King of the Cage - Krazy Mike's Corner - Interview With Ernie Perea

The views and opinions in this write up are those of Krazy Mike

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Ernie Perea interview with Krazy Mike 7/17/07

KM: You have a Fight coming up in King of the cage, who and when will you be fighting?
EP: I am fighting on the KOTC; Collision Course PPV card on Aug 5th 2007 @ 6pm. To be honest, I’m still not too sure on my opponent’s name. All the match-maker told me was that I better be on top of my stand up game, because this kid is going to try and take my head off. I don’t want the guy to feel disrespected because I don’t know his name, I’ll be ready to fight whoever Aug 5th. I am so ready to get back in there and put on an exciting fight for the crowd.

KM: You came out of retirement and have not lost, prior to that you had not lost a fight in a long time, when are you going to get a World Title fight?
EP: I just don’t have the time to train the way these guys do today. I’m gonna be 35 this year, and due to all the years I’ve been kickboxing and playing sports in general, my body feels like it’s 65. If I were ten years younger I would consider going after it full time, and win the KOTC championship belt. It’s hard when you work 11-12 hour days on a regular basis. I’m OK with winning my super fight belt for now. I have guys like Victor Rodarte, JP Baca, Chris Culley, Angelo McCelroy, the Miles & Vanderlinden brothers that I think I’ll leave the championship belts for them to obtain in the near future.

KM: Have you talked with KOTC about a World Title Fight?
EP: Yes, theres always an opportunity for me to fight for the championship. I have fought at 170, 155, 145, and I’m sure I could make 135 if I started smoking crack! (J/K Mom). KOTC has some tough guys at my fighting weight of 155 & 145. I’m not saying it will never happen because anything’s possible. I just want to dominate my fight Aug 5th and we’ll see from there.

KM: I understand you have a movie coming out, tell us about it. Need any extras?
EP: The production crew is always looking for extras! Go to Bushidoproductionsonline.com, e mail the producers and let them know Ernie Perea sent ya for consideration in any upcoming projects. In all seriousness, the movie Full Contact should be released sometime in late 2007 or early 2008. My part was very small, but cool. I spent like 9-10 hours at the filming location, just to film like a one-minute action scene. But from what the other actors told me, I guess in movies it’s always hurry up and wait. I think I ate like 3 burritos, 2 tacos, and drank 5 gallons of water, before my part came up. So if I have a big belly when you see the movie, blame the producers for putting so much food in my face! A Great experience and good food.

KM: How do your superiors – co-workers feel about you fighting?
EP: My supervisor has his concerns because I’m in the public eye. I am able to approach all my supervisors, and have a one on one discussion with them, without being shut out right out of the gate. We have talked about hanging them up for good, but we’ll see what happens after this fight. As for my co-workers? Half of my audience that I will personally bring with me will be cops, federal agents, lawyers, state / county / city employees, etc. I would say that they have my back and their full support. I’ll put on a good show for everyone, keep my eyeballs in my head, and I’ll try not to get hurt this time during the fight.

KM: You have had some personal issues (Divorce/family deaths), come up that has prevented you from training or fighting. Are things seeming to settle down now?
EP: Why you ask about the divorce? Have any single Arizona cuties you wanna hook a brotha up with? Divorce sucks, and I miss my daughters when they are away. A lot has gone on in my life; I had to simplify some things. I needed to start training again just to keep my sanity. Dealing with divorce, family tragedies, and throw in an IRS audit to boot can get pretty overwhelming all at once. I had a discussion with (KOTC Owner) Terry awhile back, and he told me that even if I never fought again, I needed to start training like I was “going” to fight to keep my stress level in check. Now, I’m back in the gym training and life is good.

KM: You have a great fan base, what do you contribute this to?
EP: I think when people meet me they see a regular guy like themselves. Richard Solis is a great example of a guy that works long hours, runs a business, family, but yet he freakin puts on great fights in KOTC, and the regular fan appreciates that. I think during the past 15-16 years in the professional realm, I was able to form lasting friendships/alliances. I have some pretty powerful friends that have my back. They come out from all over to support/watch me. It’s a good feeling. Besides, I’m just not much of a trash-B.S. talker.

KM: What are your long-term goals in Cage Fighting?
EP: Ask me that question on Monday Aug 6th. We’ll see what door the Lord opens for me. I just want to get through this one fight with a win, and see how my body holds up.

KM: What is the documentary you are doing? And is it true I am in your documentary?
EP: “Laughing” Your time is coming Krazy Mike. The documentary is about the life and times of several different individuals/mixed martial artists. They’re home lives, work lives, and how they still find the time to compete at such a high level with the stresses of everyday life surrounding them. Every obstacle you can imagine is in this film. It’s going to be pretty good. It has a good mixture of the stress of everyday life; different family stories both ups & downs, and being involved with King of the Cage competition at its highest level.

KM: Whom are you now training with?
EP: I’ve been with Tyson Johnson at the Universal Grappling Academy for several years, and I cross train with Umar Love at Evolved Martial Arts. Unless they kick me out, I’m not going anywhere. Umar and Tyson will have me ready by Aug 5th. Getting the topnotch training in preparation for the fight by those guys and their respected students/teams, by the time the fight rolls around there’s nothing I had not faced in the gym before hand.

KM: What did you do with your Super Fight Belt you won?
EP: It’s in a glass case with the same gloves I wear to every fight, right above my plasma TV. I’ll have the belt with me as motivation on fight night. After you’ve had a few Hard Lemonades, don’t be trying to jack my belt Krazy Mike when I’m not looking!
KM: Ernie, I have my own Heavyweight KOTC Belt in a glass case. LOL

KM: Would you like to own your own school someday?
EP: I owned a whole health club at one time. In fact my martial arts instructors at my gym were Ted Williams, Tyson Johnson, and Phillip Miller, with students like Joe Stevenson, Jason Lambert, Bobby Hoffman, Shawn Ramage, Frankie Bollinger, just to name a few MMA stars. How that for a MMA team? I learned a lot from those guys. Now all I do is bring in members for Tyson and Umar, try to fill up their schools with men, women, kids, and help them succeed. In turn they take care of me, and get me ready for my fights. Much simpler and I still get to train with the best!

KM: I want to thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to do this interview with me. If you want to thank your sponsors, KOTC, or whoever feel free!
EP: “Psalms 91”. Can’t say enough about the support from my family, friends, co-workers, Terry & Julie Treblicock, and all my cousins during the last few years. All my sponsors and everyone who has helped me prepare for Aug 5th 2007;
Law Office of Jason Walsh in Riverside CA. (Become a Judge already)
B&L Backhoe service in Victorville, CA.
Global Legacy (http://global-legacyllc.com/index.php)
Focus Fightwear (http://focusfightwear.com/)
Jet Black Oil (http://jetblackoil.com/)
Thank you Krazy Mike for hooking me up with this interview, and I promise the next time I’m at the river were hanging out!

For tickets to see me fight live on Sunday August 5th 2007 @ 6pm e mail Ernie Perea at http://www.myspace.com/perea07

PS. Ladies, Ernie is single now so bring all your cutie Friends