Mike Massenzio MMAMemories.com Exclusive Biofile Published by Scoop Malinowski Last Updated on February 28th, 2009

Options:  Print  Email  RSS

STATUS: UFC Middleweight fighter.

HT: 6-2 WT: 185

DOB: 1982 IN: Teaneck, NJ

FIGHTING INSPIRATION: “Big Rocky fan. Not a real life character but that’s what I use for my thoughts.”

HOBBIES/LEISURE ACTIVITIES: “Fighting, wrestling, training, that’s all I’ve ever known [laughs]. I’m big into trout fishing.”

NICKNAMES: Master of Disaster.

FAVORITE MOVIE: “Rocky.”

FAVORITE TV SHOW: “Home Improvement.”

LAST BOOK READ: “I don’t read books.”

MUSICAL TASTES: “Eminem, 50 Cent.”

FAVORITE WEB SITES: “I’m not big on the computer.”

EARLY FIGHTING MEMORY: “A wrestling memory is in the state semifinal in my junior year in high school, against a guy I lost to earlier in the year – he beat me 8-0. With :07 left I took him down and won the match. That’s when my career went up. I realized I really showed true heart. I was a huge underdog, I was the #7 seed, he was the #1 seed. And I went on to win the final.”

CHILDHOOD DREAM: “I wanted to fight in the UFC. Also wanted to be a NCAA Division I national champion in wrestling. Never got that but this is like a second chance.”

FIRST JOB: “Valet parking at Mount Fuji in Suffern, N.Y.”

FIRST CAR: “Chevy Cavalier 1990 (blue).”

CURRENT CAR: “2008 Nissan Altima Coupe (pearl white).”

PRE-FIGHT FEELING/MINDSET: “Same for every fight. I am nervous but this is where I want to be. Just know I have to go out and give 150%. After all the hard training, fight day is like payday for me. Give it everything I have. Keep my mind straight. As long as I give it everything I got, I know I’m gonna come out on top.”

FAVORITE MEAL: “Chinese food.”

FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR: “Vanilla.”

GREATEST CAREER MOMENT: “I would have to say stepping into the Octagon (UFC in Omaha, Nebraska). Beating Drew McFedries (submission/kimura at 1:28 of round one). Knowing that all the hard work that was put in – there was a meaning. Indescribable feeling. September 17, 2008. UFC debut.”

MOST PAINFUL MOMENT: “My losses (to Jay Coleman in ’05; Danilo Villefort and CB Dollaway in ’08).”

WORST INJURY: “Breaking my jaw in my first loss. It definitely set me back. I used it as a motivator.”

FUNNY FIGHTING MEMORY: “I’m not sure. I don’t think I have anything like that.”

EMBARRASSING CAREER MEMORY: “Honestly, no I don’t. I don’t have anything [smiles]. Pretty boring guy.”

FAVORITE FIGHTERS TO WATCH: “Wanderlei Silva is my favorite fighter. His intensity, the way he fights, non-stop pushing, pressing. That’s how I fight. I want to break down who I fight. Georges St. Pierre too.”

BEST FIGHT SEEN: “First Forrest Griffin-Stefan Bonner. And Clay Guida-Roger Huerta.”

TOUGHEST MAN FACED: “Probably would have to say Dan Miller. I think Dan Miller is a great athlete, great guy too. We have the same attitude. It was a war. Everything I presented, he was ready. Everything he presented, I was ready. It was really a great fight.”

YOUR BEST/FINEST PERFORMANCE(S): “I think every fight I feel I get better and better. Even in losses I feel I’ve evolved. In every fight I top what I did in the last fight. The whole thing is ‘evolving.’ The last fight I felt great. Everything came together. I was able to take out one of the best guys.”

LAST VACATION: “I haven’t had a vacation in a long time. I think my only vacations were going to wrestling tournaments or going to a fight.”

PEOPLE QUALITIES MOST ADMIRED: “Just honest. True people. Loyal people. That are genuinely true. That won’t backstab you. Don’t try to front be something they’re not. Loyal, honest, genuinely true. I have my own school (ironhorsemixedmartialarts.com), that’s what I look for, fighter-wise. Guys who are gonna work. Maybe not the best technical-wise but they have a big heart, want to work, push, do anything to win.”