Exclusive post Bisping/Hamill fight interview with Matt Hamill by Mike McConnell for the Kokonut Pundit blog. Interview includes a surprise possible radio interview on the Howard Stern radio show. Did he say Howard Stern...? Yes, indeed he did say that in one of his post fight emails to me prior to the interview.
1. What was London like and how did the British people treat you before the fight?
London is a beautiful city. The sight-seeing I got to do was incredible. The British were very courteous to me and my team.. we had no problems with them.
2. How was the food? Anything unusual you ate for the first time in London?
The food was good... pancakes was the best meal I had out there.. especially since I had been in training mode for quite a bit before the fight and had to monitor my food intake. So I got to eat after the weigh-in... it was delicious.
3. Did you have time to visit the sights around London before or after the fight?
Yes.. my trainers and I had a chance to go on a journey before the press conference. It was incredible to learn the history and see the historic places.
4. Was this your first trip outside of the United States and did any of your family go with you?
No, it wasn't my first time outside of the US. I have done a lot of traveling for wrestling... my very first trip outside of the US was to Denmark in 1997 for the Deaf Olympics. I've been lucky to see a lot of different places outside of the US. My family didn't get a chance to come out to London for this fight.
5. Did you make any new British friends? Hearing or deaf?
I made new friends there very fast.. all of them were hearing except for one deaf person. All very nice.
6. Did you see a lot of deaf British fans out there in support of you?
No.. I didn't see any deaf fans there... just that one deaf guy I met that lived in London.
7. Ok. Let's get to the fight questions. That night you were very solid in Round 1 and 2. You were relentless going after Bisping with jabs and hits, and several good take downs although Bisping escaped from some of those take downs. What were some of the lessons you learned that night? Is there something you wished you'd have done differently?
It was part of my game plan.. to surprise Bisping. I had to be careful with my knee and couldn't take down as much as I would have liked to.. but I feel the way I fought him was successful in my eyes. Yes, there is always room for improvement.. and I will do such.
8. Many of the fans were expecting you to do your patented "ground and pound" routine against Bisping. Is this something that you wished you should've done more effectively when your take downs were successful?
Yes, ground and pound is my best weapon. I know it didn't happen as much in this fight but again, I had to be careful with my knee and it wouldn't have been as effective.... I was limited that night.
9. Has Dana White talked to you after that fight? We know from reading the news that Dana knew you won that fight and that you deserve a rematch. What's your take on that?
No, I didn't see Dana after the fight.
10. Has any of the big name MMA professionals contacted you (for example, Liddel, Couture, Tito, etc) in show of support that you were the real winner that night?
Yes.. I did hear from Dan Henderson, Tito Ortiz and Houston... it was great to hear from them and their feedback. I also got a lot of comments on MySpace regarding the fight. The support has been amazing.
11. Will you fight differently if you get that rematch against Bisping? Or will it be more of a stand up fight?
I may or may not. I can't tell you my game plan now, can I? But hopefully, my knee will be better and there will be a different story to be told during the rematch. .
12. What was the most memorable part of this whole UFC 75 deal?
Getting my chance to have a match against one of the best TUF3 opponents, like I had wanted to do when I was on the show.
13. The Howard Stern show is a radio show. That mean you'll be talking on the radio with Howard? Correct? Are you nervous?
Yes.. it will be on the radio... I have been in contact with the Howard Stern Show and nothing is confirmed yet. It should be fun. No, I'm not nervous. No time to be nervous.
14. I recently did a poll on my Kokonut Pundit blogsite asking the question whether your talking to hearing people such as the UFC reporters was acceptable. The results showed about 30% found it unacceptable that you used your voice to communicate but about 65% supported you (5% said "not sure") regardless whether you signed or talked. Many say that you should sign more often and speak less while others say it does not matter since you still represent the Deaf community and are seen as a Deaf role model anyway. What do you say to those people who found it unacceptable that you used your voice? And will you sign more often or will that depends on the situation?
I will always try to represent the deaf community.. after all, its my world. I do usually talk and sign for my interviews. But that night, I felt bad after I had lost the fight and remembering to sign was the last thing on my mind. I was around hearing people and I automatically shift to speaking when I am around the hearing world. I apologize if I offended the deaf community. It wasn't my intention to NOT sign. I was just overwhelmed with emotion after having had lost.
15. Do you have any last words to the readers of Kokonut Pundit?
I just wanted to say thank you for your support, I will keep you posted as to when the rematch will be.
There you go folks. Right now, I will be collecting questions from Kokonut Pundit readers for Matt Hamill to answer. Especially in light of the possible upcoming Howard Stern radio show interview. Once I have enough of your questions I will send them over to Matt. Whether he will respond or not is up to him. And if so I will have his answers posted here on my Kokonut Pundit blog. Please note, I will not accept any personal questions for Matt. Use common sense before submitting your questions. Thanks.
See previous Matt Hamill interviews by Mike McConnell.
UPDATE: See more explanations on why Hamill apologized to those who thought he was wrong on his right to use his voice to talk at the MMA fight. The poll results may have been skewed (slightly) by the few Deaf yahoos who thought it'd be fun to mess up the poll results but it (if true) would only mean they managed to hurt themselves and the Deaf community in the process.
© 2007. Kokonut Pundit. Further reproduction prohibited without permission of author, Mike McConnell.
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