Brak odpowiedzi do tego tematu

[budo_^hast^]

Shannon Logan has made a name for herself in the grappling-only tournaments including the Worlds and Pan Ams but mostly on the East Coast. Twice this summer she was supposed to make her MMA debut taking on Angela Caron, first in Mass Destruction 8 in June where she was not allowed to compete due to missing blood work and again in August when she broke her hand training. Now she is scheduled in Reality Fighting on 11/2 to take on Laura D'August to whom Shannon has won once and lost once in Grappler's Quest.

KM: Your own website ([link widoczny dla zalogowanych Użytkowników] ) seems to walk that line between specific fighter's sites which are only about them and Fightergirls which is more of a community. Your site pre-dated HOOKnSHOOT Revolution (the first all-women's show and the start of serious attention to the female fighters). Did yours start before or after Fightergirls?

SL: It started after. I believe it was immediately after because I remember seeing their site and thinking 'they have one up already for women'. It's just me running this little site and it started out we bought the domain name for it when I was still thinking it would be my personal website and so I put it under my nickname and then I thought the community of women would really appreciate it if I used it as a little space where some of them can get some exposure. Even though it's small it's nice to be able to help a little bit.

KM: How much of an interest do you see with the female BJJ community crossing over into MMA?

SL: Tons. I see a lot of it and I find that wherever a girl starts out she's going to have to learn some jiu-jitsu if she wants to get into MMA so it all ties in together. I have heard some interest expressed in fighting from the women in BJJ lately, a few girls from Brazil and girls from both my boxing gym and my jiu-jitsu academy. You don't get any fame or glory when you are just a jiu-jitsu chick, you must cross over into MMA, even the men, to get any money or fame.

KM: What is your assessment of the situation regarding female jiu-jitsu players crossing over into MMA. Should we expect a trickle, a flood…

SL: It's small right now. I believe it'll probably be a trickle. It's not like we get big payoffs so at this point there would be no reason for a woman to cross over from these other sports and come into MMA. A woman who is boxing probably has more opportunities in boxing than she would in MMA so why should she cross over. Plus it takes such a long time to prepare and train for one of these fights… I think it's going to be a trickle with 1 or 2 dedicated women here and there from the dojos that really have a hankering to get into the ring and do this stuff.

KM: How much do you still train with Team Renzo?

SL: I'm there as much as I possibly can be.

KM: That's where you get your BJJ training but you go somewhere else for your boxing?

SL: Yeah, I go down to Gleason's for my boxing.

KM: We've seen fighters from Team Renzo especially in the North East basically by name recognition getting some kind of shot. What does still being thought of as Team Renzo mean to you?

SL: I'm not sure if it gives me any advantage at all, if it really applies to the women at all. If I'm in the Pan Ams or the Worlds people recognize our team because everyone loves Renzo, but in the MMA community I don't know if it has any bearing because I am a girl. Maybe for the men it helps.

KM: When Amanda Buckner fought this summer, sure she beat Grapple Girl and Neff in grappling tournaments but when she took on Christine Van Fleet (UA3) it was basically 'HOOKnSHOOT vet headlined Revolution vs. someone from Team Renzo'. You couldn't really say that was her ticket in because once we heard about her grappling it was 'oh, you beat Neff'…

SL: It does have a name to it, the last name 'Gracie' still carries some clout so people of course are going to exploit it but I don't believe it's given me anything extra. I'm looking at the list of names and I'm put first before the other fighters name, but not because I'm Renzo, but because I've been competing for the last three years. I've already beaten this woman and I have a history with (promoter) Kipp (Kollar) and his tournaments. That's why I believe my name is first, that's it. (Note: the order of names at [link widoczny dla zalogowanych Użytkowników] has changed since this interview)

KM: Originally you were supposed to fight against Angela Caron and then that fight didn't happen when you pulled out twice but we haven't heard from Caron since then and now here you are again. Which is a more accurate perspective on this: that you were given another fight before Caron because of you being Team Renzo, your involvement with your website, or your success in grappling?

SL: Neither of us have fought yet, but I have my purple belt, which is a big thing, I won the Pan Ams, I competed in the Worlds, terrorized the East Coast circuit of tournaments…

KM: When did you get your purple belt?

SL: April. I think it's a little bit of both probably, my grappling experience and a little bit because my name is out there because of the website.

(After discussing the Internet reaction to Shannon backing out of the Caron fight twice and Tara LaRosa's desire to fight her)

KM: You haven't had a fight yet and you already have several women after you. How does this make you feel? I wouldn't say 'flattered' that they're so…

SL: I think 'flattered' is the right word. I would prefer not to fight anybody I have bad blood with: I don't like it, then it's just a brawl and not a sport. How do I feel about it? I don't like it honestly. I think it's funny but there is nothing I can really do about it.

KM: There was a perception out there that (taking the Caron fight twice) was a publicity move, a means of pumping your name.

SL: I wish I were that smart. I didn't actually ask for this and I wish I was like, 'any press is good press', but really, I just woke up and found myself in the middle of this situation.

KM: So we are going to see a pretty evenly matched bout in Reality Fighting. You two have faced each other before, you're familiar with each other's at least ground style, both training in boxing…

SL: She has an unbelievable guard, she's really tough. I was super surprised because it was totally different when I grappled against her the first time. The second time she really pulled a surprise on me. I like that. I don't like to deal with the emotional BS; I'd rather feel my inspiration for the fight is she is a really good competitor.

KM: My only concern is from a marketing or entertainment perspective since so many future decisions are going to be made on the reaction to this fight that with such similar backgrounds and styles is this going to be a stalemate or ground stall. This fight could turn out like the Pelligrino WEC fight with some flash standing up and then they are so stalemated on the ground it just keep getting stood up.

SL: The difference is we both have boxing backgrounds as well.

KM: And you have the muay thai background as well.

SL: I don't think it's going to be just like a ground war. I don't want it to be. Of course I'm going to put 100% into it, we'll just see what happens. It's my first fight so I can't predict and I know that things are totally different, they don't translate from BJJ into MMA directly.

KM: What is your perspective regarding the amount of attention on this fight?

SL: I would love to make a great impression and set the standard and impress the crowd, but I don't know what will happen when I get into the ring, it's my first time. I'm just going to feel it out, see what happens. The other thing is I don't know what the other girl is bringing to the table. Obviously I don't want to just sit on the ground and get stuck in her guard or her stuck in my guard. I don't like watching fights like that either. I don't want to be called a boring fighter so of course I'm going to try to stay away from that. I'm really going to try to keep it on the feet until one of us can get a takedown. I believe they stand the fighters up quite often so I don't think it's going to stay on the ground for long if neither of us is working on a submission.

[link widoczny dla zalogowanych Użytkowników]