CR Exclusive Interview with Steven Siler!

                                Siler celebrating his win over Joey Gambino (Joe Camporeale-US PRESSWIRE)
 

Steven Siler just won a huge fight against the highly touted prospect Joey Gambino, on UFC on FX 4, by absolutely destroying him and finishing him with a guillotine choke within 3 minutes. Siler is now 3-0 in the UFC and has huge wins over both Micah and Cole Miller. He is an exciting prospect himself and is only 25 years old with endless potential. He was kind enough to take time with us and do an interview. (CR in bold)

1) A lot of people were hyping Joey Gambino coming into that fight. How happy are you with your performance after you completely destroyed him?
I’m very happy with my performance. I really wanted a finish this fight and I got one against a very tough up and comer.

2) What was going through your head when you went for the guillotine on Gambino? 

I just kept thinking "wow I have this deep but it’s very slippery maybe I should let go" but I luckily stuck with it and finished the fight.

3) Where do you rank yourself among the UFC featherweights?
I’m not really sure where I would rank myself right now. I’m still very new with only 3 UFC fights, but I’m happy to keep climbing up the rankings until I get to the top.

4) You were the underdog going into your fight with both Micah and Cole Miller and destroyed them both.  How does the underdog status affect you?

I’m used to it; even in the local fights I feel when people came and watched me fight they were just assuming I would lose the next fight just because I don't look tough. And I’m happy with people thinking that way because then maybe I’ll continue to be taken lightly.

5) How long have you been training in MMA?
I have been fighting for a little over 7 years now and have been training a little over 5 years.

6) What was your first martial art?
When I started training I went to a BJJ school. So, I guess I’d call that my background.

7) You mentioned that The Pit is making a comeback. Is there any particular fighter that we should pay attention to? 

The Pit has a solid group of guys up and coming. We already have me, Brock (Jardine), Ramsey (Nijem) and Court (McGee) in the UFC. Plus, Josh Burkman is on his way back hopefully. We also got Rad Martinez over in Bellator and a bunch of young guys learning everyday with great coaches with Jason Mertlich and John Hackleman.

8) If you absolutely had to choose a fighter for your next match, who would it have to be?
Whoever the UFC tells me is next they are the boss. But I’m gonna take some time away and get married and go on my honeymoon before I worry about something like that.

Great interview with a great fighter. We cannot wait for his next fight.

Enjoy your wedding and honeymoon! You have big fans here at CR!

UFC on FX 4 Prelim Recap

                                                                                   Photo by Joe Camporeale, US PRESSWIRE

Dustin Pague vs. Ken Stone: This fight was not the most exciting but Ken Stone won by split decision over Pague who took this fight on one week notice. Ken Stone really does not gain much from this fight due to that fact and Pague barely loses any steam in the UFC brass’ eyes because he took it on extremely short notice.

Possible matchups: I can see Ken Stone facing off against Nick Denis because Stone is moving up and Denis just came down the rankings. Pague should face Jeff Hougland. That fight will determine who is UFC caliber and who needs to go.

Ricardo Funch vs. Dan Miller: This fight could have been voted Fight of the Night. It was back and forth both standing and on the ground. Every round was close and then Dan Miller pulled of a guillotine choke out of nowhere.

Possible matchups: Funch simply is not UFC quality but if he was to stay around I would say a fight with Jake Hecht in a loser gets cut match would be acceptable. Miller would have a good fight with either Brock Jardine or James Head. Both of those matchups interest me.

Matt Brown vs. Luis Ramos: This was a fun fight as well. All Matt Brown fights are fun! Matt Brown is not the best fighter in the world but can beat almost anyone at 170 when he is on. In this fight we saw Matt Brown’s endless assault finally take out Ramos in round two after a flurry of uppercuts and knees that left Ramos a bloody mess.

Possible matchups: Ramos needs to get cut and get some wins outside the UFC. Brown should fight either Rich Attonito or John Maguire. Both of those matchups would be very competitive and help us understand where Attonito and Maguire stand in the rankings.

Chris Camozzi vs. Nick Catone: This fight was okay. It was back and forth but ended with the always unsatisfying stoppage due to a cut. Chris Camozzi caused the stoppage with a brutal knee in round 3. It really sucked for Catone because he was fighting in his hometown.

Possible matchups: Camozzi keeps on winning somehow despite the fact that his skills lack technique and polish. But Camozzi has won two straight and is 4-2 in the UFC and that’s pretty dang good. I can see him facing off against Clifford Starks who is a very tough guy. Or maybe Brad Taveres who is another fighter who is not very technical but is 3-1 in the UFC.

Joey Gambino vs. Steven Siler: Going into this fight Gambino was very highly touted even though it was his Octagon debut. I know he trains at Tri-Star but I did not believe his hype. I do like Siler a lot and knew he was the real deal. Both Sam (the other writer here at CR) and I knew Siler would dominate. A lot of people disagreed with us but in the end we were right. Everyone wants to put down Siler. Before his fight with Cole Miller everyone counted him out and once he won everyone was like “Cole Miller sucks anyway, that win doesn’t mean anything”. So, ridiculous. But anyway, Siler absolutely killed this poor kid and it was a brutal, bloody display.

Possible matchups: It is time for Siler to get a contender. I think Siler should fight Jonathan Brookins. That fight would be fast and sick! Plus it would catapult one of them into title contention. For Gambino, he needs to face someone a little less seasoned. Someone like Pat Schilling. That would be a good loser goes home match. However, Gambino could always make his way back to the UFC and make a name for himself but he looked bad in this fight.

Rick Story vs. Brock Jardine: Pretty boring fight with the ultra-seasoned Rick Story taking on UFC newbie Brock Jardine. First off Brock Jardine is a crazy MMA name mixing Brock Lesnar and Keith Jardine but anyway…The fight just showed that this was a mismatch and the UFC wanted Rick Story to get back to his winning ways.

Possible matchups: Story needs to get a matchup with a guy on his own level. Someone like Jake Ellenberger or the winner of Demian Maia/Dong Hyun Kim. Both of those fights would be fun and help give some order to the welterweight division. Jardine should get someone closer to his level as well. He could take on Che Mills or Carlo Prater.

Ramsey Nijem vs. C.J. Keith: Keith looked okay in the first 45 seconds but then Nijem went on a tear and destroyed Keith at 2:29 of the first round. It was a brutal loss for Keith because he also missed weight and had to give up 20% of his purse to Nijem.

Possible matchups: Keith is not UFC caliber and after an ugly loss and not making weight he will most likely get cut and he probably should. Nijem keeps impressing me. After his horrible loss to Ferguson, I didn’t think he had much of a future but he has now won two easy victories. I think Nijem needs a step up in competition. A fight with Tim Means (our exclusive interview with Means) would be a ton of fun and prove us Nijem can handle a deadly striker.

Hatsu Hioki vs. Ricardo Lamas: Everyone and their mother told us we predicted this way wrong. Even some of the biggest MMA news sites all voted for Hioki but Sam and I were not convinced due to his other efforts in the Octagon. I have always liked Lamas, even when he was an undersized lightweight. He is always fun to watch and he has a great fighting spirit. Lamas looked great by winning the standup and almost submitting the submission ace. Ricardo ended up taking a unanimous decision. I loved how we called this correctly and it shows are MMA brains off.

Possible matchups: No doubt that Lamas fights the Korean Zombie and Hioki fights Dustin Poirier. Those fights make perfect sense with both Lamas and Zombie getting big wins and Poirier and Hioki coming off big losses. Both of those fights would be a ton of fun and I would pay to see those for sure. Make it happen Dana!

For the Main Card Recap Click here