MMA Recap

Recapping With Bao Quach - You Have To Sacrifice Some Things

by Brent Todd - 02-10-2010

Bao Quach may not be as well known as some of the other competitors in the second season of Bellator's featherweight tournament, but he is one of the most seasoned. Quach has amassed a record of 17-9-1 and has been in with some of the best in his division. MMA Recap's Brent Todd sat down with him to discuss his thoughts on the upcoming tournament, his career, and more.

Quach got into fighting after attending a class with some friends. He recalls that first class. "I wrestled a bit in high school and a year of college. My friends invited me to take a jiu jitsu class with them. I remember going and getting tapped out a bunch of times. After the class I thought 'Hey that's kinda cool you know' [tapping people out]. So then I decided I wanted to be able to choke someone out and I started attending class everyday while my friends stopped going."

Quach has fought for numerous promotions including King of the Cage, Elite XC, Strikeforce, Affliction and the WEC. However the call to participate in the Bellator tournament was what he was looking for. "I was really excited when I got that call. Finally I get a chance to fight for a big promotion. It's going to be a chance to fight and win that big money prize."

Quach has been very active for most of his career fighting on average every three months for the last two years. Due to an injury he was unable to take one last fight before entering the tournament and ironically, that fight was against fellow tournament fighter, Georgi Karakhanyan. As for fighting him first in the tournament, that isn't Quach's focus right now. "I really don't mind facing any of the fighters. The way I am training I am training for whatever comes at me. I will be ready on the ground, striking and grappling. I plan to be well prepared for whoever is thrown in front of me."

Quach is focused on the potential matchups and not current champions Joe Soto. "I haven't really watched him fight at all yet because I want to focus on who could be in front of me first. I might not even get to fight him so I am not worrying about that right now."

As for who will fight Soto, Quach really likes how it isn't just a random person and that you have to earn your way to the title fight. "I like that the tournament makes it so that not just anyone gets to fight for the belt. You have to earn your chance by winning three fights in order to fight Joe Soto. It's not up to a match maker or what is better for business. I mean you have Mike Brown who beat Faber twice and they gave Faber an immediate rematch with Brown. Yet Brown didn't get the immediate rematch with Aldo? They pushed Faber in there instead of giving Brown the same treatment."

Quach is worried about the biggest problem with a tournament format: injuries. "I think the fact that all the fights happen in a short period of time could pose a problem. I hope that there aren't going to be any major medical suspensions that could interfere with the tournament."

Recalling his long career of fighting, two fights stand out for two very different reasons. His losses to Wagnney Fabiano in 2006 and his loss to L.C. Davis a little more than a year ago have signifigance on his career. "My fight with Fabiano was one I learned the most from. I felt I was winning the fight until the knockout. I felt him on the ground and I realized I was just as good as him on the ground. We got back to our feet and I could tell he was not doing well. I split his eye and then there was about ten seconds left in the round. I figured I would just chill out for that last little bit and pick it up in the second round. Unfortunately I got hit with a flash head kick that I didn't see coming. Honestly I don't even remember getting hit by it. I remember getting up and thinking 'Oh crap what the hell?'".

The loss to Davis is a bit different. Davis went on to fight in the WEC, while Quach has not. But he is honest about if he would have gotten that call instead had he won the fight. "I don't really know. They [WEC] never really showed interest in me. I mean they did ask me to fight Jose Aldo a couple of weeks prior to the Davis fight even materializing. I knew Aldo was a bad ass, but when I asked how much I would get paid, the WEC didn't even have a dollar figure for me. I knew that this guy was a killer and they weren't offering me much money. I wasn't desperate to fight him on short notice so I declined the fight. A couple weeks later I got the call to fight Davis on short notice. Unfortunately for me, my cardio was a factor in that fight and after the first round I was spent."

Quach trains out of Team Oyama that is home to other fighters such as Shane del Rosario, Robert Emerson, and Rob McCullough. "Training at Team Oyama is awesome. It's a good environment. We are all good friends and we want to learn and train."

As for his off time, Quach doesn't have any off time. Quach has dedicated his life to the sport and as such has made many sacrifices. "I have devoted my life to training and fighting. I am either at the gym or at home or at the gym. I want to be successful at this and I think to reach certain goals you have to sacrifice some things. I don't go out and party anymore as I just want to focus on being the best I can."

That dedication has carried over to his choice of cereal. Unlike most fighters who have a favorite that is full of sugar, Quach keeps it simple. "I just look for something that has a lot of fiber and not a lot of sugar. I don't like that sugary junk stuff. I always go to a health food store that sells the healthy stuff."

Quach would like to thank all of his coaches and Bellator for giving him an opportunity.

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