Wow, can't believe I'm just hearing about this. I am not the biggest IFL fan but damn.
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At the age of 46, Marco Ruas returns to the ring this Saturday in Chicago after a six-year absence to face Maurice Smith in an International Fight League superfight. Anxious to return, Ruas, whose Southern California Condors also take the ring, said that this could be his last fight.
How do you feel to be back in the ring?
I'm working hard, training a lot. I'm a little bit nervous because there are six years since my last fight; everything seems new to me. But I'm well trained. I dedicated all my time to the training sessions. I was giving classes, but now everything has changed. Besides, I'm always keeping myself in shape. I never relaxed about it, but training to fight is a very different thing. Training for MMA demands a lot of dedication because you have to mix every discipline. But I'm happy to fight again after all these years -- it's a challenge to me. I'm happy because they gave me this opportunity, I was invited, and one more time destiny smiles on me, so I'm going to take this chance.
Just like back in the 1990s, you are training for this fight along with Pedro Rizzo , Roberto Leitão Filho, Antoine Jaoude and Rodrigo Ruas , plus others. Do you feel like you're back to the past?
It's true, everything is back. That same warrior's spirit of a fighter rises again. Being back in the ring brings me a very good feeling. I can't wait for the moment to fight again. My expectations are even bigger because my team will fight also. This will be an amazing challenge.
Maurice Smith defeated you in the UFC, so in addition to the fact that you will fight one more time, will there be a feeling of revenge?
For sure, this is a fact. When I fought him before I was injured and that was a very frustrating thing for me. This fight now has a lot of different ingredients. This time I'll only leave that ring victorious or knocked out, because now my knee isn't injured, and I'm very healthy. … Of course in a fight anything can happen, but I'm ready to win because I trained hard. This time I'll only leave there knocked out, because I won't stop. I won't quit.
How were your training sessions for this fight?
Training as the hardest, that was the worst part. I think the toughest part about fighting is the training. I had to stop with my classes -- and I had a lot of classes. Now I train, come home, eat, take a rest and back to training. This is a boring routine. So I train hard, and when I'm tired I improve more and I became excited. Because when you train three rounds and come weary, later you're able to train four or five more rounds; this is a very good thing. I'm ready to fight until the end, but I hope to win before it. Anything can happen, but I'm ready to fight five rounds.
You both have not fought for a long time, but you're keeping your shape for all this time. Do you think Smith will feel his time away?
He is a very smart fighter. … I think he will spare himself, he won't try to run over me, so I'll have to impose my rhythm. The last time I saw him, he was a little fat; I think he was a little relapse. I'm always giving classes and training, so I can keep my shape. About him, I think he will have two difficulties: to cut weight and to sharpen himself. He is an athlete who fought many times before, so all of this is business to him. He is not like Brazilians, who face the fights as a matter of life or death. He has a very calm mind about it. I don't know how he is training, and I'm not worried about it. I think he is without an MMA fight longer than I am, but he fought in two kickboxing matches.
Will this be your last fight, or do you have plans to fight again?
I think I'll stop. Of course, they can offer me another fight after this, but for me it is a very difficult thing. You have to change the routine of all your family. I had to stop my classes, and the students are asking for me; they become dependent on us. A lot of them got in shape because of my training. I had students who train with me for six years. I can't lead my career like this anymore. If I should lead this in an awkward way, saying f__k off all of this, I could do it. I met a fighter who has the same age as mine, and he would fight in PRIDE. I asked him if he had trained well, then he told me he had trained for five days only. He would fight for the money. The more technical and brave you are, it is a lot harder to win training five days only. If it's hard for a young guy, it's much harder for a guy my age. He went there for the paycheck, but to me winning is what really matters. If someone comes to me offering a win or a paycheck, for sure I'll choose to win. To real fighters like us, there is nothing as pleasant as the taste of a victory. I felt the taste of winning and the sour taste of losing. I know that the taste of winning is better. Better than the money, better than anything else.
Your team is in a very sad situation right now, with the suicide of a member of your team, Jeremy Williams How are you dealing with it?
This was a big loss, everybody is shaken. He was a nice guy, full of life and talent. I invited him to our team because he had a lot of potential, striking and grappling. He was a guy full of talent. He was a very educated kid. I can't understand why he did it. Everybody is sorry for this. Now we have to get passed it, everyone will give their best, and we will dedicate our victories to him. We can't be shaken forever. Just the opposite: we will look for the victories, and dedicate it to him.
Your team, the Condors, will face Frank Shamrock's Razorclaws. What are you expecting from this confrontation?
We have big chances to win this match. I moved Justin Levens to another weight class, and I replaced him with a new guy. We have big chances. If we win, we will advance to the next level. Everybody here is in a great phase. I'm trying to bring Eric Tavares here to put him into the team. He is living here in USA, is a brave kid, I like him. He holds the banner of the team, and I didn't include him before because we didn't have time.
What did you think about Pedro Rizzo's return, and what are you expecting from him in the future?
Pedro impressed me. He lost two fights in a row, being knocked out. He surpassed it. He was very aggressive, ran over the guy, took him down, did his ground-and-pound, he was aggressive all the time. He looked for the fight all the time. This win is very important to him. When you lose a fight, even if you don't want to think about it, you become afraid to be knocked out again. He could clean his mind, forget about it, and move on. I was very excited, just like he was, so everything ran well. At his age, and with his potential, he can't be saving himself. He trains as a workaholic, so if he keeps this rhythm he will be able to show all his potential in the ring. If he shows in the ring everything he does in training then everybody will be in trouble. No one will have chance; he can beat everybody. I'm very excited with him. That fight [against Justin Eilers] was awesome because he fought all three rounds, and the guy didn't make things easy on him. He ran over, took a knockdown, but he didn't stop. He was very brave. He was there to win. Pedro didn't quit.