© Marc Wickert
www.knucklepit.com
6 Sept 2006
For a top welterweight, known as 'Bad' Brad Blackburn, this IFL fighter sure knows how to have a good laugh. And his laugh is infectious, because Brad's born to party – whether he's inside or outside the ring, he's just a happy guy. And he makes everyone around him feel good – with maybe the exception of his opponents.
Brad has just arrived home at the time of this interview. "I was out practicing – doing full-contact sparring with Dennis Hallman, Drew Fickett, Wesley Welsh, and Joey Guel," says Blackburn.
Fighting for the IFL means Brad's fights go for four-minute rounds rather than the five-minute rounds that many other MMA events such as UFC employ. Blackburn believes the main difference is that the four-minute round generates more jam-packed action.
"Well when you're watching them you can't really tell the difference. And when you're fighting, of course it's going to have a little more action, because in the back of your mind you know you're fighting for four minutes – not five, but no matter what, you go. Like if somebody tells you you've got a twenty-minute round, you're not going to be a firecracker the whole time – you know you've got twenty minutes. So it probably gives a little more action, I would say."
Brad normally goes for a run at six in the morning, but he missed today's outing because he has a match coming up on the weekend. And he only runs on a couple of days during fight week, as the activity is not his main conditioning preparation for a bout.
"Your muscles and body have to be conditioned for what you are doing. I'm not getting ready for a track meet – I'm getting ready for a fight and for going to the ground. You get a kickboxer and you grapple with him for three minutes, and he's done. You get a wrestler and you make him stand up for three minutes, and he's done. You've got to be conditioned for everything in this sport.
"What I did today was… when I wrestle and grapple I go rounds… They did 'iron man' on me – they took turns wearing me out. I got a fresh guy every two minutes."
Lucky you, Brad.
"I didn't feel lucky. It was the absolute worst damn practice I've had since I started training for this fight. I felt kinda bad today."
How many days a week do you do weights?
"On average, I do weights four days a week."
Do you concentrate more on high reps or poundage?
"Higher reps and explosive. I do poundage for deadlifts and squats, but for everything else, I do higher reps."
Boxing was your first fighting art. What made you make the switch to MMA?
"When MMA guys trained at the same gym and I practiced with them for one day and I felt like a little girl, I figured I was in the wrong sport," laughs Brad. "I was like, 'Damn,' because I'm a good boxer. 'Man, you guys kicked my butt. I'm in the wrong sport.' I started training with them ever since that happened."
How did you get your ground skills?
"From MMA – practicing with wrestling and jiu jitsu guys. I don't have a wrestling background; I started boxing when I was twenty-two; nothing before that. I didn't even do sports when I was in high school."
Your fighting system is listed as pankration on the IFL site. Have you competed in pankration or is that just the style you work in?
"That's just the style. To my knowledge, the word means 'all power', and I try to be strong in all avenues of the sport."
Although you're a true mixed martial artist, do you prefer to stand and bang?
"I do prefer to bang: Whether it be on the ground or on the feet, I prefer to hit. Honestly, if there's a submission there I'll go for it, but I'd rather just hold position and hit."
Read the full article on Knucklepit.com.
