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Dave “The Rockstar” Phillips Interview
By Mark Pickering | May 7, 2006
Dave Phillips is an exciting middleweight prospect who has amassed a 7-2 professional record in his native America since debuting in 2001. This week I caught up with “The Rockstarâ€.
MP: Hi Dave, how are you doing?
DP: I’m good.
MP: For those who are unfamiliar with you can you give us a background into your childhood and how you broke into the sport.
DP: I had a normal childhood. When I was 16 I moved to Utah to go to school and started BJJ with Pedro Sauer. A few years later I had my first pro fight.
MP: Where do you currently train and what does a typical day involve for you.
DP: At the moment I am in Houston training at Elite Martial arts with Eric Williams and at Vasquez boxing gym with Rudy Vasquez. I usually run every day of the week and spend about 2 hours in the boxing gym and 1 hour training submission 5 days a week. I also have some special exercises that I do with weights that help out my game a lot.
MP: Earlier in your career you spent three years training at Chute Boxe and Gracie Barra. You also built a close friendship with Anderson “The Spider” Silva. How influential has your time in South America been on your career?
DP: South America was great. I learned a lot from those wild Brazilians. The training over there was what took my skills to the next level. I was seriously training like 5-6 hours a day while I was there.
MP: You have also lived in Tokyo and trained at the famous Kobra-Kai. How do you look back on your time in the orient?
DP: Japan was great too. Although I was there mostly going to school I was still able to train with the Kyoto University Judo Team and at the Kobra-kai shooto dojo a few times a week.
MP: You’ve competed for a plethora of MMA promotions across America. Are you looking to continue enhancing your reputation in the US or hoping to compete in Japan and Europe to test yourself outside of your homeland.
DP: I have had a great time competing here in the states but, right now I am looking to compete more in Europe and would love to get a chance to fight in Cage Rage. I consider it to be one of the top 3 promotions in the world.
MP: You’re known for ending bouts early, with the majority of your victories coming in the opening round. Is this a pre-fight game plan to overwhelm your opponents in the early going.
DP: Not really. It’s just that I know the sooner the fight ends, the sooner the after party begins.
MP: Having amassed a 7-2 professional record do you feel you’ve earned a shot in the bigger MMA leagues.
DP: There are many guys out there with better records than mine and have still not got a shot at the big shows but, based on skill level I think that I am more than able to hang in the larger shows and if given the opportunity I would surely do my best to give a great performance.
MP: What’s next for Dave Philips?
DP: I am off to fight in Slovenia on the 20th of May in the WCF. After that I will spend some time in Milan giving some classes, training with Dino Fuoco’s Hic Sunt Leones MMA fight team and chasing models.
MP: What are your goals for the remainder of 2006.
DP: This year I am looking to give as many great performances as possible in order to get myself into one of the major shows
MP: Which fighters do you admire and look to emulate as a professional fighter?
DP: There are too many great fighters out there to mention. The ones I admire the most are the ones who go for it and try there best to score the KO or submission vs. others who fight more cautiously.
MP: Are there any particular fighters that you personally would like to face, and if so why?
DP: I would like to face any top fighter because in order to be considered a top fighter I must defeat a top fighter.
MP: What has been the hardest aspect of being a professional athlete?
DP: The most difficult part has been the sacrifices I have had to make in order to attain the skills that I have. I put college on hold to move to Brazil and train with some of the top teams in the world. It was also not a very easy thing getting excepted as a foreigner into some of those teams but, after time I earned their respect as I hope to earn the respect of the MMA community this year
MP: Any final words for your fans?
DP: I would just like to thank everyone who has supported me along the way.
MP: Thanks for your time and best of luck for the future.
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