For JJ Holmes – Staying Focused Means Staying Busy; Fighting Saturday at Undisputed MMA in Amarillo!

DALLAS, TX, June 17, 2011 – The last time we spoke to J.J. Holmes, he was getting ready for his fight against Hayward Charles this April. Two months later and he hasn’t slowed down, recently making the trip to Long Beach, CA for the BJJ World Championships and scheduling two MMA fights prior to September’s trip to the United Kingdom where he will participate in the prestigious 2011 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships.

Certainly a busy schedule for the lifelong grappler but he’s used to it, he says. “If I’m staying busy, I’m staying focused.” That’s the mantra for the middleweight who’s steadily trying to climb the ladder in both the grappling and the mixed martial arts worlds.

On the eve of his next fight at Undisputed MMA tomorrow night in Amarillo against Joseph Watson of Florida’s American Top Team, J.J. Holmes took a moment to speak with TXMMA.com regarding his preparations for his upcoming fight and everything else he has going on in 2011.

J.J. thanks for taking the interview immediately before your fight. I see you have lots going on and it’s not stopping. Tell us what you’ve been up to in your career lately.

Well I went to Worlds earlier this month. I didn’t do as well as I planned and lost by an advantage in my first match. It was a cautious mistake on my part but something to learn from. Now I’m just getting ready for this fight. I kind of took it on short notice but I’m as ready as I can be.

Before we talk about your fight at Undisputed MMA, let’s talk about your previous fight with Hayward Charles. Did that fight go as expected?

I was happy with the outcome but Charles is a lot tougher than I intended him to be. I thought I could get it to the ground a lot more rather than stay on the feet. I was trying to mix it up but it definitely stayed on the feet longer than I intended. It was definitely a little different for me.

Now you’ve got two fights coming up and also ADCC in London. How are you balancing the wheel with so many different things going on?

It’s been crazy. I’ve been training in the mornings, training in the evenings, and sometimes training even later on. Most of the time, I’m competing on the weekends too. You know, the grappling has stayed the same other than picking up the intensity towards competition time. As long as you maintain coming to practice a consistent number of times a week and maintain the knowledge that you have… You don’t want to get rusty so that’s always been a key part of my training, the grappling part. But I also have fights coming up so I’m working my cardio, my striking, and everything. It’s all very hard for me to balance all that and that’s the main thing I’ve been working on – maintaining a consistent schedule instead of just wondering who I’m going to train with when and have that be all over the place.

Who’s been helping you for your fights this time around?

Of course everybody at Team Mohler along with some other guys. For my conditioning, I’ve been working with two guys – Dominic Cure and Adrian Ramirez, the Team Takedown strength and conditioning coach. They’ve really been helping me out with different stuff. For my striking, Joe Garcia is my Muay Thai and Boxing coach as well as Johnny Rossano, who’s also been helping me with my boxing. I’ve also been training a lot with the Team Takedown guys, sparring like 3 or 4 times a week. They’re some of the best wrestlers / MMA fighters / jiu-jitsu fighters in the game so it’s been great to have those guys around.

I heard your opponent this Saturday at Undisputed MMA is a fellow wrestler. What can you tell us about Joseph Watson?

He’s a two-time JUCO national champ (wrestler). He’s a little older than me and I don’t know how long he’s been doing MMA so I’m feeling like his body might be a little rusty but I’m not going to put anything past him. For this fight, he might still be athletic, quick, and explosive so I’m not going to take anything for granted. I’m going to be very cautious and try to come out with the W.

With both of you having a wrestling pedigree, is it safe to say this fight will be contested on the ground?

I think he may try to keep it on the feet. To be honest with you, I think I can take this guy down. I still haven’t displayed a lot of takedown skills in MMA yet so I think this will be a good fight to showcase some of my takedown abilities. I think I’m going to be the better wrestler out of the two of us.

After this fight, you’ll be co-main eventing at XKO 11 a little over a month from Saturday. Why such a busy schedule?

Well I’m getting older. With this MMA game, you only have a limited amount of time, maybe until you’re about 35 or 36 years old. I’m not to be a Randy Couture where I’m fighting until I’m almost 50 years old. I want to get in and get out. Right now, to get into a bigger promotion like UFC or Strikeforce, I know I need to get some more fights under my belt. You need to have a certain number of fights before they even start looking at you and calling. Not only that but you have to be undefeated or pretty close with 6-8 fights so I’m trying to get there as quick as I can while making sure I’m as ready as I need to be. Plus it’s been hard for me to get fights so I take them as they come. People either get injured or they pull out. Guys don’t wanna fight you because of your pedigree but I also know I’m still not quite ready to fight someone that’s 10-0 so it’s a challenge to picking fights at this point. I’m just happy I have some good ones coming up.

After July, will you be focused strictly on England or are you looking for even more fights in MMA in the next few months?

I think after the XKO fight (XKO 11 Fight Card), I’m going to focus on England (ADCC) but that’s not going to stop me from looking for fights. I’m not just going to be like, “Oh, I’m going to England” and then be done for awhile. This is my breakpoint year so I’ve got to stay busy. I plan on doing the Europa if it ties into my schedule. Maybe No-Gi Worlds again if it doesn’t cost as much as some of these other major tournaments. Basically, I’m going to stay busy. You know, I’m used to wrestling which is a sport you stay very busy in so as long as I’m busy, I’m focused.

Any last words before the fight Saturday?

Yeah, just planning on the W. Thanks to some of my sponsors that I picked up like Tripp’s Harley-Davidson, Pabst Blue Ribbon Light Beer, and also DOM Fight Gear. Also thanks to my manager Chris Freeman who’s been working really hard and staying busy for me. I’m lucky to have a manager like him. Lastly, I just want to say thank you to my coaches and everyone that’s spent time with me helping me get ready for my fights. There are a lot of people so I just want to give a majority shoutout and say thanks to everyone who’s been supportive, believed in me, and helped me through it all. It’s not an easy job so thanks.

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