Jeremy Horn has been building up an impressive record [34-4-4], but very few seemed to notice. All of a sudden he comes out and gives the undisputed UFC middleweight champion, Frank Shamrock, the fight of his life. That got him some attention. Jeremy Horn has been steadily refining and honing his skills, while gaining even more experience. He is yet another rising star out of Monte Cox's Extreme Challenge. After a disappointing performance against Ebenezer Fontes Braga in his next UFC appearance, Jeremy has come back with a vengeance, taking out everyone in his path. I caught up with Jeremy by phone, a little over a week after his victory over Jason Godsey in UFC XXII, on October 5, 1999.

FCF: Congratulations on yet another win in the octagon. You seemed to take out Godsey rather easily. Did you think the fight would go that way?
Jeremy Horn: No, actually I didn't know how it would go. I had an idea of the way I wanted it go, but you can never guarantee that's the way it's going to go.

FCF: Didn't you fight Godsey before in Extreme Challenge? Tell us about that.
JH: It was about two years ago and we fought in the finals of a tournament of an Extreme Challenge [VI, May 10, 1997]. I was a lot newer to the sport back then, and I assumed he was too. I just made some dumb mistakes and he caught a hold of me on one of them. He was about 240lbs., and I was about 195lbs. It was a heavyweight tournament and the weight limit was 190lbs and up, so he had a little bit of a weight advantage and I think he had a little bit of an experience advantage. That's about it.

FCF: There has been tons of talk about this fight being a work. A lot of people have come forward, including Jason Godsey, saying that the fight was real. Please set the story straight.
JH: It was real! The reason people think it was a work, I assume, is because of how quickly I let go of his arm. They think that it was planned and he didn't really tap and it didn't really hurt. The thing was that when I put it on, his arm was already straight, so it took very little pressure to straighten it out. And he and I are both gentlemen, so, he knew he was caught and I knew he was caught, so there's no reason to crunch on it and wait for [UFC Referee Big John] McCarthy to split us up. We both knew it was over. I don't even know if he actually tapped. I heard him scream a little bit, and that was it. That's all I needed because he knew he was caught. And I knew that he was enough of a gentleman that he wouldn't claim that he didn't tap or anything like that. So there's no need for that.

FCF: You gained a lot of weight for this fight and still were outweighed by Godsey. How did you feel with the added weight?
JH: Really about the same. Usually when I fight at middleweight, I cut about 20 lbs. to make 199lbs., so I'm normally about 220lbs. So I really didn't gain that much weight. I weighed about as much as I usually do.

FCF: Are you looking to put on more weight for the heavyweight division?
JH: No, this was kind of a one-time thing, but I might do it again in the future. That's the fight that was offered and it was a good opportunity for me because he beat me before. Everything fell together just right for this one, so I can't say that I would do it again, unless everything happens to fall together again. [laughs]

FCF: So are you planning on staying in the middleweight division?
JH: Yeah, I plan on staying a middleweight.

FCF: Are you looking to take over Frank Shamrock's middleweight title, since he announced that he stepped down?
JH: I'm sure everybody would like to. As to whether or not I will ever get the chance to fight for the title, that's anybody's guess. There's a lot of tough middleweights out there.

FCF: You have a very impressive record and a lot of experience, but you have only recently received the recognition that you deserve. Can you tell us about your background?
JH: Well I started in martial arts when I was thirteen. Just your general run of the mill stuff and when the first UFC rolled around, me and my partner started grappling and doing what we could. I had my first fight when I was twenty and about a month after that I met Pat [Miletich] at my second fight. And we just hit it off real well and I started going up there once or twice a month and spending a weekend with him and started working out. And I just got better from there. I recently moved to Davenport to train with him full-time last year.

FCF: What kind of formal training did you have?
JH: I started off in a style called Robert Bussy's Warriors International, I don't know if you ever heard of it. [I had] It's kind of a strange group, but I started off in that. The way that organization was organized was that each individual branch was encouraged to do their own thing. And the branch that I was at did a lot of grappling, so it was real natural for us, when we saw the UFC and the Gracie's and stuff like that. It was real natural for us to move in that direction and we just went from there.

FCF: How long have you been fighting?
JH: Four years.

FCF: How did you get into fighting in NHB?
JH: Well, I was around when Scott Morris got his shot in the second UFC. We just made the connections from there, with a couple promoters and managers that were starting out, Monte Cox doing his Extreme Challenge thing, and a guy named Tom Huggins, who was a fight promoter and he hooked us up with people who were putting together events.

FCF: Was it because your academy was geared toward NHB type training that you just naturally moved into that?
JH: Yeah, something like that. My relationship with those guys is…I should say that I'm not happy with them. I kind of downplayed my relationship with them. Take tae kwon do for example, any branch you go to your going to see identical techniques, everything is going to be the same. But in Robert Bussy's organization, each individual instructor was encouraged to focus on what he was best at and teach his class like that. And the branch that I started out with did a lot of grappling because my teacher had a wrestling background. Like I said before, so when I saw the UFC, it was real natural to pick that up and work from there.

FCF: What do you feel are the most important aspects of fighting in NHB?
JH: Honestly, I would say a relaxed, level head is one of the most important things you can have in a fight. There's a lot of people that freak out and lose their head when they get hit once or twice and can't handle it when it's really not that bad. And guys who get too aggressive and make mistakes and that kind of thing.

FCF: The UFC, thanks to John Peretti, has been bringing some new blood into the octagon. What do you think of the quality of fighters presently in the UFC?
JH: Oh, I think they're some of the best in the world. John Peretti does a real good job of scouting out some of the smaller shows for quality fighters. I think he does a real good job at that.

FCF: You have a very complete style. You have always been known for your groundwork, but you standup seems to get better with every fight.
JH: Yeah, I work on that more than I do on my ground work now because my standup was so far behind.

FCF: What kind of training are you doing to keep improving??
JH: We do a lot of sparring with pro boxers around the area. The way we train is always all out. We do drills from time to time for endurance and stuff like that and we go over new techniques from time to time, but the majority of our training is 10-12 of us get together and we just wrestle for two hours, just constant live competition. I think that's what helps us a lot.

FCF: How do you train for a fight?
JH: Usually, if I'm fighting someone who is pretty one-dimensional, I would train to get around that, but everybody is fairly well rounded. I just train in everything. I try to get my stamina as good as it can be. I'm always trying to get stronger. I just try to be as well rounded as possible. There's no way you can work a game plan anymore. It's one thing if you fighting a guy who can't fight on the ground or a guy who can't box, you can just focus on that. But everybody's so well rounded that you've got to be well rounded.

FCF: Pat Miletich has always been confident in his conditioning and all his guys are well conditioned also. What do you guys do to get that way?
JH: Pat has always been a maniac about running and wrestling and stuff like that and that just rubs off on all of us. We just all wrestle hard at the gym. A normal workout for us is wrestling for an hour and a half straight, HARD. So you're either getting better or you quit. [laughs]

FCF: So you guys just do normal training, but you increase the intensity?
JH: Yup.

FCF: Where do you see yourself in NHB? What are you hoping to attain?
JH: I don't really have any goals, so to speak. I just want to fight and do the best I can. It's nice to get the recognition, but mostly I just want to compete. I don't have a whole lot of goals in that area.

FCF: So you don't have your sights set on a championship?
JH: No, not necessarily. If it comes along, it would be nice, but I'm not really focusing on it. I just want to compete.

FCF: How long do you plan on fighting?
JH: As long as I can. Until I can't physically handle it anymore. It will be a long time. This is actually a pretty mellow sport. Win or lose, you usually don't take a lot of damage.

FCF: How old are you?
JH: Twenty-four.

FCF: Wow, you have a lot of time ahead of you. Is there anyone specifically you would like to fight?
JH: No, not particularly. Like I said, I don't really have a whole lot of goals. Although I would like to fight Frank [Shamrock] again, but other than that, I don't have anyone in particular in mind.

FCF: What did you think of Frank's performance at the UFC [versus Tito Ortiz]?
JH: He looked very good. He came ready to fight, that's for sure. He had a good game plan and good stamina and he was ready to go.

FCF: Do you have any up coming fights?
JH: Yeah, have you heard about that big 32-man tournament that Rings is putting on?

FCF: Yup.
JH: I'm fighting in that at the end of this month, the first 16-man bracket. [October 28 in Tokyo, Japan]

FCF: Did they release the names of all the fighters competing in that tournament?
JH: I haven't heard. I'm hearing rumors that Renzo Gracie's going to be in it, Kevin Randleman, Brad Kohler, Mark Coleman. But you never know, you'll how rumors get started. Monte Cox is my manager and he told me that Brad Kohler is in. But for the others, I can't tell you. That's the rumors that I'm hearing.

FCF: Are you doing anything special for that tournament?
JH: Nope. I'd like to get a little leaner, get my stamina going a little better, my standup, that kind of thing.

FCF: So larger opponents don't worry you?
JH: You know, larger opponents doesn't really bother me that much, but stronger [opponents] are dangerous. Like Kevin Randleman for example, he's more muscular than me, but he's only 218lbs and I'm 220lbs. So the weight doesn't matter, but he's probably like ten times stronger than me. Now that's a concern. I wouldn't be worried about fighting someone that's 300lbs., unless they're a very, very strong 300lbs. That's dangerous.

FCF: Anything else you would like to add?
JH: No, that would be about it.

FCF: Thanks for the interview and good luck in that tournament.
JH: All right, thanks.