what to expect. I didn't have a game plan, I didn't have a strategy and he came out and surprised me. He was a lot stronger and faster and more explosive than I thought. He's a really good striker, which I didn't expect at all. He caught me off guard. He kind of played the mystery man role and it worked out for him. But I think this fight is going to be different and I'll show that the first time wasn't the real Mike C out there because I didn't know what to expect and I didn't fight a smart fight.
411Mania.com: Both teams in these finals are made up primarily of guys from one camp. If you go to the IFL website (IFL.tv) the match-up has been tagged as the Miletich Fighting Systems taking on Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. How much do you buy into that notion if at all? Is this necessarily going to determine a "better" fighting style?
Ciesnolevicz: Honestly, not really. If you look at our camp and look at our camp, look at the guys we've had. Robbie Lawler, Matt Hughes, Jeremy Horn, Tim Sylvia, Jens Pulver, all the guys we've had at the top of the sport, and Pat Miletich. I guess on some level it is but a lot of the IFL guys are the up and comers in the league. We're the up and coming guys out of our gyms. We're not the World Champion guys in the big promotion. I guess you could say that to a certain extent. But I don't really look at like if we lose that proves that they're a better camp than us, not at all.
411Mania.com: There's been a lot of talk swirling around about a couple of prominent Team Miletich fighters jumping ship. Both Matt Hughes and Robbie Lawler are leaving Team Miletich to start up their own gym. What are your thoughts on their move? Does this hurt the camp in any way?
Ciesnolevicz: Honestly I think that having Robbie leave will hurt the camp. But what a lot of people don't know is that Matt doesn't really train here. He's pretty much on his own in Hillsboro, Illinois. I might see three or four weeks before a fight and that's it. I see him three times a year. So he's not in the gym every day. He comes and trains for his fights then he goes home and takes a couple of months off. Robbie is in the gym every day twice a day so that hurts a little more because he's someone who we're training with on a regular basis. I think Matt's doing what he thinks is best for his career. It's closer to him; it's an opportunity to have his own team and his own students. He has to do what he has to do for him. But he's not here every day.
411Mania.com: Taking a look at the other team bouts on the card that night, you have Ryan McGivern returning at middleweight and he's taking on Fabio Leopoldo, an alternate in the Grand Prix. How do you think McGivern will fare in that fight?
Ciesnolevicz: I think last time was a good indication. Ryan pretty much dominated him and then got caught when he made a simple mental error. A lot of people underestimate Ryan but he's a nightmare. You ask Ben Rothwell, Rory Markham, myself, he's one of the last guys we want to spar with in practice. He's had some bad luck with Benji Radach, Tim Kennedy and Joe Doerksen. He's fought some of the top guys out there. I totally expect Ryan to dominate the fight from start to finish. He's just unbelievable. He's a machine. Conditioning, wrestling, striking, he's the total package.
411Mania.com: This has been a tougher season than normal for your team but your heavyweight Ben Rothwell has continued to rack up the wins. Are you ever nervous about him possibly becoming complacent?
Ciesnolevicz: No not really. I'm pretty much to the point where I'm like, "Ok Ben's going to win." He's a sure win. I don't like to underestimate the guys he's fighting but he's just so big. He's like 6'5" 285 and he's cutting down to heavyweight. He's fast, he's agile, he's well rounded and he's a tough guy. A lot of the guys in the IFL heavyweight division probably have nightmares fighting him. I'm not really worried about Ben. If it comes down to a 2-2 tie and we have Ben on deck I'm pretty much saying we won. It'd be a big shock to me if Ben lost.
I think it's a horrible match-up for Jamal.
411Mania.com: On that same note, Ben seems to be without an opponent for his bout in the Finals. Bryan Vetell is off the card with an injury. Do you know whom Ben will be fighting?
Ciesnolevicz: The reason I heard I was fighting Andre Gusmao was because Jamal would bump up to heavyweight to fight Ben. That's what I was told when I talked to some people in the IFL. I think it's a horrible match-up for Jamal. He's really tough and a cool guy and everything but I think he's in over his head here. I mean I'm 230 lbs, Jamal is 230 lbs and we'd have a good fight. This is a horrible match-up for Jamal. But you know how it is things could change.
411Mania.com:The big wild card in this team bout seems to come at welterweight. Jake Ellenberger is replacing Rory Markham at welterweight after Markham broke his hand. I asked Bart (Palaszewski) about Ellenberger last week and he couldn't tell me much. What do you know about Ellenberger and what he brings to the table?
Ciesnolevicz: I mean he's pretty tough. He beat Ben Uker from our team in an alternate team bout last season. He trains with Matt Lindland, his record is 15-2 and he's fought in Bodog a few times. His two losses were both close decisions. He's one of the best guys I could think of to put in there to fight. I'm pretty good friends with him and we talk a lot. I'm really confident in having him in that fight. He's never been stopped in a fight. Matt Lindland says he's one of the hardest workers he has out there. So I'm expecting a great performance out of him.
411Mania.com: Of course you have the Finals on the 20th which are a big set of fights in themselves. But about six weeks after that you have the IFL's Grand Prix. You're taking on Mike Whitehead of the Tuscon Scorpions and TUF fame. How are you preparing for the Finals and the Grand Prix so close together?
Ciesnolevicz: Really, I'm not even thinking about the Grand Prix. I'm trying to take it one fight at a time. My main goal is to win a team title for our team and for our coach and for all our guys. I'll take that as it comes. I'm not even sure I'm going to be in the Grand Prix yet. I've had a lot of fights, a rough season and a bunch of injuries here and there. I'm just going to see what happens. I actually used to train with Mike Whitehead. We actually used to live together here at MFS.
411Mania.com: So I guess you haven't really looked at any film on Whitehead yet?
Ciesnolevicz: I don't really need to. I mean I trained with him everyday for two years. We lived together. He's not a question mark to me. He's someone I know really well. I don't want to think too far ahead though because I have a fight against the last guy I lost to (Gusmao) in the finals.
411Mania.com: The other light heavyweight bout in the Grand Prix has Vladimir Matyushenko taking on Alex Schoenauer. Matyushenko's been dominant in the division outside of his last fight with Tim Boetsch. How do you think you'd fare against "The Janitor?"
Ciesnolevicz: Well, Tim Boetsch was my college roommate and my best friend even to this day. I talk to him every day. I actually helped him get that fight. No one would fight Vladdy and Tim Boetsch, I know he's a warrior. He'll fight anybody. So I trained with him and a lot of the stuff he knows I taught him because I was into the sport way longer than him. I actually talked him into becoming a fighter this past year. Seeing what he did with Vladdy gives me a lot of confidence. I wish I were fighting Vladdy or Schoenauer the first round of the Grand Prix. It's hard to fight someone that you know or you lived with or you trained with for so long. It's hard for me to get my head right to fight someone like that. I'd rather fight Vladdy or Schoenauer in the first round if I had to pick.
411Mania.com: Is the IFL's financial status something that worries you as a fighter?
Ciesnolevicz: I really don't know what's going on with that whole deal. I hear the IFL is going under then someone else tells me they're doing fine. I don't know what to expect. I just keep taking it a day at a time and just keep fighting and doing my job and see what happens. I keep hearing mixed reviews. I hear the IFL isn't doing well, it's going under then the next week I hear they signed some big new deal with a sponsor.
411Mania.com: What is a perfect fight for Mike Ciesnolevicz?
Ciesnolevicz: There are a lot of guys that go out there and want to win the fight by knockout or to finish the fight. My only goal is to win. Of course I want to please the fans but honestly that's secondary to win. My main goal is to win by any means possible. I don't care if I knock the guy out as long as I win. I don't care. I've won in the first round, second round and third round. As long as I win it's all the same to me. I've done my job.
411Mania.com: Who's name do people have a harder time dealing with? Ciesnolevicz or Palaszewski?
Ciesnolevicz: I want to say Bart's. Actually I probably can't even say Bart's yet. The Palaszewski part throws me off. There's no "w" in that first part. Mine's easy. It's four syllables if you break it down. Cez-no-le-vich.
411Mania.com:Any sponsors you want to give love to before we let you go?
Ciesnolevicz: I have HeadBlade who is with me. I shave my head before every fight. I have Vitaminenergy and Gamma-O too. All those guys have helped me out here through the semifinals and finals.
411Mania.com: Appreciate you giving us the time Mike.
