Talkin’ MMA and Politics with Matt Lindland
Published by on July 29th, 2008 in Interviews

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By Scoop Malinowski

Professional athlete and citizen of Oregon Matt Lindland takes time out of his busy career to talk MMA and politics in this interview:

MMAMemories.com: Greetings Matt. Congrats on the win at Affliction by decision over Nascimento. Were you pleased with your performance against who some called “the best kept secret in MMA fighting? What was the key to the victory? Rumor is Vitor Belfort might be next. How do you feel about that possible match?

Matt Lindland: I think the key was preparing properly and coming in with a great game plan and sticking to it. It’s no secret Team Quest has great coaches and training partners and our athletes show up prepared.

I don’t get into rumors, I don’t listen to them, and I don’t spread them. I deal with reality. The reality is I want on the next card that Affliction does. I will fight anyone in the world and I have proved that it’s up to the promoter to match-make. If Vitor is the opponent I would be happy, he is an incredible fight and it would be an honor to face him in the ring.

MMAMemories.com: Fedor is amazing. Would you classify him with Toger Woods, Roger Federer, Wladimir Klitschko, Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady, Christiano Ronaldo as one of the elite pro athletes on earth today? What makes him so great? If you fought him again, what would you try different?

Matt Lindland: No question he is the best in the sport right now and that’s why I wanted to fight him and see where I was. If I had the opportunity to face Fedor again I would make some adjustment and I would ask for the fight to be in a cage

MMAMemories.com: When did you first get the idea and what inspired you to enter politics in your home state of Oregon?

Matt Lindland: I simply felt that our state was moving in the wrong direction. Too often over the last decade our state has been the first into and last out of recessions. As you may know I am also a businessman here in Oregon. I am an employer and an active member of my local community and I care deeply about the economic situation of my state and especially the district that I call home.

When this seat came open and I looked at the folks who were stepping up to run. After evaluating what they stood for I decided that I had something to offer the people of my district and believed that I could do a good job representing them in the legislature so I thought I would make my case to the people of House District 52. Apparently the people in the primary agreed.

A cursory look at the issues that I find important can be found on my website www.mattfororegon.com.

MMAMemories.com: A lot of famous pro athletes have fallen short in fulfilling their political aspirations – such as Vitali Klitschko, Roger Staubach, Bob Backlund – what was the key to you defeating fellow Republican Phyllis Thiemann by a 58-42% advantage for the Republican nomination for the Oregon House of Representatives District 52 seat?

Matt Lindland: The first key is that I match my district very well. My district is diverse in that it is both rural/agricultural and it contains some growing metropolitan areas. I own a business and work a lot with people in the metropolitan area and I also own a small ranch in the district.

Secondly I would say just plain old hard work. Running for political office requires hard work and an ability to stay focused on the issues even when someone is trying to attack you. It is a lot like fighting in that you need to go into it with a plan and be willing to stick with your game plan and not let your opponent dictate what you are going to do.

Finally it also comes down to good people working with you. If I may use another fight analogy, it is like having good trainers and people in your corner.

MMAMemories.com: Next up in the general election you will face Democrat Suzanne VanOrman. How is that contest looking at the moment and what do you think you will need to do to win?

Matt Lindland: The contest is looking good at the moment. This district has historically been a Republican district and as the Republican nominee I have that going for me.

Also my opponent has run before and put up a lackluster campaign. So combine that with hard work on my part and I believe the odds are good that I will win this campaign. Of course nothing is for sure, that is of course why they hold elections. But I like my odds at this point.

In order to win I will need to, of course, work hard. I have worked hard at everything I have done my whole life and this will be no different. I have a good campaign manager and some very talented folks volunteering for me already.

Secondly I will have to raise money. Hey it may sound bad to say, but having enough money to get your message out there is a fact of life. Just like training for a fight that may last a total of 15 or 20 minutes -unless of course I knock my opponent out in the first round – it takes hours and weeks to train for is also a fact of life.

I believe that my message of creating a better economic climate for my state is a winner. So now I need to work hard on the ground and work hard to raise the money to get that message out to the voters of my district.

MMAMemories.com: If elected what changes would you work to implement?

Matt Lindland: A couple of things and I’ll not go deep into the details here. But one is to work to change the way the current tax rates are structured. I have endorsed a plan that will reduce the tax rates on everyone and to a greater degree those making less than $30,000. I believe that if we let more of our middle class people keep more of their money then they will spend it, and invest it, more wisely and help spur economic development. In that plan there is also a tax cut for those making more than $30,000 however the cut is smaller as the incomes increase. In the end this plan alone should produce over 19,000 new jobs in our state.

I will also be looking into a cut in the capital gains tax. By doing this we will be sending a message to businesses in our state that they will not be penalized for investing in new equipment and business expansion. Unfortunately we have one of the highest cap gains taxes in the nation and many businesses will hold on to their profits instead of reinvesting them and thus also take a hit on taxes.

It basically boils down to the economy and jobs and those two issues are a main part of my platform in a nutshell.

I encourage people to keep an eye out on my website www.mattfororegon.com to see the issues and news events as they develop. Campaigns are always moving and new things are always happening and I hope to keep people up to date as we move along.

MMAMemories.com: If you have any, who are your political inspirations and why?

Matt Lindland: Madison, Franklin, Jefferson, and Adams, to name a few these men held for the greatest country in the world they believed in the people and limiting the powers of government would ensure the freedoms we all enjoy. In the modern era of politics I have came to appreciate what a great leader Ronald Reagan was. I was too young to appreciate what kind of a leader he was at the time. Reagan brought back sound fundamental free market principles and renewed liberties, he focused on a mission, a vision and principles and didn’t play the political games. He said things people didn’t necessarily always want to hear but he was honest and we knew where he stood, weather you agreed or not.