Rhadi Ferguson Speaks: UFC, Strikeforce, Kimbo Slice & More
Exclusive Interview by Kevin Nelson
“I get hundreds of emails and tweets a week about when I’m fighting again. Don’t ask me. Ask Strikeforce.” — Rhadi Ferguson
In the ever evolving sport of mix martial arts, Rhadi Ferguson is one of the most accomplished. With a black belt in Jujitsu and Judo, the man also has a PHD in education. He also is a 2004 Olympian in Judo. The Olympian spends his time being a motivational speaker and trainer. Ferguson knows the sport well and the Strikeforce light heavyweight gets hundreds of emails a week asking him about his next fight. Ferguson says “don’t ask me ask Strikeforce”. He has a desire for excellence and is always looking to challenge himself.
KN: At what age did you start training in Judo and Why?
I began training in judo at the age of 7 in Miami, Florida. To be quite honest with you I did it because it was part of an after school program at Oak Grove Elementary in North Miami. All the rest of the kids were doing it and I wanted to do it too. I thought it would be fun.
KN: When did you know you were good enough for the Olympics?
First off, let me answer this question by saying, damn near everybody at the Olympic Trials is “good enough” for the Olympics. There are many people who are “good enough” for the Olympics; it’s just that sometimes happenstance and circumstance are more fortunate to some than others. I’m not foolish enough to actually believe that I made the Olympic Team because “I trained hard.”
At my age, I now know that there are some who trained harder than me, more often than me and who were better than me that never got the opportunity to go. Case in point, there was somebody in the World in 2004 that was the number 2 person in their country who may have been able to beat me but they never got the opportunity to attend the Olympic Games and there I was, as the number 1 person for the United States walking around the track during the opening ceremonies.
Another little known fact is that I did not qualify my weight class for the Olympic Games. A gentleman by the name of Michael Barnes from San Jose qualified the weight class. When it came to qualifying the weight class he was the number one competitor, Sometimes because he had beaten me and sometimes because I was hurt. We battled back and forth, but had he not qualified the weight class, there would have been no Olympics for no one in the 100kg division.
That’s not to say that I didn’t train my butt off. I did. And I did most certainly beat everyone in my weight class in the United States from 1998 to 2005 more times than they beat me and that includes the 2000 Olympian and all the World Team members in between. But I will say this… damn near everyone in that weight class was “good enough” for the Olympics. I was blessed to win the trials in 2004 and attend the Olympic Games and I walked around the track at the Olympic Games thinking about every person from the 100kg weight class and how they made me better and provided me with the opportunity to be there.
If it was not for them pushing me day in and day out through the challenges that they posed during our battles, I would not have been prepared to be “good enough.” So I give major props to Theo Caracostas, Michael Barnes, Michael Prieditis, Mark Fletcher, Micah Bellamy. All of these gentlemen in my opinion were better judo players than me if you look at the sport from a traditional standpoint. They really made me work and study my butt off to find a way to win.
KN: When did you start training in Jiujitsu and how long did it take you to get a black belt?
I started training Brazilian Jujitsu in 1998 with Master Lloyd Irvin. I trained with him all the way up to the level of brown belt. My BJJ was developed and refined under Lloyd Irvin and he is one of the major reasons why I was able to make the Olympic Team in 2004. Internationally my stand-up judo game was so poor that there was no way that I was going to become a traditional throwing phenom overnight.
I mean, I was okay and was working on improving, but the development would not happen as fast as I would need it to. So I looked at the sport, analyzed it and found the holes in the game and what I needed to do, quite honestly, in order to win. So I really focused on the art of grip fighting and I studied and trained with Jimmy Pedro and then I trained with Eddie Liddie.
Jimmy is a 4-Time Olympian, 2-Time Olympic Bronze Medalist and a 1999 World Judo Champion. These two gentlemen knew the gripping game inside and out. So I put myself in their presence, paid what I needed to pay and sacrificed what I needed to sacrifice in order to get the information that I needed in order to improve. I also knew that if I could dominate on the ground I would be a better overall fighter and that it would change the throw selection of my competitors once I solidified and built up a reputation as a ground fighter. So that is what I did. Lloyd Irvin turned me into a submission and arm hunting maniac.
We’d drill and drill and drill and drill and we would drill so much so that you CANNOT EVEN FATHOM the amount of drilling that took place. Unless you have trained for the Olympics, trained with someone training for the Olympics or trained somebody for the Olympics, (not the BJJ World Champions – no disrespect, but its apples and oranges) you have no idea what I am talking about. I’m not talking about getting ready for a MMA fight. I’m talking about 4 years of brutal repetition investment with no guarantee on your return.
Lloyd and I spoke and looked at the Judo game and devised a plan of action to start submitting people right and left in judo and that is what we did. We had a system that if implemented correctly and free of human-error, was 100% guaranteed. It was a thing of beauty. I could fight without thinking. I could just do!
After finishing up my Judo career, I moved to Boca Raton, FL and joined American Top Team. I’m still a member of the Lloyd Irvin family but I’m no longer a member of Team Lloyd Irvin. However I go there, visit, train and talk to Lloyd often. Ricardo Liborio, presented me with my black belt in 2006. After 8 years I was able to achieve that level and now I feel like I know nothing. I’m still learning.
KN: Who was your toughest opponent in Judo?
Toughest opponent was Jang Seong-Ho from Korea. The first time we fought was in the 1999 Korean Open where I got 5thplace. I fought him in my second match and was leading before getting thrown for Ippon. I was really pissed and upset. I rarely got banged for Ippon when I was competing. RARELY! I was so happy when I drew him at the Olympics. He had just won the silver medal at the year’s preceding World Championships in 2003.
I studied this dude and I knew I could win. And I was winning. I was beating the 2003 World Silver Medalist up and down the mat and giving him a righteous spanking. I was attacking and attacking and quite honestly getting pretty tired. I was wondering when the referees were going to give him the other stalling penalty that the crowd, my coach and I so rightly felt that he deserved which would put the match out of reach. Never happened. Then I went for one more attack with 37 more seconds left in the match, but I didn’t finish and my leg got tangled up and I tried to back out of the attack instead of finishing and I landed on my side. And that is how I lost.
I couldn’t believe it. I was spent, tired, exhausted and frustrated. Quite honestly, even though I had another match, my Olympics were over. I couldn’t pull myself together for the rest of the day and as soon as I walked into the holding area they were calling me up for my next match. He was by far the toughest person that I fought, not because of him but because of the circumstances. Judo is like that and so is life. You can be winning and before you know it… losing.
KN: Who was your toughest opponent in Jiujitsu?
Bar None, Jeff Monson. Jeff and I had a 25 minute match at the 2005 Abu Dhabi Submission World Championships and he and I were training partners. Jeff has beaten me all 3 times that we have competed. The scores were 5-3, 2-0, 2-0. Each loss stung. I had no excuses. He is a better grappler than me. I threw everything that I had at him and have come up on the losing end 3 times. He is one of the greatest no GI fighters of all time. And that’s not my opinion that is a historical fact!
KN: What do you remember about your first mix martial arts bout?
I remember everything from the smoke in the room to the lack of warm-up area. I was warming up outside in the parking lot. I had gone from cornering people in Pride and the UFC to fighting in a hole in the wall in order to get my start in Mixed Martial Arts. And I remember not being nervous. Daniel Cormier, Mo Lawal and I talked about this. We have competed on so many different levels that to us a mixed martial arts bout, is just another contest. That’s it nothing special. And most of the time it’s against a lesser level competitor and athlete that we’ve competed against at the world level.
You are currently signed with Strikeforce do you have any bouts in the near future?
Not at this time. I am not in a place that I was in during my youth. I can’t forsake everything in order to pursue this sport as it should be done. My career trajectory is different than it was before.
I’m a coach who has fought and knows the game, well. I would love to fight if Strikeforce would compensate me appropriately based upon my household needs and responsibilities, but I’m not able to make such a sacrifice when the reward is not commensurate with the task. For me to fight, I need the appropriate money, 10 weeks in advance and a solid competitor. Otherwise don’t bother. I’m not 19 or 25 years old begging to be on television. I have a very good life. My wife and I do okay and I have no time for games or BS. I am a professional.
You can Google me, I’m already famous. I don’t need to be paid in fame. I’m not proving myself. You look at my resume, if that’s not good enough for you, if you can’t create a story from that and make a fight sellable, well then, I’m cool. Leave me alone and let me go. It’s okay. I get hundreds of emails and tweets a week about when I’m fighting again. Don’t ask me. Ask Strikeforce.
KN: You currently are at American top team is there any up and coming fighters we should look out for?
I truly believe that we haven’t even seen the best Hector Lombard which is available yet. I wish Hector had the opportunity to fight in the UFC because the competition over there will really catapult him to another level. He may lose a fight or two during his second wave of development while putting in new stuff, etc. But he will leave this sport as one of the greatest middleweight that the world has ever seen. Believe me. He is that good. RIGHT NOW TODAY. I would put my money on him versus Rampage or Jon Jones. RIGHT NOW! He’d put both of them to sleep and he’s a 185 pounder. Other than Silva, I don’t think that there is a UFC fighter who can beat him, save for happenstance or a lucky punch, and he’s not even at his peak yet.
KN: What is your take on the Zuffa purchase of Strikeforce?
It was a great move. I think Zuffa is moving the sport forward. Of course they are doing what’s in the interest of their main brand, UFC, but that’s business. I would like to see Strikeforce be exactly what it should be and that is a farm league for the UFC. Take all the big fights out and just create Challenger Series and move the best fighters up to the UFC and when they falter, move them back down to the minors until they can move back up to the major leagues. Because the problem right now is this:
If you get hurt or injured in the UFC, there are no warm up fights. If you are out a year, you can’t go somewhere and get a tune-up. What they should do is send you down to the minor leagues (Strikeforce) allow you to win a couple of bouts and then put you back in the majors. This will give Strikeforce the “bump” that it needs because Strikeforce fan will see the UFC talent and they will also be able to follow their favourite star as they hope for him to make it back to the big show. And it will also develop the minor league talent because if you lose against one of the big boys, it just means that you have to develop further in the minors.
I think the development of a A, AA, AAA, and amateur system will be good for MMA. It will really reduce the disparity in talent at the high levels. And will stop a Vitor Belfort from lining up against a Anderson Silva when we know Vitor was way out of his league. But in order for this to happen, Zuffa has to accept a ranking system and they don’t want to do that for various reasons. 1.) It can possibly create boring fights. 2.) It ties their hands to constantly have to pit number 1 versus number 2 and they want to put on the fights that “fans want to see” and also construct the champions which are good for business.
Case in point, watch how they shuttle Forrest Griffin through the back door to a title shot. Pay attention. And watch how they will put Rashad through hell and high water before they give him one.
KN: What is a typical day like for you?
A typical day, I wake up, pray, exercise, shower, pack my son’s lunch, start the coffee, take a shower, get dressed, wake my son up, wake up my daughter, kiss my wife, put my son in the care take him to either school or camp.
Then I’m on the computer and/or phone consulting and coaching and then I’m on the mat during the midday training. I come back home, shower, handle some more business online, either writing or researching and then I pick up my son, head to Judo practice and I workout while he’s at practice. We go home, make sure everyone is bathed, I shower, cook dinner, hangout with my wife, watch and episode of House MD that I’ve recorded and then off to sleep after some twitter and Facebook time. I’m a full time husband and dad. And I love me job!
KN: What are your favorite hobbies aside from (BJJ and Judo)?
I love reading and spending time with my friends. My friends are like precious gems. Even thinking about them damn near drives me to tears. I have some of the best friends in the world, People that are quite honestly closer to me than some of my family members. I can’t tell you how rich I feel based upon the value of my friendships. It is truly amazing. God has placed some EXTRA-ordinary people in my life and I am thankful and grateful. I’m tearing up as I write this because words cannot express the love I have for my friends.
KN: What do you make of your cousin Kevin Ferguson (Kimbo Slice) foray into boxing?
I wish him the best.
I am currently attending school in education and you have a PHD in education; what advice do you have for anyone aspiring to become a teacher?
I pursued my PhD, not to teach, but to learn how to teach and to become better and the dissemination and inculcation of knowledge based upon theories of learning, best practices in term of delivery systems and knowledge acquisition theories. I enjoy coaching and watching people “get it” and helping that light bulb turn on in their head when they finally do “get it.” For anyone aspiring to achieve the PhD or an advanced level degree, all I can tell you is this. Lesser people have done it and you can too. It is not easy, but if it was, everybody would have a doctorate degree.
KN: You are a motivational speaker and one of the most sought after strength and conditioning coaches in the country what inspires you to succeed in life?
I graduated from Howard University in 1997 and again in 2002 and as a Howard Graduate and an Alumnus of Alma Mater I understand that it is my charge and responsibility to pursue excellence like a man looking for water in the desert. I focus on it. I fixate on it. I think about it. I look for it. And I expect to find it. And I do. And when my thirst is temporarily quenched I bask in what I have accomplished for only a moment because my achievement palate immediately becomes parched again and I search for the next pursuit of excellence that will quench my thirst. It is cyclical; it is seasonal as is life.
KN: Any final comments?
I would like to thank you for the opportunity to share. And also thank my wife, Traci Ferguson for allowing me to pursue a career of sport. It is very hard on my body and the body of my family. My children Rufus (5) and Rhadi (18months) make sacrifices when I am working because often times I am with clients and not them. I am just appreciative of my family and their understanding of my professional pursuits. I love them very much.
Also for those interested in a career in MMA please go to The Truth About MMA and sign up for my FREE Webinar. This information will aid in your development as a MMA fighter. I have nothing to sell you, I just want to help you.
