MMARR: I don’t want to hear the watered down, sugary, easy version, I want to hear it from you. It is interesting, you are involved in the sport, you understand the underlying aspects of the sport more then the typical fans, some of whom only watch on Spike TV and might not know all of the things going on. But since you are involved, you probably know a little more.

IS: This is what is happening, for me it is a situation. I got a chance to look (at) the organizations, the IFL, the WFA as far the UFC, as far as K-1, so I know a little bit, I don’t wanna say I am an expert, but I have fun, I have looked around, I have been in the business a little bit, and I think eventually the transformation is going to be that we are going to be a bit more organized as fighters. There eventually will be a union that will look out for medical benefits, the pensions and the things of that nature, it could be another organization that does this, or we unite as a union or something to that effect. It will happen, it will happen, is it going to happen right now? It doesn’t seem like it. Is it gonna be something within 10 years 15 years 20 years I hope so. I really, really hope so. Fighters need it. It is a shame that you see guys out there fighting world class fighters, for 2 grand, you know what I mean? 2 grand 3 grand, it is ridiculous.

MMARR: That is not a lot of money.

IS: No, not for the type of training, the type of damage that is accumulated, (it is) not even close. I mean, you compare this to the elite athletes in the NFL, the NBA, or the baseball leagues, and you can’t compare it. The sport has evolved to the point where, it keeps on selling out these major stadiums and Pay Per view and has endorsements and sponsorships through TV, eventually we will have that.

MMARR: Your last fight was with Nathan Marquardt, and we talked about TV, your fight was on the Ultimate Fight Night which was the first UFC free event, in the history of the sport. Which is obviously huge, not only were you on the event, you were the main event against Marquardt. The fight obviously didn’t go your way, you lost the fight. And Nathan Marquardt tested positive for drugs, for steroids, for performance enhancing drugs. In every sport we are going to see something like that but you still got a loss, how do you feel about that? Based on the fact that he was caught and the Nevada State Athletic Commission said that he 100 percent took those drugs and yet you still have a loss on your record, even though you didn’t.

IS: Obviously, I was really bitter towards the UFC. One, for not giving me the rematch, and to the commission for not giving me the “no contest”. Supposedly now from what I get from the commission is that they took something in the books stating that from no on anybody gets caught with any kind of steroids, or any enhancing drugs in their system, there will be a no contest. Am I bothered? Highly bothered by it, it was a very, very tight match, and I think it made the difference for him to take those drugs. But even then it is still a loss, and I think that people need to understand that this is not a no loss sport. If you have no losses on your record, you just haven’t fought enough that is how I feel. Especially in this sport, there are a million variables in this sport for you to be undefeated.

Salaverry putting the finishing touches on Joe Riggs with a slick Triangle at UFC 52

MMARR: You mentioned that the UFC wouldn’t give you a rematch, was there ever a rematch discussed or anything like that?

IS: I did, I discussed it with Dana White as a matter of fact, he said yes there would be a rematch.

MMARR: He said yes? He told you to your face that yes you would have a rematch?

IS: Absolutely.

MMARR: And that never materialized? What happened?

IS: No it didn’t.

MMARR: There were rumors of you competing in the IFL as well, that never materialized either, was that just a rumor was that something that was close?

IS: Yes we did discuss it, right now I have so much on my plate and I was looking at a few things, Maurice Smith is my coach and a very good friend of mine, and basically he offered me the situation in the IFL, I was like let me think about it, I had a lot on my platter you know my wife is pregnant, I have a business that I am gonna be starting up here soon, and I was looking at places that would give me the best, and right now what gave me the best offer was the WFA. I do like the concept of the IFL, the team concept, the shared endorsements, and percentage wise, it is a wonderful Idea and I think that it give it a dual meet situation sort of like wrestling where there are teams training together there are shared situation in there that are very interesting, and I think that eventually there are going to be so much fighters out there that the team aspect is going to be wonderful.

MMARR: You are rumored to be working with Tito Ortiz and team Punishment, are you still working with Tito Ortiz and Team Punishment?

IS: Oh yeah, I love the guy, Tito is the Shit he is good people and I think this show showed how much of a heart this guy has. A lot of people for a long time thought Tito was a dick, Tito was evil, disrespectful… contrary, and you know what? I think that Tito himself pushes that image because, it sells tickets but deep down inside Tito is a nice, nice guy. A good, good guy, he has helped me out tremendously in training and other aspects as well, he has helped me get endorsements, sponsors, they guy is made out of gold, great guy and I think that people see that. He really puts out for his fighters, and for people that he trains.

MMARR: You mentioned that he helped you with sponsorships and endorsements, my understanding is that he was supposed to endorse you for your fight with Nathan Marquardt, but that was overridden…

IS: Denied yeah! Laughs

MMARR: What was that about, how did that work out?

IS: Basically at that time, the UFC, Dana was not in good standings with Tito. Tito wanted to sponsor me through punishment clothing lines, for X amount of dollars plus his gear, and I went over to the UFC because you have to announce and tell them who you are going to be using and they denied him. I did get compensated by the UFC for it, they didn’t want to use them, and they didn’t. I wasn’t allowed to use him.

MMARR: Oh so they did compensate you for that sponsorship.

IS: They did compensate me, but in the end it is how it is looked at, is basically depending on the like that you have towards the company, they can accept you or not accept you. You know what I mean so you have to be in favor with the company. You know mind you six months, eight months later, they (The UFC) gave him the fat contract thinking that he was going to the WFA and things change. You know look at him (Tito Ortiz) now he is fighting Ken Shamrock he beat Forrest and had a great show you know and has benefited the UFC tremendously.

MMARR: You seem to have a little bit of animosity towards Dana White and the UFC would you agree?