The Carlson Gracie team is synonymous with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and No Holds Barred Fighters. They have arguably the best and most active Jiu-Jitsu fighters competing today. Superstars like Vitor Belfort, Carlos Barreto, Murilo Bustamante, Alan Goes, and Mario Sperry help uphold the honor of not only the legendary Carlson Gracie, but all Jiu-Jitsu practioners and fighters worldwide. Carlson has brought many of his most talented instructors to open schools here in the US. One of these instructors is black belt Rodrigo Medeiros who runs Carlson's Los Angeles school with assistant instructor and brown belt John Ouano. While being very successful in the sport BJJ realm, it was only a matter of time before some of these American students follow in the tracks of their Brazilian instructors and jump in to the squared circle or octagon. One of these promising young fighters is Javier Vasquez who will be fighting in California's King of the Cage on April 15, along with Carlson teammate and UFC veteran Todd Medina [who is headlining the card]. I caught up with Javier at the La Habra Rodrigo Medeiros/Carlson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy on Saturday, April 1, 2000.

Full Contact Fighter: I understand that you are an experienced wrestler as well as a Jiu-Jitsu player. Please tell me the specifics (years of experience, belt rank, etc.) of your mixed martial arts background.
Javier Vasquez: Well, I've been wrestling since I was about 15, about 9 years. I'll be 24 April 27, so almost 9 years and Jiu-Jitsu almost 3 years. So, I guess the total if you put them together, about 12 years.

FCF: Do you do any stand-up training also?
JV: Yeah, I've been starting to box a little. I do a little kickboxing, still pretty new to it, but I'm trying to work real hard to try to complete my skills.

FCF: What caused you to change gears from wrestling and start Jiu-Jitsu?
JV: Well, wrestling, primarily you know, it was beating up my body a lot. I love to wrestle, but it's real hard to stay focused and determined because it takes a big toll on your body. My back was starting to hurt, my knees were starting to hurt, ankles, everything was just starting to hurt. Actually, my first Jiu-Jitsu instructor Betiss Mansouri…he'd go up there and was training some guys and he saw me wrestling and he approached me about Jiu-Jitsu and I said, "Yeah, I've always wanted to try it, but I don't know where to go or what to do." As soon as I started, I kind of got hooked on it and I just enjoy it a lot. And again, it's not real pounding on my body. I can go a lot longer. Basically, it's a lot easier on my body than wrestling is, even though I still wrestle, I do a lot more Jiu-Jitsu than I do wrestling now.

FCF: What made you enter the fight game?
JV: …Just exposure. I have a school with a couple of buddies of mine in Pomona and just wanted to try it and try to get the name of the school out. That's about it. It seemed fun, I wanted to try it. Now I thought I could be successful at it. I saw what a lot of people were lacking and I thought I was, at the time and even still, I'm still pretty complete, even though my striking isn't all that great. I'm still pretty complete, at least as a grappler, on my feet and on the ground.

FCF: In that previous fight, you represented Millennia Jiu-Jitsu. Now you represent both Millennia and Carlson Gracie. Can you explain that situation and tell us who your grappling instructors are?
JV: Well, Millennia is basically again, my school with two friends of mine, Romie Aram and John Jensen. Rodrigo, after Betiss, I was still training with Betiss, my wrestling instructor is Larry Watanabe was looking around and found a school in Whittier. We went down there and checked it out and that was Rodrigo's school and since he's moved to La Habra. He has been my Jiu-Jitsu instructor since, I mean, I still train with Betiss, but Rodrigo's still the black belt, technically, that I'm under. I come down once or twice a week to his studio and train there and the rest of the time, I'm at Millennia.

FCF: You actually teach the classes at Millennia?
JV: Yeah, I teach the wrestling part, freestyle submission, and a lot of the gi stuff. I do a lot of the teaching and then Romie and John teach the boxing and they still teach the Jiu-Jitsu and stuff, but I primarily teach the wrestling, the freestyle classes like freestyle submissions and the Jiu-Jitsu.

FCF: You arm barred Louie Cercedes in the August 1999 King of the Cage. Did you have any other fights and if so, what were the outcomes?
JV: Yeah, I had a few fights. I fought Jerry, the head instructor at Gracie Upland and I arm barred him. I fought a couple of times at the King of the Cage. I beat Aaron Anderson, arm barred him. I beat another wrestler at the King of the Cage. It was Aaron's cousin…I can't remember his name though…McIntire, something McIntire and I triangled him. I fought Cleber that night, Cleber Luciano [Rickson Gracie Black Belt], went 25 minutes with him, thought I won, the crowd thought I won, the announcers thought I won [laughs], but I guess the judges didn't. So I lost there. First time I ever fought was at Neutral Grounds and I won. My first two matches I beat Kenny Kellenburger, who is a purple belt under Joe Moreira [Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt], at the time I was a blue belt and I beat…one of the wrestlers. He wrestled at Cal State Fullerton. I think he took 6th at the Olympic trials that year. I arm barred him. I lost to Victor Hunsacker [from the Shark Tank] that day. His half of the bracket was a little easier than mine [laughs] and I was pretty tired. I lost there. Those were my first 3 fights. That's it.

FCF: What's your overall record?
JV: Let's see…8, I'd like to say 1-1 because the Cleber thing. I really don't consider that a loss and then Victor beat me, I guess [laughs]. Even though that fight was supposed to go in to an overtime, they just called it in the regulation. So I didn't get my overtime, but technically, Victor beat me and Cleber beat me, but I still don't consider that a loss to this day.

FCF: Do you feel that sport Jiu-Jitsu is a good stepping-stone to eventually start to fight professionally?
JV: Yeah, I think any kind of competition is going to help. Anytime you're out there in front of a crowd, it's going to help. It'll calm your nerves. I think that sport Jiu-Jitsu is the main part of my training. The gi teaches you a lot of little details, a lot of little movements that really make you not work as hard. Say, if you take a just straight wrestler and you just start training him freestyle Jiu-Jitsu and you never put a gi on him, he's not going to be anywhere as near as technical…he might still be intense and he might still be quick and strong and all that good stuff, but he won't be as technical. He'll work a lot harder, than if you take a wrestler and you start him with a gi. The gi makes you 10 times more technical.

FCF: Can your fighting technique be classified as a wrestler trained in Jiu-Jitsu or is it a constant blend of both wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu?
JV: Like I said, I never started fighting when I was wrestling so I'm a Jiu-Jitsu fighter no matter what…and I just have wrestling skills [laughs]. That's the way I classify it. I think I'm a pretty good wrestler, but a lot of times wrestling is not going to win you matches, it's submissions. That's what going to win you matches. So, I'm still no matter what, I'm still a Jiu-Jitsu fighter.

FCF: Todd Medina who is a UFC veteran and Carlson Gracie teammate is also the card. Do you feel more pressure to perform or does his experience help to ease your anxiety?
JV: When I have to go out there and fight, as much as I'd like to, I don't watch anybody's fights. I try to stay away from the ring. I try not to worry about anyone else except for myself. As selfish as that sounds, the second you start thinking about other people, you lose focus on yourself. I'm just real to myself. I try to talk to my friends. I try to play games. I just try to stay away from it. Don't get me wrong. I'd be the first one to be in Todd's corner. I'd be the first to be in anybody's corner that I know and that's a teammate of mine, but when I'm fighting, honestly, I have to think about myself. We can hang out after. We can party after. We can do whatever after, but come fight time; I have to be focused on what I have to do.

FCF: Will Todd come down to train with you at Rodrigo Medeiro's La Habra academy to finalize his training or just take care of his training himself?
JV: Well, Todd doesn't have to come down here because he has his own school. He has those thing to take care of, so a lot of the times, we go down there. I helped him a little with his wrestling, but he helped me with boxing and he helped with leg locks. I kind of throw in little tid bits, he throws in his, but the majority of the time, we end up going over there. He really doesn't stop by here that much. It's closer for him there and he's probably more comfortable there. He has no reason to come down here, especially since a lot of the times there are little [light guys, Todd is a 200 pounder] white belts and blue belts down here. He's not going to get any benefit from that. Over there, he's got his bags and he's got a group of guys he can train with over there, so normally we go over there.

FCF: What do you know about your opponent Antonio Emay who run's Emay's Academy?
JV: Don't know much about him. Just know that he does Jiu-Jitsu and he does Tae Kwon Do. That's about it. I'm not too concerned about what he does. I'm just concerned with what I have to do. He's got to beat me. He's got to figure out a way to beat me. That's just the way I see it. You start worrying about what your other opponents starts doing, it's going to take away from your own training. I'm not too worried about him. I'm not too worried about anyone. I just have to focus on what I have to do on getting myself better.

FCF: Do you have any fights lined up after this King of the Cage?
JV: Possibly, June…I'm not sure who I'm going to fight, but I'm probably going to fight again to try to get in to the UFC, probably against Jens Pulver. I might fight David Velasquez. There's a couple other guys that Terry is throwing out to see who I want to fight. The guy I want to fight is David Velasquez. He's already fought in the UFC. [If] I beat him, there's a pretty much a real good chance that I can get in there. That's my goal for now; to get in there and win whatever title they want to name it. Lightweight or super lightweight or whatever. That's what I want to get in there and win and probably fight there a few times and retire there. That's about it.

FCF: Thanks for your time and we are looking forward to an explosive battle and another great event.
JV: Thank you.