Interview: Josh 'The Punk' Thomson - 1/21/2004
by Ron Merrill

To the fans of the UFC, the plight of the lightweight division is no secret. After a resurgence of interest in the weight class heading into 2002s 4-man lightweight tournament, the momentum soon fizzled out. The February 2003 battle for the championship would put Caol Uno and B.J. Penn in a rematch against one another. While interest was only moderate in seeing a repeat pairing of the two, expectations still ran high. After all, B.J. Penn had devastated Caol Uno by KO in under 15 seconds a year and a half earlier at UFC 34: High Voltage. Even though the marketing savvy Penn insisted that Uno still had a chance in the rematch, the fans had all but written Penns ticket and called 9-1-1 for Uno prior to the opening bell. Unfortunately for the division, those fans were very wrong.

Penn and Uno battled for 5 full rounds, but all bets were off concerning the tournament because the judges scored the bout a draw. The UFC lightweight division would have to do without its champion. Nobody cared to line up for Penn vs. Uno III. So Zuffa shifted it's attention yet again, only this time to the heavyweight division with its new champion Tim Sylvia and promising future challenger Frank Mir. Over the course of the next several months, the lightweights were all but forgotten amidst rumors of the abolition of the division. Rumors that were only reinforced by the continuous dark matching of lightweight bouts. Add to that the feeding-frenzy surrounding Randy Couture and the light heavyweight division, plus the scramble to repair the damage within the championless heavyweight division, and you begin to form a fine excuse for leaving the lightweights to fend for themselves.

One man wasnt hearing any of that, though. Josh Thomson finally entered UFC 44 after repeat attempts for acceptance to the big show. The American Kickboxing Academy fighter had earned a respectable professional Mixed Martial Arts record of 4-0-0 with a fifth fight having been declared a no contest heading into his UFC debut. Having competed in 5 other promotions, he and his handlers felt that he was ready for the UFC, and Dana White agreed. Squaring off against slippery submission artist, Gerald Strebendt. Thomson fought like a man fighting for a title shot. And he did that with no promises for the future, and in a division that had lost its direction. The AKA standout fended off countless submission attempts by the slippery Strebendt with sheer power combined with great technique. And then he ended the fight by brutal knockout with a single hammering strike.

Now Josh Thomson returns to the UFC to face an even bigger challenge in ground-fighting expert, Hermes Franca. Just like Thomson, Hermes impressed the live audience at UFC 44 with a shocking knockout win over Caol Uno. Although most people view Thomson as the underdog, he is once again Thomson is hearing none of that! 'The Punk' has arrived, and with him comes a long awaited second wind in a stagnant weight class.

I caught up with Thomson on his way to Lemoore California where he would support AKA teammate Mike Kyle in his WEC match.

InsideFighting: Do you mind telling me a little bit about how you got involved in MMA to begin with?
Josh Thompson: I wrestled in college and after I got done wrestling in college I started doing some training with some guys that I actually had wrestled in college with that were doing Jiu-Jitsu up in Idaho. We started training with Trevor Prangley and Derek Cleveland and those guys, so We just kind of carried it over into fighting.

IF: How old are you right now if you dont mind my asking?
JT: I just turned 25.

IF: Whats your first recollection of viewing Mixed Martial Arts or No Holds Barred fighting?
JT: When I very first saw it was probably in 96 in the [UFCs] very first show. The first show I saw wasgosh, its been so long. I think it was when the skinny white guy kicked the big Samoan dude in the face and his tooth fell out.

IF: Yeah, youre talking about 1993 when Gordeau
JT: Yeah, was it Gordeau?

IF: Yeah, Gerard Gordeau vs. Teila Tuli.
JT: Yeah, thats who it was. Thats the very first fight I ever saw.

IF: So you saw the very first fight that the UFC ever broadcasted. Did you watch that on tape?
JT: No, actually I think we watched it live. We watched it on Pay-Per-View.

IF: Oh, okay. Cool. So by that time you had already done a little wrestling and did you decide that this might be something that you would be interested in getting into?
JT: Oh yeah, of course. But I mean, back then there werent any weight classes or anything like that. It was something that interested me, to fight people that were maybe around my weight, but it was just a new sport that just caught my eye. At the time I was getting into a lot of fights on the street, you know, and I wrestled pretty much my whole life. Ive always been real active and into physical activities.

IF: Since you brought up the weight class issue anyway, right now the UFCs lightweight division has kind of taken on a preliminary status. How do you feel about that?
JT: Im here for the fans, the show and the UFC. Whatever the UFC decides to do with the show I support their decision 100%.

IF: You entered the UFC a little bit later at UFC 44. Had you been trying to get into the UFC prior to that?
JT: I started trying as soon as I got down here when I moved from Idaho to here in 2000. Crazy Bob sent in a tape and they said they were interested but that they wanted to see me beat somebody. And then it just so happened that Phil Perez got hurt before his fight with [Norifumi] Yamamoto over at Shogun in Hawaii. So I filled his shoes on like two weeks a week and a half notice and I had a good showing. Somewhat of a good showing. It was a good fight. I cut a lot of weight for that fight. I cut 28 lbs for that fight. But they seemed to like something about me. Dana and I talked after the fight and he scheduled me for that fight coming up. Shogun was in November and he scheduled me for that March. But it just so happened that I was unavailable to fight and so he got me on the September 26th card.

IF: Is there any one promotion that you prefer to fight in over another?
JT: Right now I dont really look at any other promotions. The UFC is the only promotion that I look at as the top promotion. Theyre the ones that are taking care of me and continuously taking care of me. Right now theyre the Super Bowl. And when you get to the Super Bowl who wants to be in the playoffs? I dont want to be in the regular season when Im the Super Bowl champ.

IF: When you were sitting on the sidelines and watching the UFC, and they are recognized as the #1 Mixed Martial Arts promotion in America currently, as youre sitting there and youve got this opportunity to step into that same Octagon, is there one fighter or another that youre inspired to fight?
JT: You know, Im inspired to fight them all. It doesnt matter. If people feel that their ranking is above me then line them up. It doesnt matter.

IF: Now from your perspective right now as a lightweight in the UFC do you feel hopeful that this division is going to resolve its issues and gain a champion again? Are you going to be part of that picture?
JT: I definitely hope to be part of it. I love the UFC and once they decide what theyre going to do with it Im sure it will be the best thing for the sport and my weight division. If they decide to keep and crown a champion in that case, hey, line em up.

IF: You said you lost over 20 pounds to participate in Shogun. Are you naturally walking around at welterweight?
JT: Well, at the time I was about 168 and right now Im about 172.

IF: So if the lightweight picture doesnt resolve itself, would you consider fighting at a higher weight class?
JT: No. Absolutely not. The guys that are fighting at 170 are walking around at 190. And no matter what I do, because of the way I train, I cant keep weight on. I set my alarm for 3 in the morning just to eat so I can keep some weight on. If I dont do that, then by the end of my training camp Ill be down to 155 and I wont have to cut any weight.

IF: After your last bout in the UFC, there was some rumor that you might be looking to get out of the game due to injury and so forth. Do you care to comment on that?
JT: Ive been injury-free this training camp. Things are going well. I think it was more reflective of being in a slump of bad luck with injuries. Now I think that Ive gotten out of that slump. Also, the last thing that people think about as far as what they want is, they dont want to train. They dont want to think about fighting again because they just went through ten weeks of hell in training. I think at the time that I was just thinking that my body was getting tired and beat up. But since Ive been training consistently now, I havent been hurt or injured so everything is good. Im feeling good and everything feels good.

IF: Talk to me about this fight coming up. Let me see some of The Punk unleashed.
JT: [laughs] Hes a good fighter, a great fighter. He showed it when he fought Uno. He lost the first round convincingly to Uno but the test of a true fighter is how they come out in the second round and the third. He came out and he brought it, he did what he had to do and he won the fight. Now that right there shows that hes a good fighter and a true fighter. So hes got a lot of heart. Im never at any point or time going to underestimate him or think that hes going to lay down for me because hes not. Like I said, its just another person that I have to get through to get to the top spot. And when that happens, everyone is going to look at me finally for what it is.

IF: How do you feel that your styles match up?
JT: Everything goes to my advantage in this fight. You know? My striking is better, my ground is getting better if not equal with his. I mean, people say hes probably one of the better black belts around the game right now but that doesnt matter to me. Im a white belt in jiu-jitsu and I dont care. [laughs] No, but you know. When we go to the ground, I want to seem him throw the submission on so I can punch him in the face.

IF: Josh, you mentioned wrestling and some jiu-jitsu training. Have you competed in any other forms?
JT: Nah, Ive done some judo tournaments but I havent done any jiu-jitsu tournaments or anything like that.

IF: But youve got some power in those blows though.
JT: Um? Maybe. People that I spar with say that I dont have any power or that I got cupcake hands.

IF: Well you managed to throw the punch that no one saw against Gerald Strebendt.
JT: [laughs] Yeah, well. It must have just hit properly, thats all I can think of.

IF: Would you describe that as kind of a behind the back, hammer fist backhand?
JT: [laughs] Luck of the Irish, except Im not Irish so figure it out. I dont know, its just, you know. I think it was one of those cock-strong moves that got lucky. [laughs] You know? I think I just caught him perfectly behind the ear and thats all it takes sometimes. It was an anomaly.

IF: So youre feeling good, youre injury-free and all set to go.
JT: Yep. I mean, I got some bumps and bruises but nothing major that would cause me to do anything. In the first couple weeks of my training I got a serious cold and it still lingers a little bit and the cough and the congestion is still a little bit there in the mornings and nights but I think everyone is going through the same type of cold. Other than that everything is good.

IF: Give me a prediction for this fight.
JT: Probably TKO referee stoppage. But you know, Ill take it any way I can get it. Dont count me out for a submission. I can get the submission as well. To be honest with you, I think the submission may come.

IF: Thanks for your time and good luck in this fight.
JT: No problem. Thanks.

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