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Paul Buentello is a name that you might not have heard before. He is a heavyweight fighter that is currently in the mix to challenge for the KOTC heavyweight title. His fighting style is straight ahead, and he is always a crowd pleaser. With two big KO wins in a row, his name is definitely starting to get recognized. Cory Parker interviewed Paul to find out just where he got his start in MMA, how he feels his career is going right now, and where he would like his career to go.
Paul Buentello is a name that you might not have heard before. He is a heavyweight fighter that is currently in the mix to challenge for the KOTC heavyweight title. His fighting style is straight ahead, and he is always a crowd pleaser. With two big KO wins in a row, his name is definitely starting to get recognized. Cory Parker interviewed Paul to find out just where he got his start in MMA, how he feels his career is going right now, and where he would like his career to go. Cory - Where and when did you get your start in MMA? Paul - Back in Amarillo, Texas in 1993 or 1994 in a Pancration Style, and I just did a lot of Pancration fights. Back then they were called shoot fights, and I did those from about 1994 to about 1998 or 1999, and then that is when I fought my first fight for the I.F.C. Cory - Who did you fight in the I.F.C.? Paul - I fought in the Super-Heavyweight Tournament. My first match was against Jason Godsey, then Rocky Batastini, and then I lost in the finals to Gan Mcgee. Cory - What got you interested in MMA in the first place? Paul - Basically just the competition, and the way the crowd is roaring, and the whole excitement of the fight. Cory - What kind of training were you doing down in Amarillo, Texas? Paul - Well basically I was self-trained, and I kind of just worked with some of the local guys around there, and then I suffered 3 straight losses in the same year. I figured if I continued on like this I would be done with it. That is when I ran into Helen Miller, and she got me in with American Kickboxing (AKA), which is with "Crazy" Bob Cook, and Javier Mendez up in San Jose, CA. Cory - So you come out to San Jose, CA to train at AKA. Why don’t you tell me about your first time there? Paul - My first time there nobody really paid attention to me. They were like "Oh this big old guy from Texas thinks he’s a fighter". Then I had my first fight under AKA, which I won by TKO referee stoppage from strikes, and then they started to pay a little more attention to me. I then signed a three-fight contract with King of the Cage (KOTC). After that they started paying a lot more attention to me. They started messing with different things, and focusing on my weaknesses. Then I had my fight with Roger Neff, and now it has totally changed. Everybody has really taken an interest saying to themselves that I am really there. I guess when I first started training there I was flying out from Texas once a month to try and get some training in before a fight, and they were just questioning how dedicated I was.
Paul beating on Rocky Batastini
Cory - Were you pretty nervous that first day you came in to train at AKA? Paul - No, not really because I new that those guys weren’t there to hurt me. I just didn’t want to lose any respect. I guess you really never get any respect when you first come in anyways. They have to see you let your leather go before they start to give you any respect. Cory - What were some of the sacrifices you had to make leaving Amarillo, Texas and going out to San Jose, CA. Paul - Well the main sacrifice was leaving the family at home. I have a three-year-old little daughter, and I am not married, but I have been with Stacy my girlfriend for 6 years. Just leaving them at home and not bringing anything financial in, and just coming out to San Jose to try and follow this dream. Cory - Did you leave a job in Amarillo to pursue your fighting career?
Buentello (Black Shorts) facing off against UFC 39 fighter Gan McGee
Paul - Yes, I left a good paying contracting job, just to follow this dream, and be able to say that I have done this in my life. Cory - So fighting is your only job now? Paul - Yeah basically it is. I am building a deck for one of the pro-boxers out here in California, and in return he is giving me a place to stay, and pays me money. I am not worried about it though as long as I can just be able to train as much as possible. Cory - It’s shows a lot that you would be willing to sacrifice so much to follow your dream of fighting. Paul - Yeah, that is what keeps me motivated. I know there are probably 10,000 guys out there that want to be doing what I am doing. Plus my girlfriend really supports me. She is the one that said either you move out to California to follow your dream, or I am leaving you. So she is really the force behind all of this pushing me, and pushing me. If it was up to me I might have been done a long time ago, but she put a bug in my ear telling me that I can do this, and to just keep on training. All I lacked was just not training with the right people. So that is why I am out here with AKA now, and everything is coming together. Cory - So how has you’re conditioning, and fighting style changed from when you were in Amarillo versus now being in San Jose, Ca? Paul - Well I guess that I have learned to be more aggressive. Back in Amarillo I didn’t have any sparring partners that were my size to box and wrestle with. Now I have guys twice my size and twice my experience. I think I am turning that point now. I think I am starting to become that all around fighter. If I stayed in Amarillo I wouldn’t be where I am at in my career right now. I am basically a 360 degree different fighter than what I was when I lived in Texas Cory - So tell us what kind of techniques you have learned from "Crazy" Bob Cook?
Buentello defending the Leg Submission
Paul - Well basically we just have worked on being able to sprawl and brawl, and just being able to wrestle. He realized that very seldom am I going to get a submission. What I got to do is let my leather go. I’m not going to be able to let my leather go if I am lying on my back, so we just work on sprawling and brawling. Basically just defending the takedown. This is a lot of what I worked on before my fight with Roger Neff. For two weeks straight before the fight all we worked on was having my back against the wall, and having people try to take me down. Cory - Roger Neff is a big guy and he definitely is a good wrestler. Paul - Yeah, and that is what had been beating me were all these wrestlers. Nobody wants to stand up with me. I hate to be kind of cocky about it, but there is really not that many people that want to stand up with me. There are a couple of guys out there that I know will stand up with me. So basically I just learn how to constantly defend against these wrestlers. Cory - Let’s get back to Amarillo real quick. Did you fight Evan Tanner once? Paul - Yeah, he was my 6th fight. Cory - Can you tell us about that fight? Paul - Well, I had no wrestling. I had no technique. He didn’t want to stand up with me. He came in and closed the distance, and did a single-leg drag takedown, and got the mount. I rolled over from there, and he choked me out. Plain and simple, I didn’t have any grappling experience at all. That was in the 8-man tournament in Amarillo, TX for the USWF Heavyweight Championship. He went through his side of the bracket and I went through mine, and we met in the finals. Cory - So is it correct that you now hold the USWF Heavyweight Title? Paul - Yes I do. The USWF changed hands a while back, and when that happened Evan Tanner relinquished his title, which I went and won. So now I am the USWF Heavyweight Title holder. They still hold their promotion license; I think they are just waiting for the right time to put another show together. Cory - Can you give a career low and a career high for us? Paul - Basically the low point, and there are lot of fighters out there that haven’t hit this point, is when I lost three in a row. That was against Ricco Rodriguez, Sam Sotello, and Nate Schroeder. It was a real downer because I thought I was a good competitor, and I thought that I could keep up with these guys. The high point is that I have a good family behind me, and I know that I am ready. I feel that I am ready, and I don’t want to be someone that is considered a has been. I want to earn my respect back from the fighters. I know I have my family behind me, and I am not going to fail my family. Cory - With your big KO victory over Roger Neff you are definitely a contender for the KOTC Heavyweight Title. Where do you see yourself going from here? Paul - People have been telling me that if I get the KOTC Title a lot of doors are going to open for me. Right now though I am just focusing on my next fight. "Crazy" Bob has been telling me that he wants me to walk through this next opponent like he doesn’t even belong in their with me. I’m just really looking forward to this next fight so I can prove to these promoters and matchmakers that I’m on the bubble, and I am ready to get to that next level. That next level would be the UFC, Pride, or whatever big show it might be. Cory - Is there a goal that you have set for yourself? Paul - I set a goal for myself about 7 years ago when I started all of this, and that was just to be able to step in the octagon for the UFC. That is one of my goals. I set small goals, and that is one of my big goals. Just being able to fight in the UFC. I set that goal a long time ago, and I am still reaching for it. I know I still got some work to do though. Cory - Is there one guy out there that you would really like to fight? Paul - Well there is one guy out there that if I fought I think it could help both of us out, and that is Mike Kyle. Everybody is saying that if him and I fight each other that it should be a UFC fight. He throws leather, and I throw leather. He’s a big boy, and I’m pretty big. Our roads are going to cross eventually, and it’s going to be a war. Cory - Well I think that’s about it. Is there anything you would like to say to the fans or anybody out there? Paul - Basically the promoters and matchmakers should really keep their eyes on me. When I come to fight I am coming to fight. I am going to let a lot of leather go. I am going to sling leather like crazy. I am an exciting fighter, and if they put me on their card they are going to really appreciate it, because I come out and I let the leather go.
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