By Mike Calimbas, Editor
An In-depth look at Romanian Transplant George Pacurariu ahead of his fight vs. Steven Peterson
Today’s interviewee is one of them.
A Romanian national, George Pacurariu has one heck of a backstory before making it into the world of Texas Mixed Martial Arts.
Living in a Communist Bloc country and growing up in a time of upheaval for the region, “Geo” had an upbringing very different than most fighter we’ve spoken to – making it through the Romanian revolution and while growing up in the up in the village of Topleţ. As a rule, Romanian coluture emphasises physical training as part of their overall education so naturally he was drawn into sports. With a penchant for soccer play he advanced to professional play but the time he was in high school and continued on until he was conscripted into the Armata Română (Romanian Army) at the age of 20. Discovering combative sports during his last two months in the army, Geo finally found his “true” calling. No less than six months after he started, Geo had become a national champion in Kempo and decided to abandon soccer in lieu of focusing on martial arts.
Fast forward to present day and he’s now at Octagon MMA continuing to pursue his dream of becoming a professional mixed martial artist. Taking his first US fight in 2011 and winning that fight by submission, Pacurariu is undefeated since his move to the U.S. and now stands with a 4-1 record heading into his biggest fight yet this Friday against Steven “Ocho” Peterson (8-3) at Legacy Fighting Championship 19.
Like we said in the beginning of this article, Pacurariu may not be a household name yet but given the backgrounds of both these men – this fight is definitely one to look forward to.
Legacy FC 19 Interview – George Pacurariu (Octagon MMA)
Geo, thanks for talking to us before your fight at LFC 19. Tell us a bit about yourself.
I started practicing martial arts 8 years ago in Romania. I started when I was in the Army; service was required at that time at minimum 18 years of age. After two years of training I became a National, European and World Champion several times at different combat styles. I fought for the Romanian National Kempo and San Shou team and traveling abroad. I fought all over Europe including: Russia, France, Azerbaijan, Portugal and also in Japan. I fought pro for the first time in June 2007 in Paris, France. I remember it well. There were some great fighters also on the card like Tarec Saffiedine and others. I wanted to work on my ground game and wrestling and I knew I need to relocate to the States to get high level training and that’s how I ended up in Dallas. I did some research and wanted to come to a bigger gym with a lot of pros. I found Octagon MMA and it was a perfect fit for me. There are over twenty young hungry pros that I train with every day now and we make each other better.
What have you improved most since you got there to Octagon MMA? How ready do you feel for this fight on Friday?
Looking deeper into this fight with Steven, how do you think you match up specifically?
I was looking forward for this fight and I am happy to be fighting him. He is a tough well-rounded fighter; I believe I have some advantages in this fight and I will try to utilize them. I guarantee you that it will be an exciting one to watch. If I follow my game plan and fight my way everything should work out just fine.
What’s next for you after this? Any plans for the rest of the year?
First of all I want to win this fight and I will do everything for that. For the rest of this year, I want to have more fights and to accomplish my goal and dream of becoming an UFC fighter. I hope I’ll make it to The Ultimate Fighter show or continue to fight in Legacy FC. Legacy is a great organization that is known all across the country as one of the premiere orgs in the game so it’s good to fight for them.
I wish him good luck and thank him for accepting this fight.
Anything else I haven’t asked that you want to put out there or anyone else to thank, etc.?
I want to thank God for helping me to be where I am today and also my wonderful family and friends for their support. I want to thank my teammates at Octagon MMA. I want to thank my head Coach Sayif Saud who has brought me in and guided me. He took me in when I first came to this country and didn’t know anyone. My English wasn’t very good but everyone always made me feel at home. My Coaches and Team are my family away from Romania. I also want to thank Coach Bertolino for refining my wrestling game and Coach Octavio for working on my Jiu-Jitsu and my Romanian Coach Viorel Mihaila for boxing. Lastly thank you to KO Reps for everything they do with my sponsors, Core Power, ONNIT, Ammo To Go and Throwdown.