The mentality that I take into every fight is that it’s do or die – it’s one
loss and I’m probably gonna be out of the UFC, so I try to get in there and win
every fight.” - Jon Madsen
Jon Madsen didn’t arrive in the UFC from the tenth
season of The Ultimate Fighter with the notoriety of Kimbo Slice, the experience
of Roy Nelson, the power of Brendan Schaub or the athleticism and charisma of
Matt Mitrione.
But a little over 15 months after that season’s finale card, he’s still here, outlasting Kimbo and castmate James McSweeney in the organization as he compiled a 4-0 Octagon record that has lifted his overall pro slate to 7-0.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that while
Madsen still remains unbeaten in the sport’s premier organization, Nelson is
fighting on the UFC 130 main card against former champ Frank Mir, Schaub is
coming off back-to-back wins over Gabriel Gonzaga and Mirko Cro Cop in
Pay-Per-View bouts, and Mitrione is 4-0 in the UFC and one of the media’s
favorite personalities.
As for the 31-year old Madsen, he’s still
looking for his time to shine, but he understands why he isn’t exactly a
household name yet.
“My first few fights, against (Mostapha) Al Turk,
(Justin) Wren, and (Karlos) Vemola were kinda boring fights,” he admits. “I got
in there and did what it took to win and I really didn’t take any risks. I think
in this sport the fans want to see you take risks and they want to see you stick
your nose in there and get a little bloody.”
It’s been said that winning
isn’t everything, it’s the only thing, but in the fight game, there can be an
asterisk attached to that statement. Winning is important in terms of fighting
your way to the title, but when you fight to finish in every minute of every
round - like a Chris Lytle – you can gain something more and it’s not just job
security. It’s the respect given that when you’re on the card, people will watch
whether you win or lose.
As Madsen pointed out, his first three bouts in
the Octagon were far from memorable. He pounded out three round decision wins
behind his stellar wrestling and ability to impose his will on his foes and keep
them where he wanted them. It was not exactly Fight of the Night material, and
he heard all the barbs thrown at him by critics and fans. It was almost as if he
was only using some of what was ingrained in him as he become a high school
wrestling star, a three-time All-American and a Division-II National Champ for
South Dakota State University.
“We’ve always been taught that when you
get an opponent down, you don’t let up, you break him, you finish him,” he said.
“You put him away and you make him quit.”
Madsen was getting his
opponents down, and he was winning the fights, but he was not finishing them.
Then came UFC 121 last October against veteran strike Gilbert Yvel and he had no
illusions about what was at stake.
“I think if I would have lost that
fight, I would have been done,” he said. “I don’t think there was any doubt in
my mind or probably even (UFC President) Dana (White’s) or (matchmaker) Joe
Silva’s. If I would have lost that fight or even won a fight that was really
boring, I probably would have been booted.”
Well, considering that he is
facing Mike Russow this Saturday at UFC Fight Night in Seattle, you know that
Madsen’s still here, so it’s evident what happened in Anaheim. But for those who
didn’t catch the results, Madsen took control from the opening bell, put Yvel on
his back, and finished him with strikes in less than two minutes. In a short
career thus far, it was a defining moment.
“I knew I’d eventually get him
to the ground, and once I landed a hard elbow I heard him kinda squeak and
squeal and I knew the fight was gonna be over soon,” said Madsen, who scored his
first TKO since June of 2008. “Everything went perfectly, I felt great, and the
fight went great too.”
Just like that, people started paying attention to
Jon Madsen again. That doesn’t mean he’s slacking off though.
“The
mentality that I take into every fight is that it’s do or die – it’s one loss
and I’m probably gonna be out of the UFC, so I try to get in there and win every
fight.”
Madsen makes that declaration with no trembling in his voice, or
any indication that this possibility is wearing him down. He sounds so calm that
he could very well be telling you about the weather.
“I don’t really
look at it as pressure,” he explains. “I look at it as a blessing in disguise.
My opportunity that I’ve had with the UFC has been great. I’ve been able to do
some world traveling and do things that I never thought I would have done in my
life, so each fight, I go into it like this the only fight I’ve had and it could
be my last fight, and if I lose, I’m done. But I don’t add any pressure from
that situation. It’s kind of a fact and something I just deal with.”
And
in his defense, he has only had seven fights since beginning to train in MMA in
February of 2007, making him a clear work in progress. But he knows he can’t use
inexperience as a crutch.
“I don’t know if the fans or anybody really
look at that,” he said. “(H.I.T. Squad coach) Marc Fiore told me that I’m
learning on the big stage, and not a lot of people get that chance. But I’m
thankful for each opportunity, and every fight is such a great learning
experience and you get so much better from every fight. I’d like to get a few
more under my belt and hopefully it will all come together.”
The next
test for Madsen, who trains with Greg Nelson in Minnesota, is Russow, another
heavyweight unbeaten in the UFC who has flown under the radar. Actually, let’s
change that to the past tense, since Russow made plenty of noise in the MMA
world last May with his come from behind knockout of then-unbeaten Todd Duffee
at UFC 114. An injury has kept Russow on the shelf since then, but as he
returns, Madsen thinks he can make a statement against the Chicago police
officer.
“He’s kinda got that mystique right now after his Todd Duffee
fight,” said Madsen. “Everybody thinks he’s hard to finish and get out of there
so it just gives me a great opportunity to get in there and go for the finish
and show that I can put away a guy that not many people think can get put away
right now.”
Yet while he has a great opportunity ahead of him, he also
has to be aware of Russow’s cast-iron chin, one that kept him in the Duffee
fight after absorbing copious amounts of punishment before he turned everything
around with a single right hand in the third and final round.
“Either
he’s got a good chin or Duffee hits like a girl,” laughs Madsen. “I’m not sure
what the situation is, but knowing that he’s gonna be in there for 15 minutes, I
like that. I know that I can go 15 minutes, I’ve done it in three of my other
fights, so I plan on pushing the pace on him and seeing if he can keep up to my
cardio level, and not the other way around.”
March 26th is a new day for
Jon Madsen. Another finish, and he might be able to stop thinking about pink
slips and more about championship gold.
season of The Ultimate Fighter with the notoriety of Kimbo Slice, the experience
of Roy Nelson, the power of Brendan Schaub or the athleticism and charisma of
Matt Mitrione.
But a little over 15 months after that season’s finale card, he’s still here, outlasting Kimbo and castmate James McSweeney in the organization as he compiled a 4-0 Octagon record that has lifted his overall pro slate to 7-0.
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that while
Madsen still remains unbeaten in the sport’s premier organization, Nelson is
fighting on the UFC 130 main card against former champ Frank Mir, Schaub is
coming off back-to-back wins over Gabriel Gonzaga and Mirko Cro Cop in
Pay-Per-View bouts, and Mitrione is 4-0 in the UFC and one of the media’s
favorite personalities.
As for the 31-year old Madsen, he’s still
looking for his time to shine, but he understands why he isn’t exactly a
household name yet.
“My first few fights, against (Mostapha) Al Turk,
(Justin) Wren, and (Karlos) Vemola were kinda boring fights,” he admits. “I got
in there and did what it took to win and I really didn’t take any risks. I think
in this sport the fans want to see you take risks and they want to see you stick
your nose in there and get a little bloody.”
It’s been said that winning
isn’t everything, it’s the only thing, but in the fight game, there can be an
asterisk attached to that statement. Winning is important in terms of fighting
your way to the title, but when you fight to finish in every minute of every
round - like a Chris Lytle – you can gain something more and it’s not just job
security. It’s the respect given that when you’re on the card, people will watch
whether you win or lose.
As Madsen pointed out, his first three bouts in
the Octagon were far from memorable. He pounded out three round decision wins
behind his stellar wrestling and ability to impose his will on his foes and keep
them where he wanted them. It was not exactly Fight of the Night material, and
he heard all the barbs thrown at him by critics and fans. It was almost as if he
was only using some of what was ingrained in him as he become a high school
wrestling star, a three-time All-American and a Division-II National Champ for
South Dakota State University.
“We’ve always been taught that when you
get an opponent down, you don’t let up, you break him, you finish him,” he said.
“You put him away and you make him quit.”
Madsen was getting his
opponents down, and he was winning the fights, but he was not finishing them.
Then came UFC 121 last October against veteran strike Gilbert Yvel and he had no
illusions about what was at stake.
“I think if I would have lost that
fight, I would have been done,” he said. “I don’t think there was any doubt in
my mind or probably even (UFC President) Dana (White’s) or (matchmaker) Joe
Silva’s. If I would have lost that fight or even won a fight that was really
boring, I probably would have been booted.”
Well, considering that he is
facing Mike Russow this Saturday at UFC Fight Night in Seattle, you know that
Madsen’s still here, so it’s evident what happened in Anaheim. But for those who
didn’t catch the results, Madsen took control from the opening bell, put Yvel on
his back, and finished him with strikes in less than two minutes. In a short
career thus far, it was a defining moment.
“I knew I’d eventually get him
to the ground, and once I landed a hard elbow I heard him kinda squeak and
squeal and I knew the fight was gonna be over soon,” said Madsen, who scored his
first TKO since June of 2008. “Everything went perfectly, I felt great, and the
fight went great too.”
Just like that, people started paying attention to
Jon Madsen again. That doesn’t mean he’s slacking off though.
“The
mentality that I take into every fight is that it’s do or die – it’s one loss
and I’m probably gonna be out of the UFC, so I try to get in there and win every
fight.”
Madsen makes that declaration with no trembling in his voice, or
any indication that this possibility is wearing him down. He sounds so calm that
he could very well be telling you about the weather.
“I don’t really
look at it as pressure,” he explains. “I look at it as a blessing in disguise.
My opportunity that I’ve had with the UFC has been great. I’ve been able to do
some world traveling and do things that I never thought I would have done in my
life, so each fight, I go into it like this the only fight I’ve had and it could
be my last fight, and if I lose, I’m done. But I don’t add any pressure from
that situation. It’s kind of a fact and something I just deal with.”
And
in his defense, he has only had seven fights since beginning to train in MMA in
February of 2007, making him a clear work in progress. But he knows he can’t use
inexperience as a crutch.
“I don’t know if the fans or anybody really
look at that,” he said. “(H.I.T. Squad coach) Marc Fiore told me that I’m
learning on the big stage, and not a lot of people get that chance. But I’m
thankful for each opportunity, and every fight is such a great learning
experience and you get so much better from every fight. I’d like to get a few
more under my belt and hopefully it will all come together.”
The next
test for Madsen, who trains with Greg Nelson in Minnesota, is Russow, another
heavyweight unbeaten in the UFC who has flown under the radar. Actually, let’s
change that to the past tense, since Russow made plenty of noise in the MMA
world last May with his come from behind knockout of then-unbeaten Todd Duffee
at UFC 114. An injury has kept Russow on the shelf since then, but as he
returns, Madsen thinks he can make a statement against the Chicago police
officer.
“He’s kinda got that mystique right now after his Todd Duffee
fight,” said Madsen. “Everybody thinks he’s hard to finish and get out of there
so it just gives me a great opportunity to get in there and go for the finish
and show that I can put away a guy that not many people think can get put away
right now.”
Yet while he has a great opportunity ahead of him, he also
has to be aware of Russow’s cast-iron chin, one that kept him in the Duffee
fight after absorbing copious amounts of punishment before he turned everything
around with a single right hand in the third and final round.
“Either
he’s got a good chin or Duffee hits like a girl,” laughs Madsen. “I’m not sure
what the situation is, but knowing that he’s gonna be in there for 15 minutes, I
like that. I know that I can go 15 minutes, I’ve done it in three of my other
fights, so I plan on pushing the pace on him and seeing if he can keep up to my
cardio level, and not the other way around.”
March 26th is a new day for
Jon Madsen. Another finish, and he might be able to stop thinking about pink
slips and more about championship gold.
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