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.

As kids, Allan and his brother, Ricardo, started training in Judo with their grandfather, Alcidis. Allan says he later took up Jiu Jitsu because of the similarity between Jiu Jitsu and Judo, and because he wanted to add some more ground fighting to his game. Then when he was about twelve, Alcidis took him to Carson Gracie, whom his grandfather used to train with.

“Carson was like a father to me, and I won every single Jiu Jitsu title with him,” says Allan. “I didn’t see Carson fight because he had already retired from competition when I started learning. But he was always my hero and I knew the history of my master from all the older people telling me about him: He fought on the carpet, he fought on cement… He was a national hero back in the sixties and seventies, which was before my time.

“But when I was young, Rickson Gracie was an idol for me and for everyone in the BJJ community. I was a little kid when I saw Rickson fight for the first time and I was very impressed. My grandfather took me to see Rickson fight Rei Zulu (1984), and I thought, ‘That’s what I want to do.’ I saw him choking people out and I wanted to learn more and get involved in it. That’s when my grandfather took me to Carson to study under him.

“I later turned pro because I wanted a better lifestyle, and we had the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the time. I saw Royce succeed, so I thought: ‘I want to do this.’”

Allan, at PRIDE 8 you defeated Carl Malenko by side choke. Also on that card were Renzo and Royler Gracie, Wanderlei Silva… Carson and Rickson Gracie were there… Was that a show of Brazilian might before the Japanese audience?

“That’s for sure. And it was very good for the audience in Japan to see such big names in Brazilian fighting there.

“Actually, I don’t call myself a fighter – I call myself a martial artist. Some people say: ‘I’m a fighter because I got beaten up when I was young’ or ‘I was hit by my parents…’ I’m the opposite: I was never beaten up by anybody and my parents didn’t hurt me. I was raised with love, respect and discipline. That’s why I regard myself as an athlete and not a fighter.”

You’re considered to be a grappler but, according to Maurice, you’re including more striking in your game now.

“Yeah, as you can see from my last fight in the IFL, I fought a guy (Devin Cole) who was 260 pounds and I dropped him with my uppercut, before choking him out with a guillotine.”

Allan Goes with Mark Kerr

Devin wouldn’t have been expecting you to catch him with a powerful uppercut.

“That’s what he said at the press conference: he didn’t expect my punch to be that hard. I was stoked, because nobody ever said that about me. They’ve said I’m a good grappler, but I don’t have a strike.

“And that’s why I’m keeping with Maurice: I’m at a different stage in life, because grappling is in my soul – I do it naturally. But now I’m learning something different, and I get so involved, excited, and so passionate about it.

“Devin punched me and knocked me down. But because I’d been practicing my punches so much at the gym, I felt good. You can see on the tape, I smiled to Devin when he knocked me down. I stood up again and I was so happy because I was so happy to be striking. It was fun – like when I first learnt Jiu Jitsu. Maurice teaches me to feel good about striking.

“Then I threw a fist straight into Devin’s face and he clenched. I grabbed him and threw three uppercuts, and he dropped. He felt my strong punches and his legs buckled. That’s when I choked him out. And it felt good. Now I want to throw some leather.”

You’re obviously very happy having Maurice as your coach at the Tiger Sharks.

“Maurice is a guy who can really teach you. I tried to learn this striking stuff with so many other people, but I did not really learn the soul of the striking techniques. Mo takes you right into the soul of the art, and the root of the striking. He makes you flow. I feel with Maurice the way I first did with Jiu Jitsu, and I see Maurice Smith as the Carson Gracie of striking.

“You have a good time while you’re learning with Maurice. And I want to have a good time. Of course, I want to win, but win or not, I want to put on a show and make the fans happy, make the promoter happy… I want to choke some guys out, knock them out… whatever they give to me.”

You’ve had two fights that resulted in draws – against Frank Shamrock and Kazushi Sakuraba. Most people would consider having a draw against either of those guys as being a great win. Were you happy with those bouts?

“Definitely. And I know I won both of those fights. That’s all that matters to me. But it was an honor to fight those guys. I respect anybody who steps in there.”

Allan, is your fight with Daniel Gracie set for five 4-minute rounds?

“No, the IFL have made it three 4-minute rounds so it will be more exciting for the fans. I don’t care either way – Maurice makes me run like a horse, so I’m ready for anything.

“But when I fight Daniel, he will be carrying the ‘Gracie’ name, and it will be his responsibility to fight for that – not mine.”

Your sponsors?

“LA Boxing, Aliso Viejo, Hurley International, Pete Rock, Paul Gomes, SHAKLEE and Dag Sorge.”

Allan Goes defeats Devin Cole