Hermes Franca-interview: "I think B.J. right now is the No. 1" - Fight Forum - MMA - UFC - Boxing - K1

Gooner · 07-01-2007, 08:39 PM

Highlighted some of the more interesting parts.
And of course put that quote in the title. Mwahahaha.

Quote:

UFCjunkie.com: Speaking of The Armory, please talk to us a little bit about your facility. How and when did it get started?

Hermes Franca: Right after my last fight in 2005, I came from Japan, and I was really sad. I said you know what, I’m just going to to teach and take care of my students. But I’m a fighter. I know I want to be a fighter and was already looking for fights. And I got a chance to fight again, so I was looking for some partners. Kurt Pellegrino came here [and] a couple guys from Brazil. So we start to train together. We start to build the academy. I start to fight again. I came back — and it was really cool. Right now we have like 200 students, we have like 11,000 square feet, and at the academy we have weights, a cage, a ring, mats, we have six black belts in the grappling area. That’s amazing.

UFCjunkie.com: So you started up The Armory right after your last K-1 fight against Koutetsu Boku, and since you started it, you have been on an eight-fight win streak. It definitely seems like starting The Armory has done good things for you.

Hermes Franca: It is a good energy, you know. I am the head coach for all of my fighters. I learn a lot from my fighters, and we’re like a family.

UFCjunkie.com: Can you talk to us a little bit about your preparation for this fight with Sean Sherk at UFC 73 specifically? What are you working on and who are your training partners?

Hermes Franca: Oh definitely. It’s going good. I have a lot of quality in my academy. But of course, to fight for the title is so important, I have to always look for something different. And I’m lucky because I have a lot of fighters in my camp who can help me. You know, lightweight fighters I have Kurt Pellegrino, and I have Raphael Chaves. I have two Brazilian jiu jitsu black belts. I have two Division 1 wrestlers between 165 and 175 (pounds) who help my training. And my partner and manager Joe Mullings does my cardio and conditioning. And I brought in Rob Kaman here to help. Rob Kaman is phenomenal. He’s an old K-1 fighter, K-1 champion for a long, long time. He beat Ernesto Hoost twice, and I’m learning a lot from him, and that’s really cool. He’s a legend. We’ve had him here for 45 days working every day.

(Note: Rob “the Dutchman” Kaman is a retired nine-time kickboxing and Muay Thai world champion and is considered one of the best ever. For more check out Rob Kaman at Wikipedia or Rob Kaman at Youtube. -P)

UFCjunkie.com: Can you walk us through a typical day of training for you? Can you tell us exactly what are you working on?

Hermes Franca: Yeah, definitely. It’s kind of different because each day is a different day. Like Monday we do grappling in the morning, and in the night we do some knees and some BJJ. I like to keep teaching. I like to teach, and I think we learn a lot teaching. Thursday we do Muay Thai in the morning, something like that. It’s different. We do wrestling, Muay Thai, BJJ, grappling and knees. And one day a week, the last day in the week Friday, we do real MMA training — in the cage, like a real fight. Same gloves, same pads, no headgear, a real fight. We have a judge and corners like a real fight — everything. We bring in fresh guys in a line, so I’m fighting five different guys, five minutes each. We tape that, and after that, I go home and see what I’m doing wrong and see what I can do to improve.

UFCjunkie.com: Speaking of watching tape, as I was looking over tape of your previous fights, I couldn’t help but think that your fight from UFC 62 with Jamie Varner might somewhat be a preview of what we’ll see from you at UFC 73. I know you took the Varner fight on very short notice, but in general, that fight seemed to go the way a lot of people feel that the fight with Sherk will go: Varner was focused on taking you down the whole time, and he was doing a lot of damage early with you working from the bottom most of the time. And then later in the fight, you out-struck Varner on the feet, and once he went down, you locked in a beautiful armbar to end the fight. Will your fight with Sean Sherk go the same way?

Hermes Franca: I hope not exactly like that. Maybe the same as Sherk’s going to try to take me down. When I fought against Jamie Varner, I didn’t know who he was. A lot of guys said he’s a boxing guy, he is strong, has good hands, good hands, good hands. So I was working a lot of boxing you know, and I didn’t realize he was a wrestler. He was very good and came strong, so he surprised me. But against Sean Sherk, I know who he is, I know his game, and I know he’s going to take me down, and that’s what I’m ready for. He’s a good wrestler. Of course, I’m going to try to block his takedowns. That’s what I want to do. Jamie Varner kind of surprised me. He came strong. I didn’t know who he was. I was kind of out of shape because the UFC asked me to fight on short notice. Now I know I’m fighting against Sean Sherk, I know who he is, and I know his game, so it’s going to be totally different.

UFCjunkie.com: You mention your conditioning in the Varner fight, and certainly that was a short-notice fight, so that’s no surprise. You also looked like you might be struggling with your cardio in the Spencer Fisher fight at UFC Fight Night 8. What have you done differently to prepare your cardio for this challenge?

Hermes Franca: My cardio is just because I never run. People ask me — they get so surprised. I can’t run five miles. If I run one mile, I need two days’ rest (laughs). What I like to do is just fight and train. And against Spencer Fisher, it was a lot of pressure. We knew the winner could fight for the title. It was in my state of Florida. It was a lot of pressure. And the fight was good. First round was a lot of action. Second round, a lot of action. In the end of the second round, I gas a little bit because it was action — I didn’t stop, I didn’t stop, I didn’t stop in the fight. I trained hard, I prepared myself for three rounds so well. I could have definitely fought one more round there. But it’s hard for a fighter to step in to the cage against a guy like Spencer Fisher there and not gas.

UFCjunkie.com: There’s obviously quite a bit of tape out there on Sherk. Do you study a lot of his previous fights in your preparation?

Hermes Franca: Yeah, that’s what I do. It’s the lightweight belt in the game, so of course I’m going to study his game. I don’t want a surprise. I know maybe he’s going to come with something different, so I have to be ready for it. So every day I like to see his fights. Not just me — my coach, my fighters — we sit down and watch his fights like twice a week and train for it.

UFCjunkie.com: Since this is a title fight, you’ll be fighting five rounds, five minutes. Do you foresee a five-round war, or will this end early?

Hermes Franca: I have to see the fight like in the first second of the first round I want to knock him out. That’s what I see every day. But of course I want to be ready for five rounds, five minutes. He’s strong. He’s so fast on his takedowns, but he makes mistakes. So I think that’s how I’m going to win — work on his mistakes, you know? I don’t want to do anything because he’s strong, and he has good wrestling, so it’s going to be hard to look for something that he knows and can block. So I’m going to wait for his mistakes, and I know he’s going to make a mistake. In 25 minutes, he’s going to make some mistake — and boom, I’m going to cash in.

UFCjunkie.com: Dana White had confirmed after The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale that the winner of your fight at UFC 73 will face B.J. Penn, probably around October. I know you’re obviously not looking past Sherk at all, but assume you do take the fight with Sherk. How do you feel about the opportunity to face Penn, and how do you see yourself matching up with him?

Hermes Franca: In that situation, especially when you have the belt, you want to fight against the best. You want to fight against a guy better than you. How are you going to get the belt and fight against nobody? It doesn’t make any sense. There’s too much in the game. I think B.J. right now is the No. 1. He has good skills, and it’s going to be a present. To fight against a guy like that is a present. I can prove to my fans — I can prove to myself — what I am in MMA, who I am. How I work against B.J., it’s going to be good. I think it is going to be a war. It’s going to be hot.

UFCjunkie.com: You’ve had success in the past in pure grappling competitions like the Pan American games. Do you ever see yourself competing in pure grappling competitions again?

Hermes Franca: Right now just in the academy, grappling with my friends. Now we’ve got three UFCs in one month. Day by day, there’s more interest in MMA, and that keeps you so busy. But I love to compete. I love grappling. I’d love to compete in BJJ again. Maybe I’ll compete in BJJ again, maybe the Mundials (World Jiu-Jitsu Championships). We’ll see.

UFCjunkie.com: What about Rashad Evans vs. Tito Ortiz?

Hermes Franca: I love both of the guys — both deserve the win, definitely. I don’t like talking about fighters and picks and who is going to win. But I think Tito Ortiz maybe (wins). Both guys are good wrestlers, and both guys have good hands. Tito Ortiz is a smart fighter, and he knows how to fight in the cage. Rashad Evans is tough, and he’s going to come strong. I think in that situation, the experience is going to win. I think Tito is going to win, maybe by split decision.

Complete interview:
Hermes Franca - An Exclusive Interview - UFC 73 -- UFC news at UFCjunkie.com

LinvilleGorge · 07-01-2007, 08:56 PM

After reading that interview, I don't like his chances against Sherk AT ALL. If Franca isn't going to dedicate himself to cardio, Sherk is going to wear him down and finish him with GnP. Sherk lasted for a round and a half against GSP, one of the best 170# strkers in the world, so I don't see Franca getting a quick KO.

CounterPuncher · 07-01-2007, 09:39 PM

Yeah I found that interesting when he said he didn't run at all. He doesn't seem to be worried about his cardio though. So if it goes to the later rounds I think that Sherk is definitely going to win this one.

HaVoK · 07-01-2007, 09:44 PM

Hermes Franca is a great fighter and his training sounded really good up until the point about cardio. I really believe Sherk will get him in the late rounds.

FEC4 · 07-01-2007, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LinvilleGorge

After reading that interview, I don't like his chances against Sherk AT ALL. If Franca isn't going to dedicate himself to cardio, Sherk is going to wear him down and finish him with GnP. Sherk lasted for a round and a half against GSP, one of the best 170# strkers in the world, so I don't see Franca getting a quick KO.

you gotta remember this is the sport of MMA, remember that terrible day when Cro Cop got Knocked out when there was only 9 seconds left or When GSP was rocked and he lost in the first round and everyone said GSP would win. You never know thats Franca could throw a good punch and get Sherk, after all we all saw what he did to Spencer.

Cacti45 · 07-01-2007, 10:21 PM

Cardio has always been the question with Hermes, i hope he wins, but i say Sherk TKO Round 4

LinvilleGorge · 07-01-2007, 10:25 PM

Oh definitely. It's a fight and anything can happen, but I just think a fighter is putting himself at a big disadvantage if he doesn't focus on his cardio. I mean, as talented as BJ Penn is, a couple of his losses are due in big part to him having lesser cardio than his opponent (GSP comes to mind). Karo Parisyan vs. Diego Sanchez is another fight that comes to mind where a talented fighter (Karo) lost in part because he thought his natural conditioning would be enough and yet his opponent outlasted him. If a fighter wants to give himself the best chance to win consistently at the highest levels, he has to be committed to training cardio. Period.

jm1010 · 07-01-2007, 10:35 PM

Its strange he doesnt run at all. I think Sherk will be too big for him and will take him down and finish him via GNP in the 4th round.

FEC4 · 07-01-2007, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jm1010

Its strange he doesnt run at all. I think Sherk will be too big for him and will take him down and finish him via GNP in the 4th round.

what if Franca is working more on take down defense than Cardio. Maybe Sherk wii have trouble taking him down but your right if he does gets taken down then he will most likely either lose by GnP or will get really tired.

jm1010 · 07-01-2007, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FEC4

what if Franca is working more on take down defense than Cardio. Maybe Sherk wii have trouble taking him down but your right if he does gets taken down then he will most likely either lose by GnP or will get really tired.

Even if he is working take down defense, I think he will start to gas in the 4th. It is hard to stuff takedowns from a fighter as big and as good as wrestler as Sherk is when you are tired.

FEC4 · 07-01-2007, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jm1010

Even if he is working take down defense, I think he will start to gas in the 4th. It is hard to stuff takedowns from a fighter as big and as good as wrestler as Sherk is when you are tired.

yeah if it does last at the 4 round then i think they both will be tired but since Franca says he doesn't train Cardio, they he will be more tired, but you never know if they are gonna make it to the 4 round, Franca can win by then or so Can Sherk so we don't know.

LinvilleGorge · 07-01-2007, 10:48 PM

Yeah, constantly defending takedowns isn't exactly a stroll in the park. That takes it's toll. Going up against a bull like Sherk, you're going to need all the cardio you can muster.

wgs2005 · 07-02-2007, 06:44 AM

Just thought id post this here as theres no need to start another thread

MMANEWS.COM | MMANews.com Pre-UFC 73 Interview w/ Hermes Franca

Chris Howie of MMANews.com: This is Chris Howie and today I will be speaking with UFC number one Lightweight contender Hermes Franca. How are you today Hermes?

Hermes Franca: Good buddy.

Chris Howie of MMANews.com: Hermes, you are a week away from your big fight with Sean Sherk, who have you been training with?

Hermes Franca: I have been training with my camp - Kurt Pellegrino, Rafael Chaves, Eduardo Guedes all good grapplers, strikers and wrestlers. We also have been working closely with Jeff Prescott, who is our wrestling coach.

MMANews.com: What have you been working on in training?

Hermes Franca: I have not really changed a lot of my training for this fight. A fight is a fight. Obviously, this is scheduled though for five rounds, so I have to be prepared for that. My cardio and conditioning has been heavier than usual. Also, since Sherk is a wrestler base, I have also been working on some things that would address that.

MMANews.com: What advantages and disadvantages do you see yourself having against Sherk?

Hermes Franca: I think this is a pretty interesting match-up. We are both good strikers and either of us can end the fight on our feet. We both also don't mind going to the ground, for different reasons, and both can end it on the ground. I always come to fight and put it all out there. So I expect Sherk to do the same. This fight will not go to a decision.

MMANews.com: You are on an eight-fight win streak, what do you think you need to do agaisnt Sherk to make it nine and win the UFC lightweight championship?

Hermes Franca: Win [laughs].

MMANews.com: Do you feel that Sherk not fighting since last November will cause him any problems?

Hermes Franca: No, if anything it has given him a chance to heal with his shoulder and work on his game even more. Sherk is a tenured fighter, he knows how to compete, I dont expect any "ring rust" on him at all. I know he trains very hard, so he will be ready for this.

MMANews.com: When did you make the move from Brazil to the USA?

Hermes Franca: I made the move on April 12th, 2000.

MMANews.com: What was the transistion of moving from South America to North America like?

Hermes Franca challenges for the UFC Lightweight title July 7th on PPV ...

Hermes Franca: It was a complete 180. Another country, different culture, weather, language, it was totally different.

MMANews.com: When did you begin training and what was the first martial art you started with?

Hermes Franca: I did karate, capoeira, and played soccer. When I was 19 years old I started to do BJJ.

MMANEws.com: When did you decide to go into MMA?

Hermes Franca: I started MMA in 2001.

MMAnews.com: What fighters did you look up to when you were coming into the sport?

Hermes Franca: Minotauro [Nogueira]. He was in Florida where I train and he has a lot of determination and heart. He is one of my inspirations.

MMANews.com: Who are some fighters that you would like to get in the Octagon with?

Hermes Franca: I just do my job and that is fight. The UFC decides my opponents.

MMANews.com: Who are some of your favorite fighters to watch?

Hermes Franca: Diego Sanchez, BJ Penn, Randy Couture, Takanori Gomi, and Fedor [Emelianenko].

MMANews.com: Did you watch the latest Ultimate Fighter season? Who impressed you on the show?

Hermes Franca: Nate Diaz.

MMANews.com: Are there any sponsers you would like to thank?

Hermes Franca: Sprawl and Premier Martial Arts.

MMANews.com: And is there anything you would like to say to your fans?

Hermes Franca: Thank you for all the support and you are always in my heart.

Bomber · 07-02-2007, 07:15 AM

The more you hear from some guys, the more you like them. Or else the more you hear, the less you like them. Franca is the former.

I still think he should move down to 145 though. As much as I like Franca, I don't see him beating Sherk, Stevenson or Penn.

nurspec · 03-22-2008, 09:01 PM

in answer to the title of this thread i will say Franca is living in a cupboard.
On current form and quality of opponent,Spider Silva is #1 without question,there is no logical argument here.

OneBigThrow · 03-23-2008, 01:21 AM

^there are plenty of logical arguments both ways

opsy · 03-23-2008, 01:28 AM

brought up from last july?

Gooner · 03-23-2008, 05:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nurspec

in answer to the title of this thread i will say Franca is living in a cupboard.
On current form and quality of opponent,Spider Silva is #1 without question,there is no logical argument here.

Not only did you bring up a really old thread but also...
-Hermes was talking about who's #1 at lightweight (and he was/is right btw)
-BJ could very well be considered even #1 pound-for-pound. "No logical argument" is just stupid. Just like it would be to say that about BJ.
BJ's a lot smaller than Silva, yet I would see him give Silva a good run for his money.