Rahm Petersen talks Del Canada, ADCC

From fiveouncesofpain.com

Many Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners have been making the jump from tournament competition to Mixed Martial Arts in the recent years, with varying results. The most recent expatriate to jump disciplines is Rahm Petersen, who won his MMA debut last month with upstart promotion FIGHT! MMA, and will have his second pro fight this weekend against Del Canada.

Five Ounces of Pain recently conducted a phone interview with Petersen, transcribed below.

Quote :

Thanks for taking the time out of training to talk with us, Rahm.
Rahm Petersen: No problem.

You won your debut MMA fight against Aramis Vasquez back on the 26th of April. How did you feel the fight went? The crowd was a little restless in the waning moments of the fight.
Petersen: I executed my game plan perfectly. In the early rounds I wanted to wear him out, go for submissions when they presented themselves, just control, control, control. I really thought I had that armbar locked up in the first, and usually when I think that guys don’t get away, but it wasn’t to be at that moment. In the end, if the crowd can’t dig on that…I don’t know what to do.

You were rocked pretty hard in the second round…
Petersen: Yeah, he landed a good punch, but what came of it? People think that just because you don’t get hit in the face in BJJ you aren’t tough. It’s ridiculous. Vasquez hit me once, thought, “Ooo! It’s over.” Jumps in, and WHOOPS I’m on top of him, getting my game on.

On the same FIGHT! MMA card as your debut, Milwaukee Top Team member Kyle McIntosh got a convincing win against highly regarded Jason Mercer. Now you two are both on the same card again. Can you feel that momentum maintaining while you’ve been training?
Petersen: It’s awesome to be training with Kyle, and everyone else at Milwaukee Top Team. Our camp is going really well, and it’s extremely convenient for both Kyle and I to fight on the same card like this again. It’s good just having Kyle around, ya’ know, because he’s proficient everywhere that I’m deficient. If I have kickboxing or striking questions, I’ll ask Kyle, and likewise, if he has any submission questions, there I am. And that’s just beyond what our regular training schedule where were working together with all our other members anyway. We’re both going to dominate come Saturday.

Your upcoming fight is against veteran Del Canada. He said he doesn’t know much about you except that you’re a Jiu-Jitsu practitioner…
Petersen: Yeah…that’s interesting. Maybe it’s best if that’s all he knows about me. I mean, it would be good for him to know that I’ve got eight inches of height on him. It might also be good for him to know that I’m a cardio beast and am going to push the pace with him. It’s so simple now-a-days. Do you have a computer? Do you have YouTube? I’ve got my ADCC and Mundails matches up on the Milwaukee Top Team channel. If Canada wanted, he could know a lot about me.

How do you see the fight going, then?
Petersen: I’ve been in the Jiu-Jitsu game for a long time despite my age, and I’ve never heard the name Del Canada come up in that circle. Maybe it’s different in the MMA world, but in my old stomping grounds, he’s just not known. So, there’s no doubt that on a purely BJJ level, I have the advantage. Of course, he has the MMA experience over me, but fighting experience is fighting experience. As far as a game plan…is there any doubt that this fight will go to the mat? I’m determined to submit him. Plain and simple.

Finally, it was recently announced that Spain will host the 2009 Abu Dhabi Combat Club [ADCC] Championship series in September. Do you have any plans to compete in the world’s highest submission tournament again?
Petersen: Well...I know that the ADCCUSA registration date is coming up soon, and thus far I haven’t registered because I’ve been so busy with Milwaukee Top Team. I’m moving on from pure Jiu-Jitsu now and, my main focus has been on MMA training. I know I could compete in the 77KG division again, and probably do very well, but my ambition was always to be an Absolute Champion, which just isn’t very reasonable right now that I can’t dedicate one-hundred percent of my time to BJJ. Maybe in 2011, if my career in FIGHT! MMA hasn’t gone well, I will consider going back to ADCC, but for now, I’m working on becoming a complete MMA fighter.