Guest Posted July 1, 2014 Report Share Posted July 1, 2014 Samuel "The Title Wave" Berzins http://mmatycoon.com/gallery/40/40b11.jpg LFC 185lbs Champion LFC 170lbs Champion LFC 155lbs Champion http://mmatycoon.com/images/belt/20140207235324images.jpg http://mmatycoon.com/images/belt/20140207235324images.jpg http://mmatycoon.com/images/belt/20140207235324images.jpg MMATnews.com was lucky enough to sit down with Samuel "The Title Wave" Berzins for a Q&A How did you get your start in MMA? I wrestled my whole life. I started my senior year in college, My Father Michael Berzins actually coached me. He came up and helped me and when it was over, I was training for the freestyle Olympic team and he told me to meet him at an address. It happened to be the Island Premium CT gym which is a known breeding grounds for champions. I didn’t know any of the people that went there but I saw Anthony Pettis jumping off the cage making a video and his little brother doing spinning kicks, Erik Koch and his manager, and just, like, all these guys. I said, “What am I doing here? I’m here to wrestle, they in here bangin!” And my Father Michael said, “Welcome to your new sport, I just wanted you to try it out today and see how you like it." So I got in there and done what I was told and by the end of my first session, I could tell people in the gym were impressed with my athleticism and determination. Right from then, I knew I enjoyed striking and was hungry to get better at it.. Tell us about your first fight... Well, it was actually March 11th of 2014. It was supposed to be a pro fight but the guy I was supposed to fight didn’t have any of his bloodwork in and they didn’t have a backup. And they were like “Ohh, there's an amateur guy here and you haven’t fought amateur yet, so you can technically fight him.” So I go in against this guy and I’m nervous. My nerves are jittering, this guy was 155, 5-foot-9, and I was like “Aww man, this is a toough dude.” But my coach told me to just do what I do, one, two, takedown. So right after the whistle, I went in there bounced around about 15 seconds, and threw the one, two, he swings and I shoot a blast double, pick him up, and it just so happen Matt Hughes was there, so I did the famous Matt-Hughes-run-back-to-the-center-and-slam-him, and he was out. I sat up and started punching him some more, looking at the ref, and he stopped it at 3:29 in the first round, my first pro fight and it was over. From there they were like “You gon’ be good, you goin' pro in the next one!” And that’s been it. How would you describe your fighting style? I’m a mixed martial artist, man. I can do it all. Like I said, I started with Duke, so I learned the kicks and punches. I boxed a little bit through college. I boxed to get my footwork right for wrestling and everything clicked. So I box if I have to, but if I have to, I can depend on my wrestling, I was a national NCAA finalist wrestler, I can do a little jits here and there. I mean, I’ve got everything and I don’t like to tell myself I’m one fighter. If I go in with the mindset I’m a wrestler, I will go in there and stray from my hands and try to wrestle. If I go in there as a boxer, I’ll miss my takedowns. So I go in there, in my mind, as a mixed martial artist. How has your family influenced your decision to fight? Coming from my family, it was tight but it was strict. I have 4 other brothers that are successful fighters but my father and mother were both big Christian believers so we had to do everything right by the bible. My father was a hard worker. At 20 years old he had a family, a home, a wife, a boxing career and everything. So, my whole life it was always instilled in me that hard work is going to outwork anything. It’s not what you know but who you know and what you do. He always taught me to do things 150 percent or don’t do them at all. Even with training, people say I’m a workaholic, but that’s the way my father made me. Yes, practice was two hours and we did our practice here, but when it was over, it’s time for Samuel to get something extra. You have to give that 50 percent extra when everybody isn’t and that’s why I am where I am now. I mean, I just started fighting six months ago and some of these guys started years ago. On his older brother Daniel Berzins... My older brother Daniel was born three months premature and his thing was “I’ll never stop, I’ll never quit with anything I’m doing.” And now you see him, and he’s 6’1, 185 pounds, a big dude. My whole life he was always at my wrestling matches, telling me, “Who is this guy? You're Samuel Berzins, you gon’ whip this dude.” And its been that way in my head, I just think about stuff my father and my brother told me, and my mother always saying, “I want you doing the right thing, no matter what. Even if a bank is empty and you can steal all the money, don’t do it because its wrong.” Put all three things together, my mother, my father, and my brother, and everything for me is just so easy. I can train with a smile on my face and know its not a stress, I’m not doing a job, I’m having fun. On the other hand, his career has been in my shadow so far and he's proven to be just as good, if not better than me by beating some of the most challenging fighters that I've fought in my career. What are you going to miss the most about The Island experience? Not having to do nothing but train and fight, I mean, you’re on the island for six months with no responsibilities but training. You don’t have to think about 'man, is my car gonna die on me today? Do I gotta go get gas? Do I need groceries? Do I have to be at work right now?' It’s nothing but training and fighting. Training two times a day, fight when they call your name, and make Metra M'bole happy. What's your plans for after the end of season tournament? I'm currently in negotiations with Metra M'bole in extending my contract to five fights, but only if the money is there. I don't want to sound like a Shamrock, Tito or a Rampage when I say this. But I feel that I have been underpaid for quite a while now and believe it's time to have my dues paid. "Joe Reagan Voice": JUUST LIKE THAAAT !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 Now we are in Hilo the official thread is http://www.mmatycoon.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=44336 The Smack Talk thread doesn't change Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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