UFC 125 pre-fight Exclusive Interview with Phil Baroni

Mixed Martial Arts veteran Phil Baroni will look to set his career back on track, facing the TUF 11 participant Brad Tavares at the UFC 125 preliminary action. Thirty-four years old Baroni currently holds MMA record of 13 victories and 12 losses, losing his last bout to Amir Sadollah at UFC 106. The fight against Tavares could decide whether the New York Bad Ass will continue his UFC career, or get cut from the promotion.

Here's what Phil Baroni had to say in an exclusive interview to Arthur KnoqOut podcast. You can find the audio at Knoqout.com.
We appreciate you chatting with us, how's training going? Have you been doing anything different for this fight?
Training hard man, training real hard. Im doing everything different, I've been away from home for three months, I'm training twice a day five days a week, once on Saturday and I'm doing the work, not taking any shortcuts or cutting any corners, I've trained for two months in Thailand so I'll definitely be ready for this fight.
There is 12 years difference between you and Brad Tavares do you think this will make any difference in the fight?
That I'm 12 years older than him? I plan on spanking him. Maybe I'll put him on my knee. I don't think so, I feel better than I have in years. I feel I know more about fighting than he does. No matter what happens I'll figure out a way to win this fight.
Brad Tavares comes from TUF a lot of those fighters have more media exposure do you feel you would have benefited from that kind of exposure when you were an up and comer.
Yeah, without a doubt. I would do well with media exposure; I've never been on a reality show. I've paid my dues. I came up the hard way. I've been fighting the best in the world for ten years. I didn't have the UFC machine behind me. Yeah I would have had a lot of opportunities… I was a good looking kid back then.
What do you think the biggest difference is between the UFC now and the UFC back then?
The biggest difference is that there are so many cards. I was lucky to fight twice a year back then and you had to fight hurt because if you pulled out you would have to wait 6 months to fight again. There is a lot more opportunity now, a lot of guys say guys are better now but that's bullshit, a lot of guys that are the best fighters are still the guys that were fighting back in the day. Rampage Jacksons, Rich Franklins… I came up with all these guys so I don't believe this shit about the new fighters. Yeah, maybe some guys didn't take care of themselves and they got older quicker and lost some fights. But a fight is a fight and when you get inside the cage it doesn't matter who and how you were brought up, it matters how tough you are and what you've got in the tank.
Besides fighting, what's the most important thing in your life?
Getting myself financially stable. The markets in Vegas crashed and I lost a lot of money in houses and stuff, so I plan on training hard and fighting for the next four years, make a few million and then buying a place in Thailand and smoke some trees.
You are always in good shape, what diet do you have?
My diet's simple, I have a couple of healthy foods and I eat them throughout the day. I don't eat like normal people. Sometimes I'll have eggwhites for dinner, sometimes chicken and oatmeal. I don't eat for taste I eat for nutrition.
You fought a lot in Japan do you see yourself fighting there again at some point?
You gotta do what you gotta do man. Hopefully the next time I fight there will be if the UFC goes back. Whatever man, like I said, I can see myself fighting for four more years. Just fighting the best fights I can get for the most money.
What was your toughest fight and what would you consider your biggest victory?
The first fight Minowa was my biggest victory. I was brought in to lose that fight. I had no idea I was fighting in the main event. Previously I had a bad run of fights in the UFC and was released. That fight got my career back on track. Man I've had some hard fights, I think the toughest was fighting for the ICON title. I took that fight on thirty days notice and took a lot of damage, stupid mistake and I took 4 rounds of punishment after I won the first round.
What are your plans when you retire? Are you serious about moving back to Thailand and relaxing?
Who knows dude? My main plan is to win this fight and try and get on UFC's New Jersey card, I've done three months of hard fucking training and I got a couple of fights in me for sure. I've got to win this fight to advance my career and make more money. I'm going to come out trying to kick down doors and who knows what the future holds. Maybe I will go somewhere else and enjoy it there, but I really like Thailand and Hawaii.