Here at Last Word on Sports we’re always trying to go beyond the headlines and bring our readers an introspective look into some of those in the game that aren’t at the forefront of the headlines. We try and bring you a look into those fighters who aren’t front and centre today, but are on their way to getting there in the very near future.
Recently we spoke with former Bellator and UFC fighter Ulysses “Useless” Gomez to get a better understanding of how his road through the world of MMA has been shaped and what his thoughts are on some of the hot-button issues in MMA today.
What drew you to MMA and fighting in the first place?
Being a smaller guy growing up it kind of appealed to me that the smaller guy could beat the bigger guy with technique – so, you know, I think I liked that challenge aspect of it. It’s kind of like chess; there’s always a problem that arises that needs to be figured out. There’s never one end-game. There’s many ways to win.
Was there any particular person who brought you into fighting – either literally, or simply through observation?
I think like anybody who is involved in MMA, the early Royce Gracie fights drew me into MMA because he was really the first guy, the pioneer, of MMA.
How would you characterize your overall fight style?
I go through different cycles. I’m a grappler more than anything. However, I guess you could say ‘explosive’, with me trying to always finish guys in the first round. Lately, I guess you could say that I’ve been more of a counter guy. It really depends on the fight you’re looking at.
What technique do you think is most important in MMA today?
I think one of the most important now is wrestling. Whatever stuff you feel more comfortable with is what you should do. I’m more comfortable grappling, so that’s the style for me. Some guys might be more comfortable on the feet, so maybe that’s the style that they should take to.
I think wresking is really the most over looked style but also over relied on as well. What I mean by that is, that it’s overlooked because lots of people don’t train it as much as they should – they just think ‘oh, I’ll just counter him and if he takes me down i’ll just stand back up’. People need to focus on that more (wrestling). It’s also over-used because you get guys who will just take a person down and they don’t really pass guard or go for submissions – they just look to take someone down and win rounds.
You recently fought at UFC on Fuel TV 7 and came up a little short on the judges scorecards. Some people felt the decision was a little controversial. Do you feel like you got screwed by bad judging?
I watched the fight immediately after it happened. I played back the fight while the other fights were still going on. I felt like I won it.
My whole thing is that everyone I talked to said that I won the first round hands down. The second round, I felt like I won it, but it could have gone either way. The third round I felt like he won it. So, I felt like I won 2 rounds to 1. By no means would I call it ‘robbery’. It’s just that everyone you talk to said that I won that first round, and the judges didn’t give me that first round – so, if you’re not going to judge the fight correctly from the beginning what’s the point in having judges? You know what I mean?
Do you think there’s a better way to regulate judging in MMA? Or is it just like Dana White says all the time ‘if you want to avoid the judges scoring, finish the fight’?
Well if you could just win the fight by knocking a guy out, I am sure a lot of fighters would be taking that avenue, but some guys are harder to finish and harder to knock-out. So you kind of have to hope that the judges know what they’re doing. I think it comes with experience, as far as judges scoring fights correctly.
I would love to see the UFC or the commission say something like: ‘after the first round they could look at it like, two judges gave it to this guy, one judge gave it to this guy’; you know how you’re going into each round (as a fighter). If you were to lose the first round, you’d definitely have to win the second round. The second round would be more competitive. Then if it was 1-1 going into the third round, you’d know you have to be competitive if you wanted to win. If you were down two rounds, you’d know that you have to put the guy away. I think that would make it more competitive. It’s very subjective.
What would you say has been the most defining fight in your career to-date?
I don’t know… it’s hard. Every fight that I’ve lost I want to put an asterisk next to it, and every fight that I’ve won I am sure the guy who lost wants to do the same. As far as defining, I would say two of them; winning the Taichi Palace belt at 125lbs, because it was the first time I won the belt, that was an awesome feeling. I felt a little better when I won at 135lbs and beat Cody Gibson – more so because I submitted in him the 3rd round, while in the first two rounds he was beating me up. It all depends, you know?
Did you really learn via Twitter that you were cut by the UFC?
Yeah… yeah I did. I think what had happened was… actually I’m not sure what happened. I know that they like to talk to all of the fighters beforehand, but I also don’t think I was the only one that found out on Twitter.
I mean, you get the opportunity to fight in the UFC and I had my chance, however, I got cut. I know that it’s a business. It’s kind of hard to push a guy who is 0-2 in the UFC. So, it’s no big deal (how I found out) – I didn’t lose any sleep over it.
You were quite hyped-up coming into the UFC as one of the best at 125lbs in the world. Did you feel like you got jitters once you got to the UFC, or did something else happen?
My first fight I fought John Moraga. I took that fight and had literally 10 days to train for that fight. It wasn’t my best performance, but he beat me… he was the better man. So, I really didn’t have enough time to get nervous for that fight.
My second fight I didn’t have jitters because I had already fought in the UFC , so there was nothing to get nervous about.
You recently signed on with Pandemonium. They have a couple of events coming up in the next few months, do you know which one you will be slated for?
Yes, it’s the June 1st event.
If you could fight anyone in the world today who would it be?
I would have to say when I started watching MMA that had the tournaments (is what I would want to do), I wouldn’t want to fight anyone in particular, I would want to fight in a tournament. That’s what they did back then, and I think we’re better fighters and athletes now – so, why not?
BUT, if I had that one guy I would love to have fought, Kid Yamamoto when he was in his prime because that dude was scary. I used to idolize him and love watching him – I even have his action figure.
You fought in Bellator. Do you think it could ever legitimately contend with the UFC?
I don’t know. With the UFC running on all fours, I think it would be hard to catch-up. Besides World Series of Fighting, Legacy, and a few other smaller shows, who else could compete with the UFC?
So, I think that Bellator can fill that void… because, you know there really is no ‘number 2’ (promotion) anymore. Someone has to fill that void. I definitely think that Bellator can, but I don’t think it can catch-up to the UFC.
The injury plague in the UFC over the last year or so has been a really notable issue. Do you think these last minute sub-standard replacements on main events damage the sports credibility (RE: UFC on FUEL TV 9)?
The thing with Gustafsson, every time I fought the only time that you see the commission is the day of the weigh-ins. So, I don’t understand how he was with them all week; maybe he wanted to be safe or something, I don’t know. I think most fighters don’t really associate much with the commission until right up to the weigh-ins. The picture that Dana (White) put out the day of the weigh-ins Gustafsson looked fine – so, I think if he would have just waited and took his chances that day he would have been fine. But, you know I think he wanted to give the UFC a heads up, just because he was cut… but, I would’ve hid it.
As far as injuries, you’ve got to realize our sport is to literally break the other person. Sometimes you do a good job of that in training and people get hurt.
Who’s is your top 3 pound-for-pound in the world right now?
I would have to say Anderson. I would have to say Jose Aldo, because he’s fought guys who have some down from 155lbs to 145lbs and beat them. And then I would probably say Jon Jones and GSP are kind of tied. GSP has the longevity, and Jon Jones has never been beaten – but, you have to ask how solid is 170lbs division versus the 205lbs division? So, it really depends on what you’re looking for.
Sonnen versus Jones – Who are you picking?
I think if you’re betting with your brain you’re going with Jon Jones, but if you’re going with your heart, Chael is a pretty funny guy!
I think a guy that will beat Jon Jones is a guy that can throw that overhand right, a guy like Dan Henderson. Dan Henderson is a bad match-up for certain people. That said, I would like to see Anderson and Jon Jones for sure.
… I mean as far as super-fights I think I would like to see Jose Aldo and Ben Henderson. Maybe Ben Henderson and GSP, but not so much on that one. I’d really like to see Jon Jones and Anderson Silva… as far as Jon Jones and Cain – it’s cool, but I’d rather seen Cain versus Fedor – Fedor back in the day.
We want to thank Ulysses for taking the time to sit down and talk with us and share his thoughts on his career and the world of MMA at large today. We’re looking forward to seeing him fight at Pandemonium June 1st.
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Follow Ulysses on Twitter: @uselessgomez
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Photo Credit: twitter.com/uselessgomez
