Team Tooke’s Andrew Craig on Beating Jon Kirk and His Upcoming Legacy Title Shot Against Bubba Bush!

On April 9th 2011, the Arena Theater will play host to one of the most highly-anticipated matchups in recent history as Andrew Craig (current IXFA Middleweight Champion) comes over to do battle with Bubba Bush for the Legacy Fighting Championship middleweight title.

In this fight, what fans can expect is a colossal battle between potential and performance.

As shown in our recent interview, College Station’s Bubba Bush is a blue-chip prospect with a grand total of two fights. Despite the limited record, BVMMA’s Fighting Aggie showed himself to be dominant in his last Legacy appearance, dominating seasoned-veteran Chris Spicer en route to a third round finish despite a two-year layoff since his brief MMA debut.

In stark contrast, Team Tooke’s Andrew Craig enters this fight as the now-proven commodity, especially in the Houston fight scene. Once considered a hot prospect leaving the amateur scene unscathed with a 4-0 record, Craig will enter this fight undefeated as an undefeated four-fight professional fresh off a victory over area legend Jon Kirk.

That aforementioned fight was labeled as a battle of old guard versus new, marking a new era for Houston MMA as Andrew Craig and others like him step in to fulfill the potential of a new generation.

This upcoming Legacy middleweight title fight could be the same in that it serves as yet another platform for a young lion to step up as the dominant fighter in the 185 weight class.

We recently talked to Andrew Craig to get his thoughts on this upcoming bout and more.

First of all, congratulation on your recent win at IXFA over Jon Kirk. That’s another huge notch in your belt. How did it feel getting that victory?

It felt really good. It always feels a lot better to beat an opponent with a “name” like Jon Kirk and Rodrigo Pinheiro. I was happy definitely happy with that win.

Did that fight go according to the strategy you had in mind before the fight?

My coaches had told me that they thought I could submit him. With a guy like Kirk, you kind of want to take him out because he is going to keep coming at you with the same stuff – big head kicks, try to take you down, ground and pound you, stuff like that. So I was just happy with the finish.

Jon Kirk is known as a really resilient guy. Did you know you had that triangle choke once you went for it?

Ha. Once I synched it in, yeah, but the moment I rolled over to my back I was like, “what am I doing here?!” Once  I went and readjusted was when I knew I had it.

You’re now 4-0, with wins over Kirk and Rodrigo Pinheiro, amongst others. Now you’re set to fight for your second title at Legacy. What’s ahead in your MMA career?

You know, I was talking to some guys last night… I want to obviously get this win and I’ve got some plans beyond it, like I’d like to hopefully fight a big name out of state or something just to get my name out there a little bit more but to be honest man, Bubba Bush is a pretty tall task so most of my focus is on that fight.

Speaking of which, what’s training like leading up to that fight over there at Team Tooke?

Man, training is great. We’ve got a whole plethora of young guys all up-and-coming who all have really great skill sets. Plus we have of Coach Travis Tooke and Lewis Woods helping us out with our boxing. Also we are big believers in cross-training so that’s always one of our big things as well.

Who have you been cross-training with recently?

We’ve actually had a couple of guys from Gracie Barra, Alex Morono and Matt Wald, come over about once a week. And you know, Alex Morono has been submitting people off his back quite a bit but both those guys have some really serious striking so it has been good to mix it up with them.

I travel to Austin quite a bit as well.

My striking coach Robby Rabadi is up there in Round Rock and there have been some really good fighters up there I have been able to train with. He’s got a 185er from Minnesota out there who’s just a real badass with wrestling and judo and stuff so he’s been able to kind of mimic Bubba Bush for me.

I’ve also gotten to train with James Head out there who is out of Lovato’s school in Oklahoma and recently beat (UFC Vet) Gerald Harris. Then, there is Tim Kennedy out there in Austin who I’ve got to train with him a couple of times and he puts it on me pretty well too.

So basically, there is never a lack of people to get beat up by. I love going to Austin both for the training (but more importantly because my girlfriend lives there).

What about life outside the cage? Any hobbies when you’re not training?


Very, very few hobbies. Like walking the dogs… That’s one of the highlights of my day now before I leave for twelve hours. So yeah, football season is over and I’m bummed. No more fantasy football. No more Sundays and Saturdays sitting around watching football so right now, it’s a pretty boring time of my life actually.

Other than that and training, I teach all the Muay Thai classes at the school. I really like it and love watching the guys progress. Constantly I can see these guys through stuff like their first MMA fight or their first hard-sparring sessions like over at 4OZ. this coming weekend since we have some guys interested in doing that so that’s fun for me since I really enjoy coaching too.

Your next opponent, Bubba Bush, what are your thoughts on him as an opponent?

I think he’s a really tough opponent actually. He’s only got two fights but you look at his last fight which was against Chris Spicer and he just handled him for three rounds until he got the TKO finish. You know Chris Spicer is a massive 185’er so it can’t be easy. He’s obviously going to be quite a bit stronger than me and will take me down at some point but I’ve got five rounds to work.

So you’re respecting him more than his 2-0 record?

Oh yeah. You look at his 2-0 record and I think one of those fights was from a few years ago so obviously he didn’t just get into the game. He’s been training for quite awhile. He just had a big break in between his fights. As far as his wrestling, you can just see he’s got that pedigree. He’s a strong dude that’s got great top control and good ground and pound so that’s always dangerous.

How do you feel he matches up w/ you and vice versa as far as strengths and weaknesses?


You know, I’d say his biggest strength is my biggest weakness – which is wrestling. But I feel like I’ve got a lot more toots – striking, submissions, takedown defense…. And typically

I’ve got pretty good cardio so hopefully that’s still the case in a couple of weeks.

If you picture this fight in your head, how do you think it will go?

To be honest, I’m really big into visualization and stuff like that so I play it out a number of different ways. For example, I play it out like I get the decision, the knockout, you name it. I just picture myself winning at the end.

If you win this one, you’re going to be the first person to hold both the Legacy and IXFA title. What would that mean to you and how would go about defending both belts?

I think it would be cool but it doesn’t mean more to me than that. We all… all of us fighters are looking to do bigger things than just beat a few guys in Houston. As far as defending both of them, I don’t even know if that would be possible with that kind of schedule. I would like to say that I would be getting bigger calls in the near future so who knows.

Any last words before the fight?

My fans always seem to be pretty loud and boisterous so I always appreciate it. I like having them there!

Thanks to B3 Sports, Team Tooke, Team Rabbadi, Flex, Clean by Troy Garza, and of course my girlfriend and family who are always there for me. I appreciate all the support!

In-Depth Coverage of April 9th’s Legacy Fighting Championship

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