MMA Recap

Recapping With Carey Vanier - I Think I Am A Threat

by Brent Todd - 02-03-2010

Carey Vanier is just one of eight fighters to participate in Bellator's second season lightweight tournament. He is hopeful that he will be able to win not only his first fight, but all three fights for a shot at current Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez. MMA Recap's Brent Todd caught up with the lightweight fighter to get his thoughts on the Bellator tournament, his life inside the TapouT house and more.

Vanier's story starts out a lot different than most. To him it is a story worth telling. "I think it is a cool story. I watched a local fight here in Minneapolis with some of my friends from college. After the fight, they said "Hey we get paid to do this and most of these guys can't compete with you cause you were a wrestler". So I said if it is going to be that easy to earn money I figured why not. I took three fights and did well, and then my son was born. So I took some time off to lock down a job so I could provide my son with insurance and a stable income. Once my son turned five, I started fighting again. It was a slow transition from working full time to part time to finally quitting and training full time."

To say Vanier was excited when he found out he was going to participate in the tournament is an understatement. "What happened with me was I recently signed to a new manager, Gavin Rydell, and he contacted me when I came back to Minnesota after spending four plus months at Jackson's in New Mexico. And he presented this opportunity to possibly fight for Bellator. At the time I thought I wasn't sure as I didn't know if I had a good enough record and I was also giving consideration to trying to make my way into the WEC or even UFC. However I did like the idea of Bellator because some of the guys I trained with at Jackson's were speaking high praise for the promotion. So I told him to do his thing and that I would continue on training. So one morning I was at the gym and my manager sent me a bunch of text messages and called me a bunch, but I didn't pay attention as I was working out. After the workout the first message I saw said "We got Bellator". I started doing back flips and cartwheels in the middle of the Lifetime Fitness I was working out at."

As for who he wants to fight first, it doesn't matter. "There isn't anyone that I "want" to fight. I have wrestled my entire life and tournaments are second nature to me. You don't know who your opponent is in a tournament and you just have to be prepared for whatever is thrown in front of you. And besides I don't think that the fighter that you saw at the last fight will be the same that shows up."

The tournament poses some good things and some things that could pose a hindrance to the fighters. Vanier shares his thoughts on both aspects. "I love the idea of the tournament. All the other professional sports have a regular season and then a playoffs. And the format makes it so that any fringe fans of mma, can go to an event and know that this is a big deal. That the winner of this tournament gets his shot at the belt.


The only thing I can see as a bad aspect is the decision on how one gets into the tournament. There's no "regular season" for the fighters. I think Bellator should have a "regular season" with fighters and then based on records during this regular season, that's how the fighters are picked for the tournament."

He was very frank and confident when asked how he felt he matched up with the current champion. "I think I would be a threat for him. There isn't anyone I want to fight, but I am prepared for everyone. I am a well-rounded fighter. My defense is above most because you won't be able to take me down very easy. I think Eddie has a lot of good tools, but I believe that he has some chinks in his armor."

Looking back on his career, Vanier is very humble about both his wins and his losses. His favorite fight happens to be one he lost. "My favorite fight was my first loss to Nik Lentz. That was a fight I had no business being in the cage with him at all. It was my second fight at the time and he had like twelve fights up to that point. He wasn't a slouch. Skill wise and experience wise he was ahead of me. He was training at a martial arts academy and I was training in a garage. Do I think he is a better fighter than me? No. If we fought today I would be a completely different fighter than the first time."

And his five-round battle against Pete Grimes that he won a split decision? Both a disappointment and an exhilarating. "That fight was a disappointment but also exciting for me. The disappointment about the fight is that growing up I was always told it isn't about winning or losing, but how you performed and if you were able to stick to the game plan. I want to win and I want to do it in the manner that I dictate. It was awesome going for five rounds and being able to adapt to different situations. The Pete Grimes that showed up to fight wasn't the same that I had trained for."

While he is back home training in Minnesota, Vanier spent much of the last part of 2009 at the new TapouT house. To Vanier, that was one of the best things that happened to him. "Oh man, that's my house. I am not even a guest there, I live there now. How I got down there is an interesting story. With Dave Camarillo being the head instructor at my gym, it was kind of destined for me to go to AKA. I was trying to get my jiu jitsu up to par to be able to hit the ground running once I got to AKA. Unfortunately I was forced to take a week off of training and missed my opportunity to go there. With that being said, I knew I need to get myself to a be around some top talent. A friend told me to take a trip down to Jackson's camp. And Greg referred me to Donald Cerrone who was preparing for a fight at the time. I got to be part of the first group of guys to go down to Albuquerque and live in the TapouT house for a month. So things got a bit better because Cowboy was preparing for his fight against Henderson and I am a south paw wrestler. Cowboy told me that if I helped him prepare for the fight, I could come back free of charge for another month. Then things got better because the fight got pushed back, and I ended up getting the opportunity to stay for three months. In September I was approached about staying down there and I said of course."

While Vanier started working on completing his degree, he has taken time off to focus on his family and his career as a fighter. "I didn't finish college as I needed to provide for my family. Part of the reason why I did go back to fighting was so that once I get my career on track, I will be able to finish my degree even if it is on a part time basis. I started college working on a computer science degree but when I go back, I am thinking more along the lines of human resources. I am a people person, and my time at Best Buy helped me realize that's more of what I want to do."

As for his diet, there's a slight chink in it as cereal happens to be his favorite food. "I love cereal. That's probably my favorite food. I can eat an entire box in a whole sitting. Last box I ate was honey bunches of oats with almonds."

Vanier would like to thank the following "First I would like to thank my mom, Revolution Defense and Fitness, Damien Hertz, Performance Athletics, Ted Johnson, Brian Cambell, Coach Jackson, all the boys at the TapouT house: Eric, Bobby, Cowboy, Diego, Leonard, and everyone else in the house. I also need to thank Gavin Rydell and Brian Hamper."

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