Between The Ropes
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
ESPN Florida AM 1080 and AM 1060
Simulcast online at BetweenTheRopes.com

On Tuesday night, May 6, UFC lightweight Rich Clementi joined hosts Brian Fritz, Dickerman, and Vito DeNucci live on Between The Ropes on ESPN Florida AM 1080 and AM 1060 to discuss how he’s preparing to fight on his second pay per view in a row, his rivalry and fight against Melvin Guillard, his future in the lightweight division, and much more.

The interview started out with some discussion about Rich jumping back into the Octagon at UFC 84, making it two pay per views in a row where he has fought. Rich said the decision was a little tough because “you want to make sure you’re as ready as you can be, but to be honest I wasn’t too banged up. I was physically in good shape and mentally as strong as I could ever be. It was one of the deals where I feel it’s a tailor made opponent for me, so how could I pas that up?”

On training for such a quick turn around Rich said that he had to take it slow for about the first four or five days of training, but after that he was back up to 100%. Rich then said that the physical training for a fight is by far more challenging for him than the mental aspect. “I’m not one of those cats that mentally needs to wear a lucky colored pair of underwear or do this or that. As long as I’ve got my mouthpiece I’m good to go.”

The talk then turned to Rich’s last opponent, Melvin Guillard, and the heated rivalry they had. Rich admitted to cheering for Guillard now for selfish reasons since Melvin’s wins will make him look better. He also explained the rivalry between them stemmed from their time on The Ultimate Fighter 4. “He kind of let it go to his head. It’s like he felt he had to uphold a reputation or something. That didn’t sit well with me. Then I was at an event and I went up to shake his hand and he sucker punched me. He tried to apologize, but I told him from that point on I’d be cool in public but it’s not settled until we’re able to do it in front of everybody and we settle things my way. I couldn’t have wrote a better story than the way the fight turned out.”

Some of the biggest news around the UFC recently has been the numerous fighters that have been released from their contracts. This was brought up and Rich was asked if this adds pressure to make his fights exciting. Rich said that it did add some pressure but that he also feels somewhat safe because “I don’t really mind being a workhorse because that’s kind of my attitude in and out of the ring…I think that has some weight to it. I’m not one of those guys that’ll get a cold and cancel my fight. Basically Joe Silva knows that if they need a fight filled one of the guys they can call is me.”

Rich then talked about his time on TUF 4 and said that while he did have to fight at a heavier weight than he would have liked it was worth it because it got him back in the UFC. He also noted that in his career he’s one of the few guys to have fought in every weight division from lightweight to heavyweight.

Rich also talked about cutting the weight to stay at lightweight. He said that over his career he’s had trouble with cutting weight, but thanks to learning a lot of stuff while he was on TUF 4 he now has a system that works for him. He said that he usually wakes up on weigh-in day with only a pound or so to cut as opposed to having to fast for 3 days or so like in the past.

The interview rapped up with some talk about who Rich thinks he would stack up well against in the 155 pound division. He named Roger Huerta and Nate Diaz as two guys that would be great opponents for him. He also said that “a lot of these newer guys I don’t feel are as well rounded yet. So I want to jump all over that right now.” When asked Rich said he hasn’t gotten any hints from the UFC on when a title shot may come for him, but that “as long as I keep my attitude swinging the right way it’ll come soon enough.”

To listen to the entire Rich Clementi interview, including more about his current training camp and whether he has been surprised by any of the names the UFC has released, as well as the entire May 6th edition of Between The Ropes in streaming audio, visit the show online at http://www.BetweenTheRopes.com. In addition to listening to this weeks show with Rich Clementi you can become a site member and access hundreds of previous Between The Ropes shows and interviews. Join us for Between The Ropes for two hours every Tuesday night at 6:00pm ET on ESPN Florida AM 1080 and AM 1060 and worldwide on BetweenTheRopes.com.