Growing to become a prominent figure in the Houston MMA community within the last couple of years, Eric currently wears many different hats in support of the sport in additional to the responsibilities he bears in his personal life.
Above and beyond being a fighter himself, he also runs the popular Cage Combat Series based out of Humble. He also recently started up the GPGA tournament series along with Jace Pitre to service the BJJ/grappling community and he’s getting busier and busier. Add those to his roles at home – that of loving father, husband, brother, and uncle, and it’s amazing he’s found even more time to commit to getting his own MMA career going again.
He’ll be stepping into the cage for the first time since last October when he takes on Elite MMA’s John Gorrell at Legacy Amateur Series 9, scheduled for Saturday August 25th at Houston’s Arena Theater.
TXMMA recently caught up with Eric to get some background on him and this fight.
Inteview – Eric Garcia (Team Tooke / Jace Pitre MMA)
Eric, for our fans who may not have seen you fight yet, start off with a quick summary of who you are as a fighter and person.
What’s your record and how has your MMA career been up to this point?
I’m 3-0 coming into this fight. All my fights have been for Mick Maynard’s organization. My amateur experience has been a very rocky road to travel down. I took my first amateur fight on a few days notice back in January 2010, my second fight was scheduled for May 2010 and I tore my knee during camp and had to pull out I the fight to have surgery. It took 6 to 8 months to get back into training and then I tore the other knee and had surgery on that one. July 2011 I took my 2nd amateur fight and had a few changes in opponents but all in all it went well. Oct. 2011 I was supposed to fight for a title vs. Armando Servin and a few weeks prior he got injured and had to pull. I was told that there would be no opponent for me. I stopped training camp and started eating again. I showed up at weigh ins to turn in tickets that I was selling for the title fight that wasn’t happening and there ended up being a guy without an opponent. Collin and Mick asked if I was interested, I said yes. Fight was at 155, I stepped on the scale at 174lbs. I needed to cut 19lbs. I went and cut the weight and ended up getting down to 157. I was drained and exhausted. I fought the next day and felt awful; I will never cut weight that way again or take a fight on that short of notice. After that I was scheduled for January 2012 title for Legacy and my opponent got injured and I was without a fight. My coaches and I decided that it was best to make my pro debut because all the ups and downs in the ammys with matchups and stuff. I took some time to just train and compete as much as possible in grappling tournaments. I decided to take one more amateur fight and here we are.
Go back to that last fight with Kolton Englund. I was there when you took the fight and it was definitely a big move on your part to cut all that weight. How was that experience for you once you stepped into the cage?
How do you think you’ve improved most since you’ve had all this time to focus on your time?
I think every aspect of my game has improved. My ground game in my opinion is top notch, my boxing and kick boxing is on point, my conditioning is great, I feel that I am complete as a fighter. I train every part of my game, Jiu-Jitsu with Travis Tooke and Jace Pitre, MMA with Jace and Andrew Craig, I get work at Paradigm and GB Woodlands, and Bob Perez and Jeremy Mahon always have the doors open for me at 4oz which is always appreciated.
What’s one thing not a lot of people may know about you that’s interesting?
I think most people know me as the Cage Combat promoter for the fights in Humble, TX. They don’t know that I’m a family man and entrepreneur. I opened up my private ambulance service in 2003, built it up and sold it in 2010. Now my older brother and I own a limousine service, I own Garcia Promotions and run the Cage Combat shows in Humble. Now my coach Jace and I have started putting on grappling tournaments. All in all I’m a busy man, training, running business, and 3 kids!
With all that going on you might be in the running for business fighter in the game. What fuels you to get in there and how does your mentality switch when you get into the cage?
What are your thoughts in this upcoming fight with John Gorrell?
I have nothing but respect for every man or woman that steps into that cage. It takes a lot to fight in front of a crowd and put it all on the line. I won’t disrespect my opponent even if they talk bad about me. John Gorell is a good guy; I’ve talked to him a hand full of times and have nothing bad to say of him. I wish him good luck and apologize in advance for giving you another loss.
Can you tell us a little bit about your preparations?
I train 2 to 3 times a day. I long distance run 3x per week, swim 3x per week, do strength and conditioning 3 to 4 times a week, Jiu-Jitsu 4x per week, pad work 3x per week, hard sparring and MMA 3 to 4 times a week. I train like a pro and like I’m about to have the biggest challenge of my life. I leave no doubt in my mind!
How do you see this fight playing out in your mind? Any predictions?
I see my hand raised at the end of this fight, I’m going into the cage undefeated and I’m leaving undefeated. The objective is to win the fight with hopes to take as minimal damage as possible. I want to win without seriously injuring my opponent also. Don’t get me wrong, I will do what needs to be done to win. I know that my cardio is at its best right now, I can fight 5×5 minute rounds with 30 seconds rest if I had to. 3×3 is nothing. I plan on pushing the pace from bell to bell until he quits.
Any last word for John?
I have nothing but respect for every man or woman that steps into that cage. It takes a lot to fight in front of a crowd and put it all on the line. I won’t disrespect my opponent even if they talk bad about me. John Gorell is a good guy; I’ve talked to him a hand full of times and have nothing bad to say of him. I wish him good luck and apologize in advance for giving you another loss.
What’s next for you after this fight? Do you plan on going pro after this win or lose?
Any last words?
Thank you very much Jace Pitre for keeping me going from day 1. Jace keeps my confidence on high and prepares me for battle. Andrew Craig and Travis Tooke support me and are always a big part of my preparations in every part of my training. They push during conditioning and MMA and Jiu-Jitsu practices, thanks guys for everything. Thanks to my wife and kids for putting up with the hectic training schedule that I have during preparations, I know it’s hard when I’m away from home. Thanks to my dad for being at all my fights and supporting me. Thanks to Bull Prints, Bull Shirts and Jesus didn’t tap for always taking care of me. Thanks to Dr. Lu, Sammy and the Plex Crew for keeping my cardio and strength training on point. Thanks to all my training partners that come take part in all my workouts, I couldn’t do it without y’all. Thanks to the guys at Paradigm and GB Woodlands for including me in your workouts. Thank you lord Jesus for not ever giving me more than I can handle and thank you for the victory on Aug. 25. Thanks mike for the interview and the continuous TXMMA coverage. See y’all at the fights!