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Part
2 Looking Forward to UFC 92
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Marc Wickert It’s
3pm in Seattle and Reese Andy is walking in the rain, heading back to
his gym in Kennydale ( www.westcoastfitness.net/kennydale/index.htm
). Downstairs is the general training area, with a membership of
1,500 bodies at various levels of fitness, and it is open to anybody who
wants to get into shape or press some steel. Upstairs is the West
Coast Fight Team, where the MMA happens. This is where Reese will
be training again in a couple of hours. “This
morning I did a circuit, four five-minute rounds, and then I had to do a
burn-out, two-minute round of something else, so we’re getting the
heart rate up. I wore a heart-rate monitor today and I haven’t
worn one of those in years. Everything is good – I’m just sore
from yesterday evening’s workout, but it’s going to be like that
from here out until a few days before the fight,” says Andy. Prior
to the UFC, Reese was a member of the IFL Tigersharks, along with such
respected names as Brad Blackburn, Shad Lierley, Allan Goes… And Reese
still trains with many of his former team members including Blackburn.
“I train with him once or twice a week. I train with a group of
guys, about four or five of us… Brad’s a little bit lighter, but we
use the same mitt guy and we’ll sometimes do some rolling together or
sparring. We’ll be getting some more in here, I’m sure.
We might train together tonight. Tuesdays and Thursdays are
usually the days we work together.” But
Reese says he no longer trains under former Tigersharks’ coach,
Maurice Smith. “No. One of the guys from the IFL, Carlos, helps
us out, and Mario Miranda, Travis Doerge and Shad Lierley are here, so
I’m still training with a couple of guys from the IFL and a few
others.” Andy
fought in the Octagon on UFC Fight Night 14 against Brandon Vera, so he
has now experienced combat in the cage as well as competing in the ring.
But which does he prefer? “Well,
I don’t know if I feel one way or the other… I do feel that the UFC
is taking care of me more, but as far as cage or a ring preference, I
haven’t noticed an advantage yet. I’ve heard different things;
however I’ve only been in the cage one time and the rest of my fights
have all been in the ring, when I was in the Icon in Hawaii and in the
IFL, so I can’t really say whether I prefer the cage or the ring.” Reese,
I believe Shad Lierley is looking to compete in the next Ultimate
Fighter. Have you heard anything? “Yes,
I’m his roommate and hopefully that transpires as well.” When
you train, do you work out with music on? “Most
of the time with music. I usually leave the selection up to the students
and don’t get too picky unless it’s something really bad. Last
night, for example, there was hip hop on with some cursing. I dug
a little bit and gave a student a bad time, but he paid dues to the gym
and he needs to be in good spirits too, and I can handle about anything.
In my group in college we listened to country music for seven years.” Sounds
like a bit of a transition for you from the stuff your students are
playing now. “Yeah, but downstairs in the gym, there’s always the 80s’ light rock and stuff like that that’s basically DMX-type thing or the radio, so we put on really light music for the fitness members. And then upstairs for the fighters, they always want something more hardcore that’s going to pump them up more for their workout. We don’t want to intervene when they have something on. I think most people are the same way. We haven’t had anyone putting on something off the wall, so…”
Matt
Hamill has fought in the UFC before and you’ll be making your debut at
UFC 92. Will that be a factor on the night? “No,
since I did the UFC Fight Night, I feel it’s still the UFC to me,
whether it’s p-p-v or a free card. I got the first one out of the
way and this one should be a little less stressful, not being the co-main
event, and not as bad.” You’ve
fought in front of large crowds before, so that shouldn’t be a drama. “No.” Is
wrestling still the backbone of your game? “I
think it is. When people are trying to take me down I’m going to
give them a lot to fix since I have the background. And if I see an
opening to take them down I’m already able to get it better than the
other guy. But as far as doing lots of drills or lots of wrestling,
I don’t spend quality time the way I used to.” Do
you focus more on stand-up now? “That,
ground’n’pound, cardio and technique. There’s always room for
improvement in all aspects, but I’m not going to get that much better in
wrestling. I’m sure Hamill knows that I can take him down and
I’m sure he feels confident that he can take me down. Being that
it’s MMA and you’re more erect and not bent over, it makes a world of
difference when you go to strike somebody and you practically give your
leg or you give your body… A lot of MMA guys have taken down great
wrestlers – not because it was a wrestling match, but because it was in
a fight, and that’s the beauty in the fight: You don’t know where
it’s going to go.” Have
you studied Matt Hamill’s fights? “I’m
supposed to be getting them today. I watched some a couple of weeks
ago. I watched the Franklin fight live, the Boetsch fight and a
round or two of the Bisping match. But my agent’s company was
supposedly sending me out copies of the fights, so I should be able to pay
more attention to detail here in the next week.” Do
you see this fight as being a great opportunity for you? “Yeah,
I think it’s good. He has a good name and he has had some tough
fights. I know how I did when I sparred with Rich Franklin when I
kinda helped him get ready for Matt Hamill last time.” You
like to have a gamble: Will you be putting a wager on yourself for this
match? “No,
probably not. I haven’t gambled on myself yet. I don’t
want to jinx anything, but when people ask me, I tell them, ‘Hey, go
ahead – I win most of the time anyway.’ ” Reese
Andy’s sponsors? “Hitman
Fight Gear, Condom Depot, and MMA Shop Apparel.”
Westcoast
Fitness is at 1755 NE, 48th Street, Renton, Washington. For
more details on Westcoast Fitness: www.westcoastfitness.net/kennydale/index.htm. For
more on UFC 92: www.ufc.tv.
REESE ANDY “I’m Ready for Anybody”
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Marc Wickert photos
© IFL With
victories over such respected names as Justin Levens, Jamal Patterson
and Mike Ciesnolevicz, Tiger Sharks’ Reese Andy is fast making a name
for himself as one of the IFL’s toughest light heavyweights. Born
in North Dakota, where he lived for the first two years of his life
before moving to South Dakota for four years, Reese then settled with
his family in Billings, Montana, where he wrestled at and graduated from
Billings High School. “Wrestling
was basically my forte in high school:
I did college wrestling, freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling,”
says Andy, who admits it was the promise of material rewards that
originally lured him to the sport. “Some kids from my elementary
school had these wrestling trophies that they brought to show’n’tell.
And my older brother and I wanted the trophies, so we started in
wrestling.” Whether
it’s the risk of putting everything on the line in the IFL ring, or
the thrill of having a punt at the table, Reese is a gambler at heart.
“I like to play cards – Omaha, Texas Hold ’Em, and Five-Card
Draw...” When
he took on Pitbulls star Jamal Patterson in one of the IFL superfights
on December 29, 2006, Andy surprised a lot of people when he defeated
the highly explosive Patterson – and by TKO. But for Reese it was no
upset: “Maybe some people away from the sport of MMA or people
unfamiliar with my background – they may have assumed I would have
lost. “And I’ve been working a little bit on everything, but focusing on striking. We’re doing kickboxing, takedowns, wrestling and submissions…”
Reese,
could you give a brief rundown of your fight with Jamal, please? “Okay,
that was like two fights ago… I think we were just kinda feeling each
other out in the first round, and there wasn’t a lot of heavy action:
He was waiting for his moment and I was waiting for my moment. And I
think I pressed the fight until one point in time he got close to a
complete takedown, but I fended him off with a kimura until the referee
had to start us back up, and Jamal didn’t want to pursue the takedown
any further. “Even
in the second round, the only time Jamal hit me was with a spinning
back-fist, which wasn’t flush but was powerful enough to knock me
down. I hopped back up and I believe Jamal thought I was stunned and he
took a poor shot at a double-leg takedown. I sprawled, naturally,
because I saw him wait, and I punished him for that with some cross face
and some blows to the body with an elbow, and then to his thigh. Jamal
tried to spin to a chokehold and I made him pay for that too. His head
hit pretty hard on the canvas after I hit him. “He
was a little bit rattled by then - that basically took him out of the
fight when I was on top of him. After he attempted the heel hook, I
split his legs and made him pay for it in half-guard with punches to the
body and face. He was a little bit out of it, and my middle knuckle was
hurting two weeks after the fight. It was still sensitive in my last
fight, so I didn’t get to spar a whole lot for my last fight because
my knuckles were still hurting from the Jamal fight. “But
when I was g’n’p-ing Jamal, he was covering up and I kept striking
and striking him, and looking at the ref and striking some more, looking
at the ref. I was thinking, ‘Okay, I’ll just keep striking some
more.’ I didn’t want to hurt Jamal too badly because he was hurt a
couple of minutes earlier when I caught him, and something wasn’t
right: He wasn’t moving much. Usually, when you get a guy of his level
of submissions, he’ll move more. So something wasn’t right – he
got stunned pretty good, and he was more or less trying to survive the
round, covering up, and the ref saw enough and came in. “I
talked to Jamal afterwards at the press conference, and he said he had
also pulled his groin: That might have been when he was trying to go for
the heel hook.” Were
you happy with your match against Condors’ Justin Levens? “I would have liked it to have ended earlier, but I tend to complain and I’ve only had six fights. I’ll take the victory, although I don’t like them to go the distance. I won unanimously and I won all three rounds, so I was in control the whole time, and I think the only time he hit me was when I was on top of him.”
Your
next fight is on April 7 against Alexander Zubachev. What do you know
about Alexander? “Nothing.
Can you tell me something about him?” No,
but he’ll be fighting before that. “He’s
fighting Jamal, I think.” Will
you be at the Red Bears vs. the Pitbulls on February 23 to see the Jamal
and Alexander fight? “Probably
not – Atlanta is a little far away from Seattle. I’ll see if I can
get a copy of that fight.” Are
you back as a permanent on the Tiger Sharks now? “Yes,
I’ve got my spot back. And Maurice Smith likes to see me training, he
likes to see me sparring, and more importantly – he likes to see
victories. He wasn’t happy with my loss, but I wasn’t happy with my
loss either, against Aaron Stark. I told Maurice that I knew where I
made the mistake in that fight, and I told Stephen Quadros where I made
the mistake. If I fight Aaron again, it will be a lot different. “I’m
ready for anybody: guys who have had twenty fights, twelve fights….
and guys who are debuting, and who I know nothing about. In this league
(IFL), you’re not going to be able to hide from anybody – you’re
going to get a fair chance, a fair crack at everybody. And I like that
idea: There are a lot of combat sports that get too political, where
they never get an opportunity based on their experience.” Yeah,
it can be like that with titleholders in some boxing organizations
dodging contenders. “And
it is like that in some MMA organizations: You just never see some guys
get a chance - they’ve got to climb a long ladder. In this one, Shad
Lierley beat a guy who is a veteran, and we’re going to see guys who
are debuting and guys who have a pretty long career in MMA. And we’ve
got to be ready – we’ve got to be training all the time.” Reese,
is there anything you’d like to add? “I’d
like to thank my teammates for believing in me, and my coaches for being
patient. Some times they want to see things over night, but it’s a
progression – it’s learning. So I’m just thankful to the coaches
for helping me, and to the teammates that I’ve had who have agreed to
spar with me on days they didn’t want to.”
Reese Andy’s stats: Nickname:
Riptide MMA
record: 5-1-0 Division:
Light Heavyweight Stance:
Orthodox Height: 5’10 Date
of birth: March 31, ’73 Birthplace:
Minot, North Dakota Home:
Seattle, Washington Team:
Tiger Sharks Coach:
Maurice Smith For more on Reese Andy: www.ifl.tv.
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