Han är en UFC fjädervikt och tidigare ”The Ultimate Fighter” nu går Steven Siler match mot Cole Miller under UFC på FX 2 i Sydney Australien. Nu bara några dagar innan matchen satte han sig ner med MMAnytt för att berätta hans lite ovanliga resa till oktagonen.
Till skillnad mot hur det brukar gå till med att först börja träna MMA och sen gå upp i buren, Steven Siler gjorde tvärtom, han kom in i en bur långt innan han började träna.
– They just had a weekly local MMA TV SHOW in Utah, I heard that you can make 50 bucks, so that’s what drew me into this sport. Gyms were from 80 to 100 dollars and I didn’t think I wanted to ”waste” money by going to the gym. I had a ”nine to five” job and I basically wasn’t knowledgeably back then. I actually got forced to go to the gym, take this sport more seriously, and live up to my potential by one of my best friends, who actually fights in the UFC, Jorge Lopez. He went down to Brazil to train with the Chute Boxe camp, and he came back and was always beating me up (laughs). So after my 6th loss, he actually made me take the sport more seriously. And it has definitely given me more confidence and I go into fights more confident, knowing now that I have more options. Now I have the ability to submit someone or knock them out, compared to before when I just stepped into the cage and just threw ugly punches.
När Steven väl bestämde sig för att satsa på träningen och tog det inte låg tid innan han blev tillfrågad att vara med i den 14e säsongen av serien ”The Ulitmate Fighter”. Hans tid i serien ändrade hans karriärval och han fick både bra och dåliga erfarenheter.
– The best moment was when I beat Micah Miller. It was a hard fight, we went 3 rounds, and it took a toll on my body. For sure, it was a great experience. The down point was that knocked out by Diego, cause I felt I was the top guy on the show. I felt that me and Diego would put on a great battle. I went in there to slug with him and got caught early and didn’t put on the show I wanted to. So that was definitely a bummer. Diego has a tough mind, you will not break his will, he’s very talented, and hits very hard. He doesn’t have the most technical stand up, but he hits hard and his ground game is phenomenal. The arm bar he put on Dennis Bermudez proves that, he is definitely dangerous at all areas.
När Steven Siler medverkade i ”The Ultimate Fighter” gick han en match mot Micah Miller, som är bror med hans motståndare på fredag, Cole Miller. Och man skulle kunna tro att det hela är är en tillfällighet men enligt Siler själv säger att det var Miller som efterfrågade fighten personligen och han är redo.
-Yeah from what UFC told me, Cole called the organization right after my last TUF fight and wanted to fight me. He was planning to drop to featherweight anyways, but he demanded to fight me. He can act like he doesn’t want to fight me, but I can tell that he definitely wants this fight and to get revenge for his brother’s loss. It is like a bad movie, but I won’t do any differently. I take this fight seriously, like all my other fights, and I will fight the same way. I haven’t done too much research, but I think it will be similar against Cole. I will go in and do my thing. I am not going to worry about what he will try to do, I will do what I like to do, push the pace and make him feel uncomfortable.
