« If Josh Koscheck beats GSP, will that solve the “Jon Fitch problem” in the Welterweight division? | Home | Bellator 24 at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida »
Dave Batista: “I would like to legitimize myself as a martial artist”
By Zach Arnold | August 11, 2010
I’m using that spelling of his last name because that’s how it is on on the video interview. There’s a lot of wrestler-speak in this video, but there’s also occasional grains of truth about his motives.
If there are any punctuation issues, the reason is because I had to edit out all the ‘you knows’ and commas — 43 you knows in a 7 minute interview.
Transcript available in full-page view.
DANNY ACOSTA: “Bringing in a lot of recognition into Mixed Martial Arts. What was your decision initially to jump in? Why Mixed Martial Arts?”
DAVE BATISTA: “It wasn’t like just a sporadic thing, man, I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. Really just because I was a fan, a real huge fan and, kind of following along the footsteps of Brock (Lesnar) and Bobby Lashley and it was just something that I loved and something, like before I’m too old do it I’d love to jump in and give it a try. I’ve been a martial artist for a long time, it’s in different form of martial arts, I mean I’ve been practicing Kali for years. Did Muay Thai for conditioning and stuff and just, then started working on my ground game and that’s one of the things that led me is that I REALLY, REALLY want to have a strong ground game so I came to Cesar (Gracie) and I think he’s going to lead me to the promise land. (laughing)”
DANNY ACOSTA: “What is the promise land for you? What goals would you like to accomplish in Mixed Martial Arts?”
DAVE BATISTA: “Really, like I never thought, going for a championship or anything. I just really want to make that cross-over. I want to be a legitimate fighter. Didn’t like the direction that professional wrestling was going in and before, like I said, before I’m too old I would just like to legitimize myself as a martial artist, as a Mixed Martial Artists and get in and compete with true, legitimate fighters, so that’s really I just want to make the cross-over. I want to be successful at it and, this is not like a joke to me. It’s something I take real seriously and I’m going to train here I think with the best training in the world. I mean it’s obvious, there’s world class fighters here, world class grapplers, so I think this is the place to be, man. I think I’m going to get to where I want to be through Cesar.”
DANNY ACOSTA: “What do you feel will be your biggest asset coming into a cage?”
DAVE BATISTA: “I think a lot of people underestimate, my strength and quickness I mean for a guy my size I’m pretty fast, I’m pretty good with my hands, and I’m strong and agile I think for a big guy. So I think, a lot of people are going to underestimate that and I am real durable, I think I’ve proven that over the years with WWE. I think any professional wrestler is, if nothing else, DURABLE, and I think Brock has proved that, Bobby has proved that, and other fighters like Josh Barnett, who’s a professional wrestler as well. I think a lot more fighters than you realize are also professional wrestlers and there’s just if there’s one requirement in professional wrestling it’s durability and I’m as durable as they come.”
(He’s an amazing actor to say with a straight face that he’s durable and not laugh while saying it.)
DANNY ACOSTA: “With that said, Mixed Martial Arts is very tough on your body. but you’re not on the road 300 days a year and do you feel that this is actually better for you to be in fighting?”
DAVE BATISTA: “Yeah, absolutely, because I mean the training part is fun, I’ve always loved to train. I’m a physical guy, LOVE to train, I could be doing it for hours and not get tired of it. The traveling and the wear-and-tear that comes along with professional wrestling is what takes a toll on you. I always tell people the hardest thing about professional wrestling is the traveling, it just beats you up, man, and just dealing with traveling coast-to-coast and jetlag and just sitting like this cramped up in tight spaces and just lack of sleep, lack of good food. If I can center myself for one place, for 8-10 weeks and this is all I have to do and it’s a regimented thing, man that’s a dream come true for me.”
DANNY ACOSTA: “Will you be moving out here near this camp to Cesar Gracie’s school?”
DAVE BATISTA: “I will. When it comes down to it, when we get the fight deal signed and it’s going to be, I have 10 weeks to go, 8-10 weeks to go. I’ll plant myself here in Northern California which is easy for me, I’ve lived here for years, my Mom lives in San Francisco so I love it out here, man, so this is cake, this really just works out for me in every way you think about.”
DANNY ACOSTA: “And how are the negotiations going with Strikeforce? When do you foresee yourself getting in and actually fighting?”
DAVE BATISTA: “Early 2011. Yeah. negotiations are going good. It’s just that, we started talking, I had a very small window of opportunity between leaving wrestling and being freed up from that and going to other projects. I have TV projects and movie projects, one in particular that’s a really big priority for me because it’s a big-budget film, it’s really a cool project and it’s just, my window of opportunity closed man so now we’re looking at early 2011.”
DANNY ACOSTA: “Have you reached out to Josh Barnett or Bobby Lashley or Brock Lesnar, guys who have been in the pro-wrestling business and have made the transition and been successful?”
DAVE BATISTA: “All of them, yeah. I’ve talked to Bobby a little bit about. I’ve actually not talked to Brock since he left our company and I’ve talked to Josh Barnett as well. I’m actually going to follow up, I’ll be in L.A. a lot so I’ll follow up with Josh Barnett a lot and I like him, he’s a good dude, he’s a good fighter. He’s a little bit cuckoo which I REALLY LOVE. He’s my type of dude so I’ll definitely reach out to him more.”
DANNY ACOSTA: “You’ve been seen with Manny Pacquiao. Have you worked at all in The Wildcard boxing gym on your stand-up skills?”
DAVE BATISTA: “I have not, I’ve not been over there. Michael Moorer is a good buddy of mine and he left, he was actually really the way that this all came about to meeting up with Manny and everything but I’m going to reach out to him again and maybe work a little stand-up down there but I’m really, really going to focus on my ground game while I’m doing there, probably work with Rener Gracie if I can I’ll reach out to him. We’ve talked about it before and of course he’s related to Cesar so I’m probably going to go down and work with him a lot.”
DANNY ACOSTA: “How much is your Filipino heritage and the fighting pride thing factoring in to you jumping in and wanting to be a martial artist?”
DAVE BATISTA: “Filipinos by nature are fighters. I believe that 100% so it has a lot to do with it. we are just ,we’re durable, we’re hungry, we’re aggressive people, we’re just fighters. We Filipinos have nothing, man, they really can’t get anything unless you fight for it, you work hard for it, I have that, it was instilled in me through my grandfather. I believe that. And I’ve always said that every time I go to the Philippines, I’ve had to work hard for everything, nothing was ever handed to me, I’ve worked for it. It’s just something in my blood, man, I’m a hard worker.”
DANNY ACOSTA: “What would you say to skeptics who think Dave Batista doesn’t belong in Mixed Martial Arts?”
DAVE BATISTA: “… that’s one of the things that I can respect their opinion, that’s their opinion but I don’t ask, I’ve never asked for anything handed to me. give me a chance to earn their respect and I think once I get in there and they see that I’m a fighter and they see that I’ve actually put the training in, I’m not some guy that’s just going to rely on my celebrity status and go in the cage and hope to make a lot of money (and) I’m legitimate. I’m a fighter and I want to learn how to be a professional fighter and I’m here to train, here to work my ass off. I’m not coming in here like a celebrity, I’m coming here and training with everybody else, man, and I’m coming here like a student, I’m a student. just lay back and I don’t mind earning people’s respect, I don’t expect to have it handed to me.”
DANNY ACOSTA: “Will Dave Batista still be The Animal inside of a Mixed Martial Arts cage?”
DAVE BATISTA: “Um… I’m always going to be The Animal. (laughs) It’s the only person I know how to be. It’s just, I’m really, I’m… when it comes to stuff like that I’m real laid back, man, I’m actually a really passive person but when it comes to stuff like that and being competitive and I’m an aggressive dude, I’m very intense, I’m an aggressive person and that’s who I’ll really be no matter what I do. I’ll be that person in the movies, I’ll be that person in the professional wrestling ring, I’ll be that person in the cage. I’ll be that person on the street, that’s always going to be inside of me because that’s the way I was raised, that’s what’s in my blood, and that’s just a part of who I am.”
Topics: Media, MMA, Pro-Wrestling, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
You know what Zach? You know, I hate all the you knows, you know what I mean? I mean, you know, its like our educators, have, you know, failed in teaching the, you know, the kids the right way to, you know, speak and stuff.
Gee, I wonder why he gets along with Josh Barnett so well?
Why do I get the feeling that this is just another Kurt Angle situation with a Pro Wrestler talking a big game but one who doesn’t actually intend to compete in the sport?
At least with a Kurt Angle, he had a legit amateur background. Or even guys like Lesnar or Toney…. They had serious credentials at a high level in another sport.
Batista is actually in the Kimbo Slice boat…. Probably worse sense he doesn’t even have street fights or even 1 professional or amateur fight.
Did anyone else get an ad pop up for “funeral arrangements”, in the youtube vid? Ad satire ftw.
What a joke of a punishment for Paul Daley, especially since he just happens to have a fight scheduled immediately after the conclusion of this convenient 30-day suspension. The only way in which Quebec’s athletic commission could have made their ruling more of a joke would be if they said, “Your suspension is for 30 days… unless you have a booking in three weeks. Do you? We could make it a 20-day suspension, you know. Maybe you’d like to fight two weeks from now. That would be no problem. We’d just make it a 13-day suspension in that case. The most important thing is that we do whatever is most convenient for you, the guy who sucker-punched someone after a match was over.”
Greg “Dangerous” Nagy better block all previous appointments for early 2011!
To be fair to Daley, from what I understand he’s essentially been unable to fight in the US since ‘the incident’ anyway. Promotions have been reluctant to book him until the Quebec commission got their act together.
He’s essentially had a four-month suspension in North America. Is the punishment a little light? Yeah, probably. But it’d have been rough on the guy to issue a 3, 6 or 12 month suspension after already making him wait half a year. I just look at it as time served.
The guy punched his opponent in the face after a fight was over. He has served four months, and in that time went to Australia to fight bypassing American commissions in the process. In the end, he will serve virtually no punishment for his transgression. They should’ve at least had a good size fine for his ass.
I’m with Ivan. This is an absolute joke, and IMO shows just how shitty the Quebec athletic commission is.