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The Splitting of the Jesus is Lord Team By Michael Onzuka - Mike@onzuka.com 
The Jesus is Lord team made waves from the beginning. They started fighting and started their quest of spreading the word of Jesus Christ while spreading their opponents' faces across the squared circle. The JIL team made people talk in the beginning mainly because people questioned their mixture of religion with fighting. As MMA evolved to the public as a legitimate sport, people could make the connection of the Jesus is Lord team to a competitor like Evander Holyfield, a fighter who is also strongly religious. Another reason people were talking was that the Jesus is Lord fighters, mainly Ray "Bradda" Cooper and Ron "The Machine Gun" Jhun, were exciting to watch with their hard-hitting, straight-punching, and initial ground-and-pound style. The team quickly added submissions to their arsenal and improved their standing skills to keep up with the top fighters in MMA. Ray Cooper gained immediate notoriety with the Shooto organization, ranking as high as number one in the welterweight class. Ron Jhun has been spreading the wealth fighting in SuperBrawl, Warrior's Quest, IFC, Shooto, and recently in the WFA, gaining an impressive record. Like many teams, the Jesus is Lord team has had some internal problems which caused the team to split. Ray Cooper, who is the founder and leader of the Jesus is Lord team continues to lead the team, while Ron Jhun and has left. I caught up with Ron after his win at Warrior's Quest in December to talk about his fight, his controversial WFA fight with Jermaine Andre, and the break up of the JIL team.FCF: First, what did you think about your opponent Shannon Ritch, knowing that he's had about 80 fights? Ron Jhun: I knew he was going to be tough. In the fight game nowadays, you can't underestimate anybody. I was thinking that Shannon was a credible fighter. He fought Frank Shamrock recently, he stepped in the ring with [Kazushi] Sakuraba, so he's fought some named fighters and did his best. I took it in the way that he's been around the block, so just another stepping stone. FCF: Did you think he was going to come out throwing those high kicks like he did? RJ: Yeah. I kind of knew he was going to do something crazy like kicks and flying back kicks and all of that stuff. I kind of had the feeling that he wanted to get it over with. Either he's going to catch me or I'm going to catch him, so he seemed like he just wanted to go all out. FCF: Once you got him to the ground, did you feel that you took him out of the fight? RJ: Yeah, it was just a matter of time. I could hear him breathing kind of hard on the ground so I just didn't want to rush the punches before he goes for a leg lock or something. I just wanted to hold my position and hit the body and hit the head and move every time. It was kind of practicing what I did back at the gym and I just didn't want to go all out and explode. I wanted to take my time and work some of the stuff that I have been working on. 
RJ: Most definitely. If not at the top, I feel I should be one of the guys in the mix right now. The fight with Jermaine [Andre], I thought it would have been a tougher fight, but I guess I let the referee get involved. The way I looked at it, I don't think Mario Yamasaki knew too much about me and I guess he'd seen Jermaine, so I guess on his part he felt that I couldn't have handled the punishment he would have dished out, but I felt I was dominating the fight the whole three minutes, up until 3:11 and he had five seconds that he turned the fight. Mario said he made a bad call, but there are certain ways of winning a fight, there's submission, TKO, KO, the judges, and the ref so on that case I let the ref be the judge of that. It's something I learned from and hopefully I can get a rematch of that fight. We appealed it. So far things might be looking good on a rematch with Jermaine probably at WFA, but I feel that he wouldn't want a rematch.FCF: Are you appealing for a no contest or just a rematch? RJ: Hopefully, we can get a no contest and get a rematch and hopefully fight for a title or something of that sort. I don't think it really hurt my chances of getting into the UFC or the bigger shows. I just felt that it was a bad call and the referees have a tough job, just as us who are getting in the ring and fighting and he apparently made that call on a judgment call. I still give him respect for his job and what he has to do in the ring. FCF: Do you feel that recently referees have been stopping the fights prematurely whereas, maybe even two to three years ago the fights would have gone a little longer allowing the fighters to recover and turn the fight? RJ: From my understanding, they sanctioned it [MMA] in Nevada and the Nevada boxing commission was on hand, so he felt he had to be on top of the situation as far as stopping the fight or maybe letting the fight go on a little further and these guys [the Athletic Commission] may reconsider about passing the law and stopping NHB, but then again, there were three fights before mine that was on the ground and these guys with big gashes on the side of their eye. That gave me the idea that he probably had the jitters already [due to some bloody fights earlier in the evening, one of which that he reffed], but yes they do stop it a lot quicker now. On the part of the fighters, they have to work out and fight out of different situations like if someone is in a dominant position, they have to work out quicker instead of relaxing and letting the guy wear themselves down. FCF: Do you think that generally it's a bad thing that the referees are stopping the fights quicker or do you think that to protect the fighters' safety, they are stopping the fights at the right time? RJ: It's hard to say. It's really a judgment call. I would say that if you get hit, I would say, more than three punches square in the head, unanswered, and you are in a defensive position where you cannot defend anymore punches, I feel the fighter didn't do his job as far as defending himself, but if the fighter is on the bottom and he's bobbing and weaving, moving and scrambling, and the guy is punching and missing, the ref should let the fight go on and they should do more talking to the fighters just to make sure that the fighters are aware of what is going on and bring it up in the press conference and say that if I say, "Bottom man, are you clear," or "Can you respond?" and the bottom man doesn't respond in that certain time period and he asks him twice and he doesn't give an answer back, I feel that the fighter could be unconscious or out of the fight already so I would say stop it. Larry Landless told me if you can't tap out say something verbally and if he asks me if I can continue from the bottom and I'm getting hit and I don't say anything, he's going to stop it. We should keep that in mind that they [the promoters] should bring more of that up, especially the referee. I mean Mario Yamasaki, in my fight, I didn't even know there was a ref in the ring. He was nowhere. I had Jermaine down and I was hitting him in the body and in the head and he stopped the fight and said that there was not enough action and that was the first bad call he made. I'm just going to let that fight go. What happened, happened, and like I said, I let the referee be the judge of the fight and from that experience in a bad position, I just might just try to get out quicker instead of letting him do his thing and wear himself down. FCF: Let's move on to a subject that is a little harder to talk about. I heard that you recently had a falling out with Ray "Bradda" Cooper and the Jesus is Lord team. What is the status of the team and what basically happened? RJ: We're still as one. We're still a family. I guess we were fighting for the same reason, to glorify God, but I guess we were headed in different directions. I feel that I was getting more into the sport, into the business side, and my sister-in-law [Monica Cooper, Ray's wife] was getting into the spiritual side. I feel no one was wrong. They just had their vision and we had our vision and we just weren't on the same eye level, but I guess things happen for a reason. I guess for the better, but I feel this [the separation] is temporary and maybe we all can learn from this and grow as adults. FCF: Can you elaborate on the part where you said that you were more into the sport aspect and they were more in to the spiritual aspect? RJ: It's hard to say. From my perspective, I look at the fighting as a ministering tool. I enjoy going out and traveling and meeting different people, traveling to different states and I guess on my side, I lead by example on how I carry myself, so I would say that I would be a minister of example. On the other side, Monica [and some of the others] are more ministering with the word of God which is everything is from the Bible. In the group, she was the strong spiritual backbone of our team and ministry and I took it more to the physical side. I wanted to define myself and be a testimony in the physical realm and I went ahead and trained like a champion would train. I did more of that and she relied more on God and the spiritual side, for God's strength. I don't know how this came about, but it was a matter that was built up over time. FCF: Did you feel that the way she was thinking was hindering the amount of training you felt that you needed to do? RJ: Yeah, they felt that I put the sport first, instead of God. Maybe, I looked at it differently and I feel that Evander Holyfield is a perfect example. He loves God, but when it comes to training, he trains his hardest to be the best fighter in the world, but yet he can still go in the right and glorify God because of his work. I felt that's what I was trying to do, be the best athlete in the world, but still give God the praise because if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be in this sport that I enjoy so much and sharing it with the rest of the people around the world. I never thought I would be traveling, me and my family, so that in itself, is a blessing so I just felt that I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing. FCF: In your opinion, how did Monica's vision of the team differ from yours? RJ: I would say that they had a pattern of how they were doing things and I felt that I stepped out of those boundaries and did things on my own understanding, instead of by their guidelines. Monica and Bradda were the heads of our team because Bradda started this, so I would say that I stepped out of bounds as far as leadership. I was taking things into my own hands and she felt things would come to us. God would bring things to us, but I felt that we got to go out and do things and I wanted to get the exposure and maybe at the time, I felt that I wasn't as experienced as I needed [to be]. Bradda was well gifted. I told him that God gifted him with a lot of talent and I was unfortunately one of those people that had to work on my talent, so it was like we were two sides of a coin. I felt that I really needed to go out and make a name for myself and get exposure, but he already made exposure right from the beginning so it was kind of hard for me to go over his head and do stuff like that [e.g. book his own fights], but we are still family. That's still going to be my brother. That's still going to be my sister. I still love them dearly. FCF: What's the status of the training. I know you guys have a gym in Waipahu. Who is training with whom? RJ: We started renting the place out on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. So we got HAMMA, the Hawaii Association for Mixed Martial Arts, training there on those days, and Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays are still the Jesus Is Lord guys and Bob-O [Ostovich] still has his garage down in Ma'ili so the guys from the West Coast are in the garage temporarily. So until we determine what we are going to do with the gym and we find another place, right now things are kind of unsolved on this side. FCF: So is it you and Kai Kamaka and they have Ray Cooper and Bozo Palling? RJ: Me and Kai are basically handling the Tuesdays and Thursdays and Ray, Bozo, and Bob-O, they are taking care of the Jesus is Lord team. FCF: I know it's hard to talk about it. RJ: I mean, coming in tonight was an odd feeling because we are not united as one, you know? We just have to see what the Lord reveals to us. Maybe I can learn from what I wasn't doing now that we are on our own and maybe I can get closer to God and maybe they can learn something too. I'm looking at it as a learning experience right now. FCF: I guess one good thing is you can't go too far because you all are family. Family is family forever, whether you like it or not [laughs]. RJ: That's the real lynching part. We are always going to see them on holidays and because of the kids [Ray and Ron both have large families]. This is the longest I've never seen my nephews and it hurts me not to see them. I know God's got his hand on the situation. Only time will tell. FCF: Good luck and hopefully everything works out well for everyone. RJ: Thanks Mike. God Bless. FCF's Mike Onzuka was the only one granted an interview by Monica Cooper, Ray's wife who is part of the leadership that runs the Jesus is Lord team, regarding the subject of the breakup. Monica and Ray are busy putting together their own event called LineBred, which is a boxing type of event which the Coopers hope to use to stir up interest in physical fitness for the general public in Hawaii and allow your average Joe to start competing in an amateur event. LineBred will have fighters with 16 oz. gloves take part in a toughman type of event, but there will be one takedown allowed per round to avoid having their competitors go through the red tape of becoming an amateur boxer. Fighters who are interested can contact Ray and Monica at linebredllc@aol.com. According to Monica, Ray is looking to further his career by fighting the best opponents with the best records in order to reach his goal of obtaining a Shooto title or a fight in the UFC. He does not want to pick his fights, but he wants to compete with the best, no matter the amount of money or the venue. Monica also stated that if Ray gets offered a fight in the UFC, he wants to be a primary choice, not a replacement fighter or due to the dropping of names. Cooper is in a rebuilding phase of his career to put past his recent losses, make some adjustments, and use the added experience to propel his career further. Summary of the two sides of the breakup: Ray and Monica Cooper felt that exposure and opportunities to fight in a large event such as the UFC will come if the Jesus is Lord team continues to fight worthy opponents. They feel that the journeyman approach of earning their way in to the UFC instead of fighting certain opponents and padding their records in order to gain entry in to the biggest event in the U.S. is the honorable way to not only earn a spot in the UFC, but the best way to stay successful in the Octagon. As stated above, Ron Jhun feels that he needs to take it upon himself to fight in different events in order to get his name out to the general public. The added exposure will turn the heads of the matchmakers and promoters to keep an eye on Ron and his progress in MMA and eventually lead to an opportunity to fight in the UFC. This difference of opinion, along with other minor things, have resulted in the breakup. Both do not rule out getting back together, in fact, I sensed that both do want to mend things, especially since they are literally family. This is a very touchy situation because of the family ties, I appreciate both the Coopers and Ron Jhun for talking to me to help clarify this situation for the MMA public. |
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