DEL CANADA

Subject: DEL CANADA Fri May 08, 2009 3:03 pm

Quote :: Tuesday, May 09, 2009
By Gleidson Venga (gvenga@sherdog.com)

Nearly eleven (11) months has passed since Del Canada, a man once universally known as one of the worlds premier lightweights, appeared on the mixed martial arts scene. A former open-weight winner at the Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships, the elusive 30-year-old holds wins over Rick Steinberg, Dan Hunt, and went the distance with Japanese import Jun Soroku.

Canada last fought in July 2008, when he succumbed to strikes against the talented muay-thai specialist Adriano Santos at the Hybrid Fighting Championships (HFC 11)in Japan.

Sherdog.com’s Gleidson Venga recently tracked down the jiu-jitsu ace to get word of his new ventures in MMA.

Sherdog.com: Del, you have been out of circulation for almost a year now. What happened?

Canada: It’s already been a year since I fought, but that was by choice. Actually, I had invitations to fight in Canada, Japan and the USA, but I chose not to fight. I’ve been competing in jiu-jitsu, submissions and MMA since I was 15 years old. I decided to stop and watch from the outside, in order to be able to see everything that happens inside fighting. I had to find myself. It’s my aim to fight once or twice by the end of the year, but the most important thing is to come back well prepared, to come back different from what I was. I want to be a much more dynamic fighter in the next phase of my career. My desire to fight is still great. I’m watching everybody fight, observing what’s changed and what hasn’t. This time off has been as important to me as training; it’s part of my training.

Sherdog.com: Do you think all this time spent away from competition will keep you out of the loop?

Canada: That’s why I dropped out of the scene. Sometimes, it’s more difficult to negotiate the fights. All the business stuff is no good, but I’m a fighter who never worries about that. I really worry about my performance. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in the past that resulted in me losing, and I don’t want to make those anymore. This next phase of my career is going to be a much more conscious phase. I’m going to put the same pressure on myself to win and use the same adrenaline. I’m going out there to win, but I feel I’ve matured. I’m going to fight more focused. I want to fight differently from now on.

Sherdog.com: Do you want to continue to fight in Japan, or do you see yourself coming to America?

Canada: I’m actually coming back to the states. A couple of months ago, a California-based organization, FIGHT!, got in contact with me- basically asking me if I wanted to hop on the bandwagon for a couple of shows. With me being out of work at the time, and with the desire to fight still burning within, signing a contract with them seemed like the perfect opportunity. I’m actually suppose to be on their card set for May 23rd.

Sherdog.com: Do you know of your opponent?

Canada: Actually, I don’t know too much about him. All that I know is that he is a jiu-jitsu guy, and that he is coming off his very first win in MMA competition.

Sherdog.com: And how about the future? Where do you see yourself in, lets say, five (5) years from now?

Canada: On top.

» Rahm Petersen talks Del Canada, ADCC