© Marc Wickert
www.knucklepit.com

10 Oct. '06

Allan Goes is taking a shower at his home in Orange County, California, after just returning from training with Maurice Smith. So his wife Caroline puts Maurice on the phone until Allan is ready.

Hi, Maurice; how's Allan going to go against Daniel Gracie?

"He should do okay. I just got here Sunday, and we're going to train for it this week in California; the following week in Seattle; and the final week in Portland," says Smith.

"But Allan's going well. He's going to be working on his striking for the three weeks and should go well."

Do you expect Daniel Gracie to be doing much striking?

"He's going to have to, because that's what I'm teaching, so he's going to have to improve in that area. The thing with MMA – even guys like Wanderlei and Cro Cop… they're strikers, but they're not proficient strikers.

"Cro Cop didn't do too well in K-1, but he does very well in MMA. So, I reckon he's a good fighter – no question, but is his kickboxing level great? He's all right; he's good. And Vanderlei is a tough guy… That's going to be my thing – to teach these guys how to strike."

That will be a good supplement in Allan's game, won't it?

"Oh, yeah, but it's going to be a while yet. All these guys aren't going to be strikers for a year or two. They're grapplers; they're wrestlers… They're not strikers. It's very hard to teach them.

"It's harder to teach a grappler to strike than to teach a striker to grapple."

You went from being a striker to taking on the grappling, didn't you?

"Yeah, I learnt for the first time when I competed against Mark Coleman: I just did the basic stuff.

"Hey, here's Allan right now…"

"We've been training so hard. The guy's trying to kill me," says Goes.

The excitement in Allan's voice is like that of a kid with a new toy: He's just beaming with happiness. You don't expect this kind of enthusiasm from a man who has already achieved so much in his career.

Read the full article on Knucklepit.com.