Every time you saw former UFC Champion Chuck Liddell enter the octagon to beat the crap out of his opponent, you noticed in his corner the legendary MMA trainer, John Hackleman - aka "The Pit Master".
Now if you were to drive around the Central Coast of California and asked people, they would know exactly who John is and "The Pit" that he built. But in the public eye, most MMA fans know John as Chuck Liddell's trainer that is sometimes found arguing with UFC President Dana White (which isn't a bad thing).
Well, we sat down with John Hackleman for an exclusive interview. Ok, we weren't sitting down talking to him, but we chatted over the phone while he was driving home from his daily lunch-date with his daughter.
So here are our questions and the answers of MMA trainer, John Hackleman....
Kekai:
"How old were you when you got into Martial Arts and how did it happen?"
John Hackleman:
"I was 9 years old in Honolulu, Hawaii. I didn't want to get beaten up. I had heard about kids getting beaten up. So, I would catch the bus and I first started in Shotokan and Judo. Then Kempo."
Kekai:
"You get asked this a lot, but how is Chuck doing and with Tito returning to the UFC and talking crap, any word on Chuck returning to fight him?"
John Hackleman:
"No word. He's relaxing, taking his time and he'll decide what to do when he wants to. He's doing his rockstar stuff."
Kekai:
"Other than Chuck, we hear another one of your fighters, Scott Lighty has a fight coming up...."
John Hackleman:
"Yea, he fights next Saturday. Luke (Riddering) is fighting in Strikeforce in October I believe, Antonio (Banuelos) is also going to fight in the WEC again soon and Glover Teixeira has an MMA fight in Brazil on Sept. 12th I think."
Kekai:
"How did The Pit start and how have you seen it grow?"
John Hackleman:
"I started in my backyard in Woodland Hills, and in 1990 moved to Arroyo Grande and did it out of my backyard. Then we went to 5,000 square feet place and now with over 30 affiliates and also connected with gyms like Quest."
We had a funny interruption right after this question....John was driving with the phone to his ear, which anyone in California knows is illegal. A cop pulled up beside him, saw who he was and waved. John waved back. He chuckled while telling me what happened and said, "That's why I love this town."
Kekai:
"Ok, so it looks like you guys started a trend with the toenail painting. What's up with that? How did that start?"
John Hackleman:
"My ex and I were watching tv one night and she painted my toenails without me noticing. I went to bed and didn't realize she did it. I was probably too lazy to do anything about it. But that's how it started. Now we're into the Rockstar stuff."
Kekai:
"Since the early days of Chuck Liddell to now, what's your opinion on how MMA has grown?"
John Hackleman:
"It's just evolved. You had guys like Chuck, Tito, The Pitbull who were known for one or two things like Kickboxing or wrestling and did other things, but now you just have guys who are strictly hybrid fighters."
Kekai:
"What fighters are you excited about seeing fight?"
John Hackleman:
"Thiago Alves. I like Thiago. Mike Brown. That guy can hit so hard. Anderson Silva of course. I think Anderson is a better striker than Mohammad Ali was. BJ Penn. He has his nickname for a reason. And Lyoto Machida. I saw Lyoto in the airport and he told me his Dad thought I was the best American trainer [chuckles]."
Kekai:
"What is one thing in MMA and outside of MMA that you still want to accomplish?"
John Hackleman:
"Outside - I want an empire. I want people to get the best workouts, have the best time. We work really hard but have the most fun at The Pit. We're one of the only gyms that has hard core MMA workouts, but still with the traditionality of martial arts. Students don't have to call me Master to show me respect. They show me respect and call me John.
Inside of MMA - just to help train the team to get better, to realize their dreams."
Kekai:
"Let me add something to that, if someone were to join The Pit and wants to be on The Pit Fight Team, what would they have to do?"
John Hackleman:
"They gotta come and train at the gym in the regular classes, work their way onto the competition team. We have guys who are on the competition team and do a lot of Smoker fights. But then they'd work their way officially on the Fight Team."
We wrapped up our interview chatting about the central coast and John's family. Two things John Hackleman is very fond of.
If you'd like to learn more about The Pit, what they offer or where their locations are, visit their website - http://www.thepit.tv/
(this interview was conducted over the phone and was paraphrased between Kekai MMA and John Hackleman)
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