411mania MMA Interview: Drew "The Massacre” McFedries
Posted by John Curry on 05.06.2008
Preparing for his fight against Marvin “the Beastman” Eastman at TUF season 7 finale, UFC veteran Drew “The Massacre” McFedries sits down with 411mania’s John Curry to discuss fighting, video games and going 180mph on a bike.
Coming off a loss to Patrick Cote at UFC's Fight Night Live, Drew McFedries is showing how perseverance and passion overcome any obstacle that is placed in front of him. A man who rides bikes at speeds upwards of 180 miles per hour, owns snakes, and has overcome the loss of his mother and a staph infection that almost took his leg. Drew McFedries lives his life in the now, every moment matters to him. There is no what if's anymore for McFedries. It is this mentality that makes him a very dangerous fighter. His philosophy is to train hard, bring your best game and leave it all in the cage. "The Massacre" was kind enough to take the time to fill us in on who is Drew "The Massacre" McFedries.
411ManiaMr. McFedries, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to join 411mania. Please tell our readers about your pre-mixed martial arts life?
Drew McFedries "Before I took up MMA I played football and soccer in High School. When I went to college I played football, soccer and ran track."
411Mania So how did you shift into MMA?
DM "I was a bouncer at this bar that used to hold was called Tuesday Night Fights. There were these people who kept challenging me saying I wouldn't get in the ring with them. I started to get into it. Where I grew up, most of the fights we had were me getting jumped or four on three or five on two. We had gangs where I was from. I mean I live in Iowa so it wasn't like we had bloods and crips but it didn't take long to figure out where people stood. So the idea of a one on one fight sounded good. Since then I have loved MMA. "
411Mania Did you have any background in any forms of martial arts when you started fighting in MMA?
DM "No. I just got in the ring and did it."
411Mania Can you tell us what your daily routine for training is? What do you spend most of your time working on?
DM "I train once a day through the week when I keep active when I don't have a fight to prepare for. When I have a fight to prepare for I train four hours a day, five days a week. I have two hour practices on Saturday and Sunday. The training could lat upwards of six to eight hours a day just depending on how I feel. I don't focus on any one thing. That is how I keep myself well rounded by mixing it up. Sometimes I train on wrestling, Ju Jitsu, Muay Thai, boxing, I focus on my cardio and more. The one thing is I don't change my training regime based on my opponent."
411Mania You come from a small town in Iowa. I thought only farmers lived in Iowa?
DM " No, I'm not really from that part of Iowa. I am from right on the Mississippi at the Illinois-Iowa border called the Quad Cities. A lot of people would be surprised to find out that the Quad Cities are bigger than the capital city. We don't have any professional sports teams around here so a lot of the guys who get out of college don't have that next step. As a result a lot of us just go the gym and beat the shit out of each other. If you live in a big city like Atlanta or New York then there are things for you to move on to but around here there isn't."
411ManiaOne of the things I always ask in an interview regards submissions. I know that you have won all of your fights by TKO or knockout but I have to ask, what is the most painful submission you have ever been put in either in practice or during a fight.
DM "You know I haven't really been put in too many submissions that are painful. Most of the submissions aren't so much as painful as they are uncomfortable. I mean really once they get you locked in to an arm bar or something then it's really either tap or get it broken and I really don't want anything to be broken. *laughs* "
411ManiaTell us do you have any pre-fight or post fight rituals?
DM "No, I don't. I just kind of go with the flow before a fight."
411Mania How do you celebrate after winning a fight?
DM "I think it's pretty obvious. I go out get a few martini's and from there anything's possible."
411Mania You are fighting Marvin Eastman at the Ultimate Fighter7 Finale. This is Eastman's last fight under his contract for the UFC. Eastman has been quoted as saying you will be "his next victim." Do you have a response for that?
DM "You know I think that saying that kind of stuff is ridiculous. Save those kinds of lines for the WWE. I mean if you are going to go out, go out with respect. I don't trash talk anyone. I have a lot respect for Marvin but I don't think this is the fight he wants. I think at this point in his career he is just fighting for a check. There isn't anything wrong with that as I think he has earned it, but I don't think fighting me is a good decision. I don't talk shit. I just look at things from an analytical point. If I think a fighter has a weakness I'll talk about it but I don't shit. I don't because if you say all of that and you get your ass kicked then you look like a fool. I don't know a lot about his wrestling and BJJ skills but if he wants to stand with me, which I think will be a mistake; I'll hit him with one good shot and knock him out."
411Mania You are coming off a TKO loss to Patrick Cote. I am not one to make excuses for anyone but most of our readers will be surprised to find out that just prior to that fight you lost your mother, which you have our condolences for, and battled a staph infection, do you feel better for this fight than you were against Cote?
DM "I feel a lot better. There was a lot more going on prior to the fight than those. I had broken my foot and all of my wisdom teeth were infected. I had to have them all pulled right after the fight. I am not trying to make excuses as I go in to every fight with my best effort regardless. To be honest, that (Cote) fight I thought was an early stoppage. If you watched the last live show they were letting people get the hell kicked out of them until they were almost knocked out before stopping it. I don't make excuses I put myself in a shit position and paid the price for it. I couldn't see where Cote was really at. If I had reacted quicker I could have sprung up but I didn't want to bounce off the cage and into a right hand. I just don't think Herb Dean was in position to make the right decision. But the thing is it happened. You can't change it you just have to learn and move on. "
411Mania I have learned that you are an avid video gamer? What do you play and what systems do you own. what systems to you own?
DM "*laughs* Yeah I am a really big gamer. It's just the way I like to kick back and relax. Right now I have four systems. I have a PS2, PS3, Xbox, and an Xbox 360. I probably have all of the games for these systems. *laughs* I need to find out if I can start previewing these games because a lot of them suck. I recently finished playing Army of Two which I thought was pretty good. I also like Dirt, COD4, GOW, HALO3 just to name a few. It's really just whatever I feel like playing. You know it's funny I just use my name "Drew McFedries to play online and I always get people asking me if I am the real Drew and I am like yeah. They just love it because they don't think I would live in this area. I just use my regular gamer tag. To be honest playing games and sports is probably the downfall of my college life. *laughs* "
411Mania I have also learned that you enjoy riding sport bikes. What can you tell me about it?
DM "I love it. Right now I ride a Honda CVR 1000 which is one fast bike. I have to start being a little more cautious as I have almost had my license taken away three times for erratic speeding. One time I went past a cop on a city road. He told me he clocked me at 125 miles per hour. Another time I was riding right around Bangor heading to Iowa City and passed a cop who couldn't catch me. The bear in the sky, a helicopter that tracks you and calls the next city followed me and I was going so fast every time the next city tried to set up I was already gone. *Laughs*"
411Mania What is the fastest you have gone?
DM "One time I had my bike up to 180 miles an hour which I held for about four or five seconds. It was redlining at 12000 rpm's."
411Mania 180 miles per hour? What are you, crazy?
DM "*Laughs* No. I just have the belief that you live your life to the fullest and do something always with your body. You have to do everything you can because there are people out there who can't do anything. People who would give anything to do just half of what you can do, so you have to live life to the fullest. "
411Mania I know you are an analytical type fighter. Would you care to give us your predictions on the Rampage Jackson vs. Forrest Griffin fight at the TUF Finale?
DM " I think Forrest is still young and he hasn't been around like Rampage. When you have really lost it and hit bottom like Rampage has you just try harder to make sure you don't hit rock bottom again. I am not taking anything away from Forrest as he is a talented guy who has earned his place in the UFC but I don't see Rampage losing. If Rampage does lose it won't be without him kicking and scratching. The thing people don't realize is when a fighter has been fighting for a long time and gets into their thirties they start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. They don't want to ever go out on a loss. Young guys are just out there not thinking about that they are there having fun but the older guys are there to make sure they don't go out on a loss. "
411Mania There is one thing I want to get your opinion on that I think our readers will really enjoy. Tell me about the "princess fighters."
DM "Princess fighters are the Gucci wearing pussies who think that they can take up the sport today and be in the UFC in six months. They think they don't have to put the hard work in and the scrapes and cuts that go with training. These are the punks that think that because they were on some reality show that they will immediately be able to go to signing events and sit with the likes of Pat Miletich, Matt Hughes, and Tim Sylvia. It isn't like that. You have to sacrifice to get where you are going. Don't think coming into the UFC that just because you put on the Warrior Wear and Gucci sunglasses that you are going to just become this persona just because of the clothes. You don't get the girls and the cars and the money without busting your ass to make it happen. I sacrificed a lot to get here. "
411Mania Before I let you get back to sparring and training, what is the one thing you want our readers to know about Drew "the Massacre" McFedries?
DM "I'm a no bullshit straight forward kind of guy who believes in paying your dues and busting your ass to get where you are. I am down to earth I don't live the high life because that just ain't me. I drive a Jeep man how high you think I live."
Quick Hits
411Mania Worst job you ever had?
DM " Dishwasher at Rudy's Tacos, a Shitty Mexican Joint"
411Mania 50 cent or Jay-Z
DM "Jay-Z"
411Mania What is something no one would guess about you?
DM " I like snakes and reptiles. I have a reticulated boa constrictor here at my house."
411Mania Do you have a guilty pleasure?
DM "None that are any guiltier than any other man."
411ManiaWho do you look up to and why?
DM "Walter Payton was the baddest thing that ever happened to football."
411ManiaFavorite Rapper?
DM "Too Short"
411Mania Favorite day off activity?
DM "Go out and throw football and play catch"
411ManiaFavorite movie?
DM "Scarface, isn't that everyone's favorite movie?"
411Mania Toughest sparring partner?
DM "Tim Slyvia"
411Mania Mr. McFedries, I want to thank you for taking time to introduce yourself to our readers and we wish you the best of luck in the future. Before we go is there anyone you want to give a shout out to?
DM "Yeah definitely, I want to Fairtex and Warrior Wear, who took a chance on me when no one else would."
