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By Scoop Malinowski

STATUS: MMA Heavyweight fighter and former UFC Heavyweight champ has career wins over Randy Couture, Minotauro, Jeff Monson, Yuki Kondo. Will take on Pedro Rizzo on July 19 at the Affliction Banned show in California. It’s a rematch of an exciting brawl won by KO by RIzzo in 2001.

HT: 6-3 WT: 250

DOB: November 10, 1977 IN: Seattle, Washington

CHILDHOOD HEROES: “I always looked up to my dad (Larry). Growing up I had a high school football
coach named Fred Sato that influenced me a lot into learning judo and martial arts.”

NICKNAMES: Baby Faced Assassin, Otaku - from Japanese fans.

HOBBIES/INTERESTS: “I love building muscle cars, computers, I’m really big into Japanese animation, guns, video games. Basically my hobbies are being a huge geek [laughs].”

FAVORITE MOVIES: “Ah well, Bladerunner still. Rollerball 1975. And I’ll pick one that I saw recently - No Country For Old Men. And the book was incredible too.”

FAVORITE TV SHOWS: “Let’s see…what have I been watching…Battlestar Galactica is a huge one of mine. I know some of the people on that are fans as well. So it’s sort of a mutual relationship there. Super Natural. Metalopalypse. Almost anything on Adult Swim cartoons.”

MUSICAL TASTES: “Everything except country, Fear Factory, 311, Led Zeppelin, DMX, Cream, Savoy Brown, I could go on and on.”

FAVORITE WEBSITES: “Homestarrunner.com, Pennyarcade.com, lethalperformance.com - because they’re my sponsor and I’m a car guy, so I’m always checking, you know, putting together what I’m gonna put on my rig.”

FIRST FIGHT MEMORY: “Against an AMC guy named Chris Charnos who fought Jerry Bohlander in SuperBrawl and did very well. And he was already a pro and I took the fight on 11 days notice, and I was like, Sure. I was 19, on Christmas vacation from school. And I went in there and I choked him completely unconscious with a front choke. And I’m doing the throat cut thing and I’ve got my back to him and I turn around and look and the guy is passed out. Drooling. And I’m like, Oh, crap! What did I do?! Here I am cutting my throat and the guy looks like he’s dead. I’m like, What the hell did I just do?!”

FAVORITE MEAL: “Ribs with greens, turnips.”

FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR: “Peanut butter.”

FIRST JOB: “Doing landscaping under tha table. I was making money so I could go to nationals for freestyle Greco-Roman wrestling.”

FIRST CAR: “1978 orange Ford Courier.”

CURRENT CARS: “In L.A. I drive a Chrysler 300 SRT 8. In Washington, I switch between an ‘07 Mustang GT California Special and my ‘04 Mystichrome SVT Cobra.”

LAST BOOK READ: “Finished? Or in progress? (Both.) I’m in progress now of reading Descent of Angels by Michael Scanlan. The one before that would’ve been Faith and Fire. I’m a big sci-fi fan.”

PRE-FIGHT FEELING: “Think about imposing my will. And there’s nothing the guy can do to hurt me. Or stop me from throwing punches.”

GREATEST CAREER MOMENT: “Winning the King of Pancrase from Yuki Kondo (by rear-naked choke in 3rd-round in Tokyo in 2003).”

MOST PAINFUL MOMENT(S): “Dislocating my shoulder - combined with losing to Mirko Cro Cop three times. And always just having the worst luck in terms of fighting that guy.”

EMBARRASSING FIGHT MEMORY: “I don’t think we have enough space for that [smiles]. Would be jumping over the top rope in SuperBrawl and rolling my ankle - before my finals match against Bobby Hoffman.”

FAVORITE FIGHTERS TO WATCH: “That is a huge list. But I’ll talk about guys like Babalu, Fedor, I’m a big fan of Megumi Fuji of course. She’s my student and yet she’s just amazing the way she goes out there. Shayna Baszler. And Ginelle Marquez.”

TOUGHEST MAN FACED: “Everybody I get into the ring with is a pretty bad ass. But I think my training partners are the toughest men I face on a daily basis. Because they get me in the worst scenarios and then take pleasure in giving back to me what I do to them [smiles].”

FUNNIEST FIGHTERS ENCOUNTERED: “Erik Paulson’s friggin’ hilarious.”

PEOPLE QUALITIES MOST ADMIRED: “What impresses me is anyone who puts the heart, will and determination into making their dreams reality. That sticks out to me no matter who they are. And helps to drive me to succeed.”
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