Ed Herman talks Fighting, Violence in MMA, and Steroids

Ed Herman Interview continued…

CC. What are the best things about being a pro fighter?

EH. There are a lot of good things; I get to support my family doing something that I love. I get to travel and see the world. I get to meet a lot of cool people. One cool thing is that you get the chance to influence people and motivate people that you have never even met. I get MySpace emails, and stuff like that on my fan site from people thanking me for motivating them to get off of their ass. It is pretty cool to be able to motivate people you have never even met.

CC. Worst?

EH. Man, you know, I think the hardest part is staying in good shape all the time, and staying healthy, and being disappointed. You know, in the summer when all of your boys are going to the river, you have to say no that you have to go sit in the hotbox sweaty gym all day and train. That’s probably one of the hardest parts. I like to get out and have fun. That is probably the hardest part with all of the time you have to put in to be top notch.

CC. If Dana came to you and said you could have any fight, who would you pick and why?

EH. Any fight I want. Haha, I would like to fight Jason McDonald pretty bad. I would love to fight him. Kendall Grove and Jason are both on my list. Another guy is Kazuo Misaki who I lost to a couple of years ago in Japan. I was winning that fight until I made a mistake and got caught. I don’t have any animosity toward any of those guys, or really anyone else, but those are three guys that beat me, and I would love to get that back. I feel that if I had a shot at any of those three guys it would be great.

CC. Rumors today on the internet is that Wanderlei is dropping, any interest in fighting him?

EH. Wanderlei is dropping, huh. I would fight Wanderlei. I watched him as a kid, I mean that is not who I would want to fight right now, but if they came to me I would take the fight.

CC. If you could put together a dream fight, which would it be between?

EH. Of course I want to see Randy and Fedor throw down. There is a lot of stuff out there it is hard to say. Maybe Gomi and B.J. Penn, There are a lot of good matchups it is hard to pick. Personally, I would like to see Ryan Schultz, a teammate of mine, get a rematch against JZ. They fought to a draw, I was at that fight and Ryan won that fight hands down. I am not sure what the judges were watching but I would love to see that rematch. I think that Ryan Schultz is one of the baddest men out there!

CC. Presidential Candidate John McCain has gone on record saying that MMA is human cockfighting, what are your reactions to these absurd statements?

EH. Those statements were made a few years ago, about how the UFC used to be. In a way he was right. It was very brutal back in the day. In a way it helped push the sport to the level that it is at now, to be a professionally ran sport with the great set rules and commissions. If he is still saying that I don’t think it is cool. It is not. Anyone that doesn’t like it, they don’t have to watch. People that are educated on our sport know that it is a legit sport, and that it is not as bad as people think.

CC. I personally feel that the NFL is a lot more violent than MMA.

EH. I think it was NBC or someone big like that, that did a story on the UFC and IFL awhile back and it was a real good story. In that they compared the two, and how football and other sports have a lot more injuries than we do.

CC. What would you recommend to young fighters that are trying to crawl their way into the UFC?

EH. I would recommend working hard; harder than they could ever imagine. I can remember back when I thought I was working hard it is a joke now. Working hard and being dedicated are important. Having good partners and a good team around you is also important. There are a lot of crooks getting into our sport these days, so fighters have to watch their backs. Having a coach that is not going to throw you to the wolves that will build you up, and back you up is also important.

CC. What is the biggest problem you see with young fighters?

EH. There are promoters that are all about making a dime off of everybody and they don’t care about the fighters. You have guys that want to make money and jump right into the Pros. I believe in coming up amateur and fighting your way up, like in boxing. Most of the guys have a lot of amateur experience, and I think that MMA guys should do the same. I am not saying have as many as the boxers do, but at least have a handful of fights. A lot of guys go in there and get hurt, or get a bad taste in their mouths, and it ruins it for them.

CC. What do you think about steroids in MMA?

EH. I think there was, I think their used to, but it is getting a lot better. Especially with the merger of Pride and UFC, most of the big shows are in the U.S. now and they are testing everybody. I am glad too, I don’t want to have to do steroids because everyone else is, I don’t want to have to do it because everyone else is, just to keep up. Which eventually would have happened, but now in the UFC the guys coming in from Japan are a lot smaller. I think it is a great thing for the sport that they are stepping up on the testing.

CC. Other than MMA, what sports do you enjoy?

EH. I have been an athlete my whole life, I enjoy watching football. I don’t really got down and play anymore. I am a little bit of a basketball fan. I like to go and ride quads. I enjoy wakeboarding

CC. Are you still coming to Virginia at the end of March?

EH. Yea as far as I know, my agent is taking care of that. As far as I know they are still advertising it, and that I am going to be there.

Prior to completing the interview Ed wanted to give a shout out to his sponsors Condom Depot, Warrior Wear, and all of the guys from Team Quest with recent fights which included StrikeForce at the Dome, all the IFL guys from Team Quest who fought on February 29th, and Jon Fitch’s latest challenger, Chris Wilson.

I want to thank Ed Herman for giving me this opportunity to pick his brain, and wish him nothing but good luck on his training and upcoming fight. Expect more articles related to Ed Herman and the Team Quest camp in the future, and possibly exclusive interviews as well.