“Savage” doesn’t begin to explain the intensity that you feel when you talk to Chad George. A fighter that we’ve been following for quite some time now, Chad has had a bumpy road over the last year. Once a staple within the WEC stable, and star of the popular documentary “Occupation: Fighter”, Chad has been forced to the sidelines for some time due to a prolonged back injury. After a successful surgery earlier this year, Chad is finally ready step back into action and has his first fight booked, and he’s bringing with him a whole new level of intensity.
We recently sat down to talk with Chad about his upcoming return to the cage and to get some of his thoughts on the world of MMA today. Special thanks to Jay at Fresh Start Entertainment (@jayfreshstart) for setting up this interview…
Your first fight back in the cage is now set. Can you tell me a little bit about it?
It’s going to be October 5th against a guy named Ara Muradyan
The word is that your original opponent backed out of this fight – is that true? Was there any specific reason given?
Well, his camp didn’t like the fight after they had accepted it, so they actually replaced him with another guy. I actually really like the match-up.
You’ve been in camp for awhile now, is there anything specific you’re doing to get ready for this fight in particular?
Not really anything in particular. It’s probably the first training camp in years where I’ve been able to do everything. Since the surgery, this is the first time that my body is in a shape where I can grapple, kick-box, box and just put it all together without worry of pain or hurting myself. So, that’s pretty exciting in itself. It’s really great to be able to all of that.
What aspect of the fight game do you think is going to be your biggest challenge against this particular opponent?
He’s got really good judo and is really aggressive… he’s got really good leg locks. So, I need to be able to counter a lot of that, because he’ll catch me if I make a mistake. This training camp has just been really focused on accurracy and precision of everything that I do. We’ve go 5 more weeks, and we’re looking really good and feeling really confident.
Anyone in particular that you’ve brought into your camp to train for this fight?
I have got my whole team here that I’ve trained with for years at the PKG training center, but this time I’ve also brought in some new coaches. Coach Rob McIvor and coach Zar Roman from Victory have really helped me to just step my game up… my strength, my boxing, my muay thai. I’ve also brought in a new sponsor which is the AFP Strength and Conditioning Center and they’ve really helped me to take my conditioning to the next level. This is just, hands down, the best I’ve ever felt.
Are you already looking to the next fight? Or you just really focused on this upcoming match?
My head is definitely into this fight right now. You can’t ever look past anybody – especially in this sport with everybody being so good and so tough. Especially with a tough opponent like I have for this fight. This is a pretty tough opponent, he’s on a four-fight win streak and he’s confident he can beat me. So, I am going out there to prove to the world not only why I belong in the UFC, but I’m one of the top (guys) out there.
Do you think that the Frank Mir decision this past weekend was an early stoppage?
Well, Josh is a really good friend of mine, he’s a close buddy, so of course I am really happy with the way that it ended. I think that it couldve been looked at as a little bit early, but I also think that it would have been more of the same. So, I think on the long scale that Mir just got would have gotten more punishment.
Do you think Pettis is going to be a champ for a long time to come?
You know I don’t know. What I do know is that Pettis is legit. He’s definitely a tough guy. He’s shown that he has the tools to beat anybody anywhere – so, it’s interesting. I am actually interested to see Aldo fight him. I wasn’t originally excited to him and Aldo fight, but now I am really anxious to see it. I think that will be a hell of a fight.
After speaking with Chad we can definitely tell that he is ready to get back into that cage and show the world that he is back and here to say. We’ll be watching close when he fights next month and can’t wait to see him come out with his arm raised.
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