IFL Lions’ lightweight, John Gunderson, is busy setting up home in Reno, Nevada, with his girlfriend and two young daughters after moving the family down from Oregon last Sunday.

But the ‘big move’ hasn’t stopped John from training with Ken Shamrock and his fellow teammates. “We had a morning practice at 10.30, and now we’ve just gotten over striking practice which was between one and three this afternoon. Tonight we have grappling from nine until eleven,” says the man known as ‘Guns’.

It’s been a hard slog for Gunderson since he first started officially fighting in his teens. “I took up boxing in Bend, Oregon, when I was about seventeen. I used to street fight a lot growing up in a country town where it was a common thing to do, and I always wanted to box. I also liked to watch boxing, but the thing was, there were never any clubs where I could take it up around where I lived, so I used to grab the gloves and just box with my friends. Then all of a sudden a boxing gym opened up in our town and I joined up and started to fight.”

At the time John worked during the day as a carpenter and trained in his spare time. But recently he has been able to lay his wooden horse out to pasture and fights full time after signing up with Ken Shamrock’s Lions.

“I heard about a tryout for an IFL spot held on the first weekend in December, so I just drove down here. It was a six-hour drive and I didn’t know what was involved except that I had to be there, and I showed up in town at about one in the morning. I didn’t know much about Reno so I ended up getting some shitty little motel, before being informed that the trials were at the Lion’s Den gym at 8am. I was going to get some breakfast and they said, ‘No, we’re going right now.’

“The tryouts involved grappling, boxing and wrestling. They put us in against each other and we had to prove ourselves. There were a lot of great guys, and I finished in the top two or three in all the events.”

Josh Odom of the Razorclaws fights against John Gunderson of the Lions

John, who are your main training partners these days?

“The guys from the Lions IFL team, but my main training partner is Pat Healy, our welterweight. He’s a good training partner for me because he’s bigger: I don’t like to train with other lightweights because I like to work with guys who are bigger than I am. I think one of my main assets is that I’m strong, so with guys my size, I can kinda overpower them a little bit.

“What Ken and I have done is set it up so that I’m always being pushed harder by the welterweights or middleweights – I can’t pull the power with them because they’re too big and strong. It really makes me work. And I brought in three guys from Oregon to help prepare me for my upcoming fight.”

You defeated Josh Odom by triangle choke. That’s an impressive victory to have. Can you give a brief rundown of that fight, please?

“Yeah, it was kinda weird, because I had been involved in just the local shows before this, where I was always in the main event, and I always fought last. This was a bigger show for me where I fought earlier on and I had nerves going through me. I didn’t warm up properly so I went in kinda cold, and I didn’t actually feel like I was in a fight until Josh hit me with one. He was pretty strong and I could tell he had the skills and was going to be pretty good. He had a tight arm bar on me that I just fought through.

“After that I woke up… I’m a notorious slow starter – I don’t get going until I’m about two minutes in, but the first minute of every fight it seems like I’m behind, and then after that I’m at it.

“Josh was a good opponent for me because he has good hands, he’s well rounded and he comes from a good gym. I thought he was a solid fighter. When I mounted him, I was going to go for an arm bar… I don’t like the mount a whole lot; I prefer the side mount or even being in half guard so I can try to pound on them, but I wasn’t able to throw a lot of hard strikes, so I swung in for the triangle.”

What’s Ken like as a coach?

“He’s a great coach; he pushes guys so hard and works with you to cater for what’s best for your needs, and he expects you to get the job done.”

Ken’s always been very friendly and helpful when I’ve interviewed him, but he seems to get knocked a bit.

“A lot of people don’t know what Ken does for his guys: He really takes care of us and helps us out. He’s a good guy for sure and I’m excited to be on his team: I wouldn’t have moved down here with my family otherwise.”

Lions coach Ken Shamrock with lightweight John Gunderson during Gunderson's
International Fight League bout at Oracle Arena

On April 7, you’re up against Bart Palaszewski; what are you expecting from Bart?

“I know Bart’s a tough fighter, and I really respect him as a fighter. With Josh, I thought he was tough, but I felt he didn’t have the experience, so I wasn’t expecting a war even though I should have – I was expecting to walk right through him.

“With Bart, I don’t anticipate that: I expect a fight. And if I make a mistake, I think he will knock me out or submit me – he’s a well-rounded fighter. He’s been through adversity and come back in the second or third rounds of other fights and knocked opponents out by counterpunching them. And he’s good on the ground: He’s fought guys like Ivan Menjivar and they haven’t caught him.

“It’s going to be a fight and I know it. I hope he’s taking me seriously because I’m taking him seriously. I’ve just got to go out there and do my job: I think I’m going to win. And I’ve submitted a lot of guys, but I don’t like winning by submission – it’s not fun for me. I’d rather have a tough all-out fight for three rounds until I can knock an opponent out at the end, with the crowd on their feet.”

What will be your strengths against Bart?

“I think I’m really strong, but he’s probably looking at me and not thinking that. I’m also athletic and well rounded – I can fight standing up and on the ground. If I can keep the pressure on Bart, he’s probably not going to fold, but if I can keep that pressure on him he’s going to wear out, because I’m in pretty good shape.

“He’s tough, but he’s had all these fights in the IFL, and that has got to wear a guy down. And I’m still hungry – I’ve had one fight, but I’m still hungry to prove myself. He’s proven himself: He’s a star in the IFL. I think if I can impose my game on him, it’s going to frustrate him.”

Do you guys all see it as a good opportunity for the Lions to prove themselves against the Silverbacks in the IFL competition?

“Yes, we do because they’re tough. But already their 205-pounder is not going to fight Vernon White and they’re looking to put someone else in against him. We’re willing to go in there and step it up to prove ourselves. I’m really depending on Pat Healy to win: I think he’s got what it takes to beat Rory Markham. And we’re depending on Vernon. I think Daniel Molina and McGivern will be a hard fight. Roy Nelson and Ben Rothwell will be a tough one. And, of course, my guy is a hard guy to beat.

“All the fights are tough, and this could go either way: We could win them all if we fight our game, or we could lose them all. It could go just like that – it depends on how we show up that night. And I think we’re training right, and if we play our game, we could go out there and prove ourselves.”

John, it there anything you’d like to add?

“No, that’s pretty good.”

John Gunderson of the Lions celebrates after defeating Josh Odom of the Razorclaws 
during the International Fight League at Oracle Arena on January 19, 2007 in Oakland, California.