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Joseph Benavidez on fighting Urijah Faber: “The only place you guys are going to see us fight is in the gym”
By Zach Arnold | June 19, 2010
If you recall Dave Farra’s interview with Reed Harris last week, the topic of Urijah Faber vs. Joseph Benavidez in the Bantamweight division of WEC came up. While Reed expressed interest in booking the bout, he was also slightly hedging his bets when the topic came up and brought up the fact that Urijah would probably move back up if Faber and Benavidez were going to be matched up at 135.
So, Dave asked Joseph Benavidez for his thoughts on the matter and essentially got a blanket statement that he would not fight Urijah any time, no matter how big the platform would be. Actually, Joe is saying two different things at once — he says he’d only fight Urijah if it made both men rich, but then turned around and said he wouldn’t fight him on PPV even if the PPV was at Arco Arena in Sacramento like last April’s event was.
The topic of teammates not wanting to fight each other and move up or down in weight is becoming a bigger issue by the day for the top MMA matchmakers. It’s also the kind of thing that could really hurt the growth of the sport as far as giving the fans the big money match-ups that they really want to see. This topic is not going to die down any time soon.
I encourage you to read what Joe had to say to Dave on the radio.
DAVE FARRA: “Our guest this morning on The Dave & Mahoney Show is Joseph Benavidez. He is a contender in the WEC’s Bantamweight division and you are fighting for the title right here in Las Vegas on August the 18th. Tickets for this show, which is WEC 50, go on sale today here in Vegas and we’re looking forward to it. How you doing, Joe?”
JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ: “Doing great. Can’t wait for that fight and yeah, thanks for having me on today.”
DAVE FARRA: “Yeah, you fought Dominick Cruz one time before. Great fight. Back and forth. You guys exchanged but he ended up walking away with the win. What did you do wrong in that fight that you’re going to correct in this one?”
JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ: “I fought Dominick about a year ago and he’s actually my only loss so you know I’m excited to go in there and avenge my only loss and win the belt in the same night, you know, two huge goals of mine. Last fight, I think he had a really good night but I’ve changed a lot since that fight. The main thing is I went in there and my philosophy with fighting was always that I was going to be more athletic and have better instincts and just kind of go in there and react but I went in there against Dominick and ran into a guy just as athletic as me. You know, he was a little bigger. You know, he had a plan, you know he studied me and some my moves and he went out there and executed some of the things, on the mistakes that I made and you know he ended up beating me mainly with the wrestling.”
DAVE FARRA: “A lot of people were really impressed with his boxing and his footwork when he fought Brian Bowles and won the Bantamweight championship. Your thoughts on that fight, were you as impressed as a lot of other people with the way he was working the hands and the feet?”
JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ: “Yeah, I was really impressed. I’ve always been impressed by Dominick because of his technique and it stands out. Ever since I’ve seen him fight at 135 I was like, well, you know this guy’s going to be a handful and sure enough he came through the ranks and now he’s a world champion and you know he never looked better than he did against Brian Bowles. But you know that’s what I’m excited about because he always goes out there and he kills people with his boxing and kickboxing and his style and when I went in against him, I think I could have possibly won the stand-up war. If not, it was really really close, possibly even and he beat me with takedowns. So, you know, if I stop that aspect and even do a little better on my stand-up than I did last time and you know all the signs are pointing for me to win.”
DAVE FARRA: “Our guest this morning here on The Dave & Mahoney Show is Joseph Benavidez, he is headlining WEC 50 which is coming to Las Vegas on August the 18th. Tickets are on sale as of today.”
MAHONEY: “You mentioned Rani Yahya, you mentioned Miguel Torres. You also beat Jeff Curran in the WEC and these are the who’s who of the Bantamweight division in the WEC and you got a rematch with Dominick Cruz. If your buddy, Urijah Faber, if he happens to beat (Takeya) Mizugaki, who’s also fighting on the same card, is there ever a chance that you two will go at it with each other? Because not only are you guys training partners but you’re also close friends?”
JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ: “Of course there’s a chance, we go at it every day you know in practice. But the only place you guys are going to see us fight is in the gym, so, there’s a chance of that.”
DAVE FARRA: “You’re one of the teams that says we’ll never fight each other, you guys would never actually fight, even if there was a title on the line?”
JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ: “Yeah, I’m not going to fight Urijah, you know I just have no desire. He’s my mentor, you know, one of my heroes and also my close friend, you know, he’s done so much for me. He changed my life and there’s no way I’m going to in there and hit him and if we were both to make each other rich somehow off the fight, you know, I wouldn’t mind it because we would be kind of helping each other. But you know other than that, like I said, I have no desire to punch him, you know we train hard every day and that’s about as far as it’s going to go.”
DAVE FARRA: “What about that? Because we had Reed Harris in here last week and he was talking about that possibility of course when we brought the question up to him and most teammates just hate the idea of fighting each other. It was just yesterday or the day before that Jon Fitch said if Josh Koscheck wins the title from Georges St. Pierre later this year that he’s actually going to move up to the Middleweight division in the UFC because he’s so opposed to the idea of fighting his teammate. But what if they did another WEC PPV and you guys got a cut of it, they did the fight in Sacramento, I mean dollars and cents, does that influence your decision?”
JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ: “No, I really don’t think it’s worth it you know… it’s not a good feeling, you know, you don’t want to fight your teammate, it’s like your brother you know and it’s easy to get in there every day and practice because you guys are helping each other but to go in there and actually you know try to hurt each other you know it’s not a good feeling.”
MAHONEY: “With Urijah moving down to 135, that’s definitely making some news. He’s taking on Mizugaki whose still a top contender in the Bantamweight division. The other guy out there who I imagine if you beat Dominick Cruz that the name will be thrown around is Scott Jorgensen. But I mean if you beat those two, it pretty much leaves only Urijah. I mean, even with the fans, I mean, with the fans demanding it, with Dana’s stance on what he said in the UFC that Zuffa umbrella covering the WEC, I mean how much would it take, I mean really?”
JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ: “I don’t know, I’d have to sit down with Urijah and talk about it.”
DAVE FARRA: “I kind of worry about some of these situations because guys like you that are great fighters, you know, and you’re in a situation where you got a title fight, there’s just so many questions and you know I apologize for being one of those guys but you know the press just seems like they really gravitate towards this sort of thing because it’s a very interesting topic, teammates fighting each other. Does it get old to you, though, already having to answer these questions because Urijah has said that he’s moving down?”
JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ: “No way, it’s part of the game. You know this is all part of it, you know, these are experiences and stuff that I enjoy. I’m prepared for whatever Urijah moves down, he was fighting on the same card, you know, I knew there was going to be hundreds of questions about this and that and stuff so you know it’s no big deal to me.”
DAVE FARRA: “Did Urijah talk to you before he made the announcement?”
JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ: “Uh, yeah, of course. We talk to each other about everything. He told me how they wanted him to do this and there’s a plan where we don’t have to fight each other, you know. Urijah is one of the best guys at 145, he can go up, he down go down, he can go anywhere.”
DAVE FARRA: “What do you think about a match-up between Urijah Faber and Miguel Torres just based on your experience fighting Miguel?”
JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ: “I think it would be an awesome fight and you know I think that might be the next step you know especially if I beat Dominick. You know, have Urijah get another you know step up again in competition at 135 instead of going straight for the title and Miguel would be a perfect name and I think that’s something people would buy on PPV. Urijah has the name right now where he can do so much, he can do super fights, he can do this and I think him and Miguel would be really good, they’re both you know two of the biggest names in the WEC and people have talked about that for years so for it to happen now, for it to be possible, you know I think people would jump all over it. … I think it’s a tough style for Miguel to match up with.”
DAVE FARRA: “Were you surprised how quickly your fight against Miguel Torres went?”
JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ: “Well, of course I was a little surprised, you know, you get in there against a guy like Miguel Torres, someone it’s an honor to fight him, you know he’s done so much for the weight class and the sport and you know it’s kind of surprising to go in there and beat him, you know, of course I thought I was going to beat him but at the same point I thought I was going to go through hell. I thought I was going to be you know biting my tongue in the middle of my match trying to fight for every inch, but it was the preparation of me and my team and it just shows that when I’m confident and relaxed like that I’m unstoppable…”
DAVE FARRA: “Well, we’re really excited, man. WEC 50, coming to Las Vegas, August the 18th, going to be at The Pearl inside The Palms. Tickets go on sale today. We’ve been a fan of yours for a long time and you headlining a card is a really exciting moment not only for you but also for us.”
MAHONEY: “Yeah, congratulations, man, and one final thing before you go, WEC 49 is happening this Sunday on Versus TV, Jamie Varner taking on (Kamal) Shalorus. Who you got in that fight?”
JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ: “It could be a pretty tough fight. I see Varner winning. He has a little better boxing, a little slicker, and he has good wrestling.”
DAVE FARRA: “Sorry, got to sneak this one, too. Who you got, (Shane) Carwin or (Brock) Lesnar?”
JOSEPH BENAVIDEZ: “Carwin.”
Topics: Media, MMA, WEC, Zach Arnold | 1 Comment » | Permalink | Trackback |
Ron Jeremy would fight Brock Lesnar for the right amount of money. The seems like another bid by some WEC guys to get some bigger (or at least equal to the UFC) pay days (..and there’s nothing wrong with that).
I don’t buy the ‘I’ll never fight X’ line from any fighter in any sport. There are no two professional fighters on the planet who won’t fight each other for the right amount of wonga.