MMARR: How is life in the Lions den lately?

Tiger: Well since I got my leg broken, I haven’t been doing too much.

MMARR: I heard that you broke your leg tell us what happened?

Tiger: Well it was really late at night, and I couldn’t find a ride home so I was walking home. I was crossing an exit ramp down on the freeway, I didn’t want to walk up the exit ramp because there were no street lights up the exit ramp and I was afraid I would get hit by a car. As I started crossing over the exit ramp I ended up getting hit anyway.
I spent three days in the hospital, I had surgery on my left leg, and they placed a metal bar inside my leg.

MMARR: How long will that be putting you out of action for?

Tiger: Well the doctors told me 7-8 months, but it has been about three months now and I think I got maybe two more months.

MMARR: So you are recovering pretty quickly then!

Tiger: Yeah I don’t see myself being out for too much longer.

MMARR: What would you like to say to the guy or gal who ran you over?

Tiger: Well, nobody has any leads on who it was, but if they ever find out who it is I feel sorry for them. Because there are a lot of fans out there, and there are a lot of fighters out there, and if they ever found out who they are, I can’t even say what is going to happen to these people.

MMARR: So what other things have you been up to lately?

Tiger: Just healing trying to get back into the swing of everything because I haven’t been able to fight, I haven’t been able to work, and disability kind of shut me off too so I haven’t been making any money, I have been basically trying to survive.

MMARR: With being a full time fighter do you work as well as being a fighter?

Tiger: Yeah I had a job as a bouncer but I quit my job when my girlfriend came over from Sweden. I was basically a full time fighter, and I am trying to get back into doing some bouncing jobs so I can get some money going.

MMARR: Just to talk about your situation with King of the Cage, How has KOTC been with the injury, have they said anything?

Tiger: Yeah they have been good about it. They told me that they want me to keep the title, they are not going to strip me of the title.

MMARR: They need some stability there.

Tiger: Well I am happy they are not going to strip me of the title. I am the only person who has gotten the title and kept it, and has been able to keep the belt. Everyone else has lost and had to give up the belt. Hey, everyone out there who does not have a belt is hungry and they want one, so that means that the champions are going to have to push themselves harder. If they don’t, that is what is going to happen, they are going to end up losing the belt, I push myself hard everyday. That’s why I think I have been able to keep my belt, because I don’t go out there and play with people and I don’t underestimate anybody and I get the job done.

MMARR: You seem to have a bit of a feud with Gil Castillo, do you what to clear the air and tell us what happened?

Tiger: Well let me start from the beginning. There was a fight out in Stockton called I think.. "Rumble in Stockton" or something like that, what ever it was. Gil was a exhibition fight, and I was in a tournament with a bunch of other guys. So Gil goes out and he has his fight and he never fights again. There is myself and another one of his students, or one of his friends, and then one of my students, and some other guy. Me and another guy ended up going to the finals, which was a Gracie student. Since they didn’t want me to fight my student, because they thought that it was going to be too easy of a fight or whatever. So their guy got hurt, pulled his hamstring or something some little fishy thing that happened, so then the next thing you know, Gil is put in the tournament against me. After I have had two fights and he has had one fight, and he has had well over an hour to rest. I didn’t even know this and nobody else checked it out for me, they just tossed Gil in. and after we fought, I found out that he wasn’t even in the tournament. They talked him in because the other guy didn’t want to fight me, and just all this other crud ensued and I have been pissed off about it ever since. I never said anything to anybody until he put his win against me in a Pancration style match onto his No Holds Barred record. That pissed me off and I had to say something I couldn’t keep quiet anymore.

MMARR: With Gil in The UFC do you ever think, "Hey that should be me"?

Tiger: Well…Yeah I think it should have been me a long time ago, I had a couple of chances to get into the UFC, I had a chance one time, what was his name uh… the matchmaker I can’t remember his name…

MMARR: John Peretti?

Tiger: JOHN PERETTI! He called me a long time ago, but I took off on vacation so I didn’t get a chance to get in there and fight. Then I got called to fight TITO and after I got called to fight Tito, I accepted, and then they took Vladdy (Vladamir Matushenko). So I haven’t been called since, I have n Idea why. But, you know maybe on of these times, I will get another chance to get back in there.

MMARR: UFC seems to be doing a little changing of the guard nowadays what do you think of the new UFC.

Tiger: I think it is great, it is actually a good face lift for them because I actually saw Chuck Liddell on TV guide. It is a picture of Chuck, and he is being choked by …..

MMARR: Jeremy Horn?

Tiger: No it was a girl!!! It wasn’t a real choke, but he was being choked by a girl, and I saw Carlos Newton I think he was holding on to Carmen Electra’s leg…..
….. and that should be me !!!!
(Laughs)

MMARR: That should be a lot of us!!!

(Laughs)

MMARR: With Gil, would you ever consider going down to 185 and having Gil move up to 185 and meeting Gil Castillo in the Middle?

Tiger: I told him I will drop down to 190 lb, he can go up to 190 lb and we can fight it out. I know he can hit 190, but he said "No". he doesn’t want to fight me, because I am a world Champion, I am not in his weight class. Some of the guys that he has fought, and I am not saying anything about their skill, but I can beat him and I know that for a fact and he got worked by him. So I think he knows that I would beat the tar out of him, but if he wants to hide behind other people then, you know, hide behind his weight, that is fine too. I don’t care. It shows me what kind of a man he is. He can talk crap and he could do whatever he wants to do, when it comes down to actually getting into the ring, or I will fight him in the street. I don’t give a Flying fig, because I know the guy can’t take me, he is a punk that is all there is too it. He is a PUNK!

MMARR: With Shamrock fighting FRYE in the next PRIDE, Give us a prediction on Shamrock Vs Frye.

Tiger: I think that Don’s best bet is try to wait until Ken gets tired and then make a move, but that is not going to happen. I think that Don has good hand skills, but Ken has got mobility and punching ability, and Ken has a lit better submissions. Don does not know how to block submissions that well, unless he has been working all this time since he left the UFC on blocking submissions and everything, I think he is going to get caught by submission. He is going to make the mistake of trying to take Ken down, and he is going to take him down and end up getting submitted.

MMARR: Have you seen Ken lately how is his training going?

Tiger: Yeah I actually saw Ken Saturday night at King of the Cage. He looks in good shape and he looks confident, I haven’t been out there to help him train because he has been out in Dallas with all the other Texas fighters so It really looks like he is ready.

MMARR: So what weight do you think Ken will be fighting at?

Tiger: Probably around 220 lb or 225 lb.

MMARR: Do you think that Ken Shamrock is a better trainer of a better fighter?

Tiger: I would have to say that he is equal in both, because if he wasn’t a good fighter he wouldn’t be who he is today and the fans wouldn’t like him and if he wasn’t a good trainer he wouldn’t have so many champions. So it is hard to say if he is a better this or better that. I would have to say he is about the same.

MMARR: Where do you see yourself so many years from now, when your fighting days are over?

Tiger: I want movies, T.V, commercials, anything I can get my hands on you know. I don’t want to fade out like so many other people have. They get on a losing streak or they start to hate fighting, and they just disappear from the sidelines. I don’t want to do that. I want people to remember me I wanna continue in the entertainment business. It is hard to say, but that is what I do want, I never what to fade out.

MMARR: Pete Williams has lost two fights in a row He is facing Frank Mir in the Next UFC what do you think will happen that fight.

Tiger: I don’t know. It all depends on what Pete wants to do. If he is going to get into the gym and work his buns off, or if he is planning to take him lightly, who knows. He has the mental capacity to beat every heavyweight out there. I mean everybody has seen Pete fight, and the last couple times he has fought he hasn’t been there mentally, I feel. But Pete is an extraordinary fighter, if he just concentrates. I don’t think he thought Ricco was going to be as tough as he was In his last fight, that is why he ended up losing that fight. So hopefully he is going to be o.k in his next fight, and he will go out there and beat this guy. Back on the road to winning.

MMARR: When Vernon is on his game, and Mentally prepared, Is there any light Heavyweight that can beat Vernon "Tiger" White?

Tiger: I don’t think so. I don’t think there is too many Heavyweights who can beat me when I am on my game either. The reason why is, besides Ken or some of the guys that I train with that know my style, I don’t think there are too many guys out there. My last fight with a Heavyweight was Alan Goes and he still couldn’t finish me, and he is considered one of the better fighters out there. So I would have to say that there are not to many people out there that could take me.

MMARR: Do you ever consider moving to the Heavyweight Division?

Tiger: I have thought about it, but It would be too hard to put that weight on and keep that weight on, because my training schedule is so difficult. It would be fun to move up there for a little while probably, to go back up there I mean. I used to be 220 lb- 225 lb but it was hard trying to keep that weight on. It was killing me.

MMARR: You have eat every two minutes or so.

Tiger: Yeah it was really hard trying to do that.

MMARR: Is there anything you would like to say? Any parting statements to Vernon White fans and Lions den fans out there wondering what is up?

Tiger: Thank you for supporting me. It has been a long three months getting back to where I am right now, but I am not going to quit. I hope to be back out there making everybody happy again, keeping the fight scene and the King of the Cage happy, and exciting and whatever, wherever I might go. If the King of the Cage allows me to go wherever, I will be more than happy to go there and make some exciting stuff happen

MMARR: Well we really appreciate your time. Thank you for taking time out for us at mmaringreport.

Tiger: "I will be back" and like my girlfriend says "I WILL BE DANGEROUS".