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Part 1 was posted on March 28 and is available in the News Archives By Keith Mills
Amanda Buckner is an IFC and Ring of Fire Champion, Abu Dhabi '05 Submission Fighting Worlds vet, and has faced most of the top-ranked female fighters in North America including Jennifer Howe and Tara LaRosa. FCF: You were quoted as saying something to the effect of 'I feel a strong pressure to represent women and what they are capable of.' Do you think you accomplished that? AB: I think I did. I think I represent women well as far as the ideas I try to get across and as far as my fight goes I felt like that. I felt it looked like a skilled fight between two fighters. That is my goal every time I go out, win or lose. It sucks to lose, don't get me wrong, but I would rather lose a fight that looked like an amazing fight between two skilled fighters, than have a win in a sloppy match where people might say women aren't at that level yet. The fight between Julie (Kedzie) and I may have been short but I think we looked like two skilled people fighting. FCF: Please describe that fight. AB: It was a pretty short fight. I didn't go in with a specific gameplan. I knew she had a pretty strong striking background and thought my wrestling and jiu-jitsu was a little more experienced than hers. I didn't go in saying I wanted to take it to the ground. We ended up clinched after a couple short exchanges and I found myself in a position for a good takedown. I landed in good position and tried to stay aggressive. When I stood up in her open guard I landed a hard shot I could tell kind of rocked her a little bit. She kind of stood up with her head sticking out a little bit and I just grabbed for the guillotine.
FCF: On season 1 in Costa Rica you lost to Tara LaRosa. Can you describe that fight? AB: The fight was just a war. It was one of my best fights when I look back on it, one of those fights you will never forget. Tara and I have chatted a bunch since then and I definitely have respect for here as a fighter. FCF: If I recall correctly it ended when you hip tossed her when you were too close to the ropes so she bounced off the ropes into mount. AB: It wasn't a hip toss but some kind of takedown when I had really poor awareness of where I was. We bounced into the ropes and she did a great job of countering after that bounce, I tried to belly out and grab a single leg, stuck my neck out way too far, and she got on that choke real quick. FCF: That was your first loss in almost two years. Now you came back and beat Julie. How did it feel to put that loss to Tara behind you? Was the Tara loss haunting you at all? AB: The loss to here wasn't hard for me. It was really interesting because my training for that fight was really good, I felt I was in really good shape, and I felt I fought really well. Usually there is something to look back on to take solace in, like you have an injury or come back fired up about your training that gives you focus to get back into it. It was a really weird experience because I didn't have that. I fought as hard as I could, trained as hard as I could, and did everything right so to speak. It is one of those things that pushed me that much further, an interesting struggle that I hadn't dealt with before. FCF: How do you feel going into this fight in Russia? AB: I feel really good about this fight. Hitomi (Akano) is a great opponent, she is a tough girl, has great judo, and has slick submissions but I have Jay as a trainer. Jay (Jack) has prepared me twice now for girls that are very similar for two of my other Japanese fights. I feel very solid with my gameplan for it.
FCF: On the broadcast they also showed Roxanne Modaferri vs. Shayna Baszler presumably at 135 while the fourth was Sexton and Damm at 125. Do you know what all that was about? AB: I'm not sure. I originally thought I'd be fighting the winner of Sexton/Damm all the way until I was leaving St. Petersburg and Miguel mentioned it was going to be Akano because they are doing a 125 class now. I'm never really sure. I know I'm solid with this opponent and beyond that I don't know. FCF: You fought Shayna twice, she was on the Season 2 broadcast and she was on the press release as participating in the Costa Rica taping. Can you tell us about her? AB: Shayna is a tough fighter. I think she is one of the top fighters and is creeping up to be an even tougher fighter. I think she would be a tough fight for anyone not in the top ten right now. First time I fought her I thought 'that girl is tough' because nobody really heard of her. The second time it was the same thing. Nobody had really heard of her and I was the only one running around saying 'you don't understand, this girl is tough'. I'm glad to see she is getting fights with other tough girls. FCF: You have been in the trenches with the women's divisions all these years. Now that 135 especially is breaking out was it all worth it? AB: It was definitely worth it. It feels satisfying to have a big organization dedicated to making that happen and doing it in a timeframe where I'm still competing. I was going to be really bummed if I said I was done and a year later some organization really took this ball and ran with it. FCF: Like MMA Pioneer Jennifer Howe? AB: Yeah. You never know, you might see her back in there. I don't think unless her work situation changes how anyone can humanly do it. She works like seventy hours a week. It is unfortunate for the people that came on earlier but for me it is very exciting to be part of the organization that finally said 'we are going to commit to this, we want the top women in there and we are going to stick with you guys'. FCF: Too bad HOOKnSHOOT 'Revolution' vet Tanya Vlahac didn't live to see this. AB: I saw that. It is so insane my brain can't even wrap around it. I remember grappling her at NAGA or Grapplers Quest. She is the first women's fight I ever saw, her against Judy Neff. I must have watched it like five or six times. To me it was a wake-up call. Same thing happened with Shelby (Walker). It makes you look at life completely differently. Like I said I only grappled Tanya once and Shelby I never even spoke to in person, I think I exchanged posts with her on a forum. Just having these people you knew their name, saw their pictures, and saw their fights in the same weight class as you and then they are gone…it seems unbelievable. FCF: Do you think it is accurate to say you are the only holdover from those early days? AB: Tara was fighting before me. Roxanne has been around for a while but her fights were in Japan so she was new to me but she wasn't really new. It definitely seems strange. If I think about it too much I think 'my God, am I old?' At the same time I don't feel old so I don't care. It is hard to feel old at thirty-two. If I wanted to I could probably go another five years. I don't want to but I could if I wanted to. FCF: Are you locked into Bodog? AB: I'm not locked into them at all, actually. I have no contract with them so I'm fighting in Smack Girl in May. I'm doing Bodog in April, Abu Dhabi in May (submission fighting), and then two weeks later doing Smack Girl May 19th. FCF: How much are you looking past Russia at Smack Girl and Abu Dhabi? AB: I'm not looking past it at all right now. The second that fight is over in Russia I'll start thinking about whatever is coming up next. Bodog is my priority at this point. If I had to pick one between the three that is what I'd pick and that is where I'm concerned about putting on my best fight. FCF: Will three weeks after Russia be enough time for that level of competition? AB: Probably not. My conditioning will be great because I will have just trained for eight weeks for this fight. I did a grappling tournament once, a superfight division for women. I lost to somebody that was really good on points. I was really frustrated with it at first and then I reached a point I had to accept the fact I was going to either fight and do not so well in some of the grappling tournaments as I could if I focused on grappling or I'd have to quit the fighting if I was that concerned about it and focus on the grappling. A lot of the girls that are in Abu Dhabi or in the superfight divisions, that is all they do and that is what they focus on. I still think I can beat anyone on any given day but I'm not going to be the grappler I would be. Fighting to me is my priority and grappling my second love. FCF: You will compete in Abu Dhabi at the weight above Leka and Kyra? AB: Yes. I'll be in the one with Tara which will be interesting. FCF: Who else should the readers watch for in the women's 135 MMA division? AB: Myself and Tara, Shayna who is really tough, Debi (Purcell) wants to try to get a few more fights in provided her knee holds together, Roxanne is always tough, there are a bunch of the Japanese girls that are really good like Akano, at 125 you have Megumi Fuji and all those girls, Rosi (Sexton) is fighting at 125 but has fought at 135 so I don't know what she is going to want to do, and some up-and-coming girls people will start to hear about but aren't involved with like Bodog right now. Roxanne just fought a girl Cassandra Rivers…I've never seen her but heard she is tough. It is no longer you have three girls that are really tough. All those people that were game and trying before have now developed and are skilled fighters that can put on a good show. FCF: In EliteXC Gina Carano fought at I think 140. AB: It was supposed to be 140. FCF: Would you throw Gina in with the 135 mix? AB: I'd definitely put her in. I just forgot about her I guess. I've only seen her that one time. She would be a tough fight for anybody at this point despite having minimal MMA experience. She is big, strong, athletic, had sick striking…I think you could put her in with any of the top girls right now and it would be a war. FCF: What did you think of the way EliteXC presented Gina and can you compare and contrast it to Bodog? AB: I think EliteXC made a little more of a…I wouldn't say 'spectacle' in a bad way but a little more of a spectacle for lack of a better word where Bodog seems to just be presenting the women's fights as just other fights. It is not like some weight freak show thing. One thing that pissed me off about that EliteXC show was the women's fight was three three-minute rounds. They either did it because they were women or to favor Carano as a striker and either one of those reasons is complete bullshit. That really irritated me. I don't think they did a bad job, they just made it into more of a thing than Bodog does. Bodog just does like 'here are more fights'. FCF: I find the difference in culture between the 'Miguel fighters' and the mostly West and Southwest-based fighters of EliteXC interesting. Leading up to that EliteXC show two fighters who didn't want their names used were supportive of women on the card but complained they had bigger names or accomplishments but Gina 'took their spot on the televised card'. They were supportive but at the same time jealous of the status. AB: It is irritating and kind of depressing in society in general that they are supportive as long as it takes a backseat to the men. They are all good fighters but just because you are somebody or fight at a certain weight doesn't mean you are going to be the main event. None of this is about anybody deserving anything, it has to do with business and what they think will sell. That is what will make Dana bring out women in the UFC eventually, if there is enough of a demand that the business side of it outweighs his personal feelings. The men are going to have to realize that. No offense to you as a guy but it is going to be a real challenge. It is going to be amazing to me when there are men out there that feel those fighters are better and should be further on the card, they just happen to be women. No matter how good the women are the men are still going to feel 'I should be ahead of them'. I don't think that is anything that will change in my lifetime. FCF: We didn't really get that in IFC when Jennifer fought Roxanne but that was for a title. AB: It also wasn't televised. It gets into that sort of thing and people are freaking out they aren't on TV. FCF: Has the women's scene improve to the point of being able to support active divisions? AB: I think it has as far as one or two organizations. I don't think the pool is deep enough to have all these scattered all-women's shows all over the US. I think they will get stretched thin pretty quickly. At the same time I don't know what the money situation is for some of these other shows but I'm not willing to go to some smaller show and fight somebody for $500 anymore. FCF: I wonder if EliteXC is interested in the women's divisions without Gina. AB: The thing is too they don't want her to lose. That is going to reduce the pool of people they are going to choose from. I think they made a sketchy choice with Julie, that Julie could have won that fight. I don't think she was exactly at her best for that fight and she seemed a little intimidated right off the bat. I think she had the skills to win that fight but psyched herself out maybe. They aren't going to bring someone like Tara in or Debi to fight her. I don't have much hope for that organization doing much for the women because the guy running it stated he only wants very attractive women and pretty much Gina. FCF: Nobody is quite sure what is going on with Strikeforce where Gina got her first break. AB: I don't think the whole thing would have happened if she didn't look like she looks and is connected to the people she is connected with. She has a combination of looks, connections, and she fights well. FCF: Getting back to you in BodogFight do you think you are at the height of your popularity? AB: I don't know if I have any popularity to be at the height of. My fanbase is always going to be smaller because I am never going to have that look. I have an alternative appearance and I plan on keeping it. I'm not growing my hair out, I'm not going start wearing makeup, and I'm not going to put on a mini-skirt. FCF: And you can't do much about the tattoos. AB: I'm going to get more tattoos. It is always going to limit my fanbase. I'm not going to get the Yahoo fans from the Underground that want to have threads upon threads of pictures of me. That is great because that is not what I want anyway. I think I'm at the height of my career as far as things happening and good fights. I think these next couple years will be really good and then after that I'll probably be on my way out. FCF: How is the gym and training with Jay Jack going? AB: Training is awesome and Jay is one of the best coaches around. I can never emphasize as much as I would want to what an amazing teacher Jay is. He makes me feel so confident, especially against these girls that are so good at judo. He always develops such a good gameplan and I always go in feeling solid about it. The Academy of Mixed Martial Arts in Portland, Maine has possibly a second location coming. It is a great atmosphere. FCF: A lot of the women have their guys cornering them but you two mesh on a level not everybody does. You and Jay fought on one show together? AB: He cornered me and then I cornered him after my fight. There was a chance he would be fighting in this show in Russia and then it just didn't work out. As long as they assure us we'd have enough time that one could warm the other one up it is something we'd be willing to do. I don't know if it would be ideal just because there are always things that can happen, like if someone gets hurt. We'd never not corner each other because of it. FCF: I can see it now, Jay's first fight of the night is against an opponent and his second against the doctor trying to get him in an ambulance before your fight. AB: He'd go insane. If I was fighting and he wasn't there some people would be having their heads torn off. You have seen him in action before with the film crew in Costa Rica so you can imagine what that would be like. FCF: He was amazing to watch in Costa Rica. He knew the possibility of throwing away such an opportunity but it just didn't matter when he didn't know where you were. I don't think anyone else down there would have done that for their fighters. AB: I don't think so either. He reaches a line and he doesn't think about things like that. Fortunately it all worked out, I came back alive and we got to go back and do it again. |
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