MMA Recap

Recapping With Eric Schambari - Every Fight I Win Is My Favorite

by Brent Todd - 03-01-2010

Eric Schambari was forced to take time off from the sport after his split decision loss to Bryan Baker at WEC 31.  Nearly two years since that fight, Schambari has gone 4-0 and caught the eye of Bellator.  Schambari will be taking part in Bellator's second season middleweight tournament and MMA Recap's Brent Todd caught up with him to talk about Bellator, his career and his time in the WEC.

Schambari's story doesn't start with his time off from the sport.  It starts several years earlier when he was passed over for a promotion.  "I got into fighting about seven years ago while in Las Vegas with Marc Laimon.  I was helping guys get ready for fights.  I was working as a cabana host at the Bellagio and I got passed over for a promotion.  So I walked off and decided to move to Texas to start fighting."

Schambari stayed in Texas where he went 5-0 beating all of the competition in the state.  With no one willing to fight him, Schambari decided to move back to Las Vegas which was a blessing as he got a fight with the WEC.  He went on to defeat Art Santore and Logan Clark in the organization before sustaining his lone loss to Bryan Baker.

As for Baker, that is who Schambari has his sights set for the Bellator tournament.  "Of course the only fight I want is to fight Bryan first.  But if I have to run through a couple of guys to get to him, then I will."

Like many other fighters in the tournament, he was ecstatic when he got the call to fight in the tournament.  "I was happy to be able to fight in a tournament.  If you win every fight you make the money and get a shot at the champion.  There's no politics with who you fight next."

And while Schambari likes the no-politics of the tournament, time between fights could play a factor for some fighters in the tournament.  "There isn't much time to get ready for the fight after the first one.  But then everyone who wins is in that same spot."

As for the current Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard, Schambari thinks it would be a test of conditioning.  "I had a chance to meet Hector.  He looks like a very powerful guy and a good grappler.  Those are my strong points as well.  He's a southpaw with good judo.  To match up with him I would have to test his conditioning."

Schambari has had to work his way back up the ranks after his loss, and that is something that he fears a bit as well with the tournament.  "If you lose, you are out of the tournament.  You have to work your way back up."

That loss to Baker set off a chain reaction of bad luck as Schambari  not only got cut from the WEC, but had to spend the better part of a year recovering from illness and injury.  "I was getting ready for a fight in the WEC when I got a staph infection.  The infection caused all kinds of problems and I had to back out of that fight.  Then I got injured and I had surgery and I remember flying back out to Vegas getting a call from my manager stating I was released from my WEC contract."

But since then, Schambari has gone 4-0.  And all four of those fights, they are part of his favorite fights.  That's because as Schambari said, "Every fight I win is my favorite."

While all of his wins are his favorite, he has had two separate fights that forced him to go back and learn new things.  "I have had it happen to me twice.  After my second fight I realized I didn't have very good stand up.  Because of that, I started working a lot more striking.  After my fifth fight I went back to Vegas to start training.  And it was training out there that I realized just how much I still needed to grow as a fighter in this sport.  That's been my focus over the past few years."

That training has been taking place at numerous locations including Marc Laimon's Cobra Kai, UNLV boxing and Phillipe Sports Institute.  And that training is different because of the tournament format.  "I am starting off really strong and I will probably taper down further from the fights.  You don't want to over train and you need to make sure that you can begin training again right after that first victory."

As for how much Schambari wants to fight Bryan Baker, when asked if he could fight any fighter in his weight class in any organization for a belt or not, his response was just two words, "Bryan Baker".

While in his down time, Schambari says he has just an ordinary life.  "I watch a lot of tv and I read.  I don't have any extraordinary hobbies to speak of."

His favorite breakfast cereal is one that many fighters share, "Crunch Berries".

Schambari would like to thank "All of the people that are helping me get ready for the fight, Marc Laimon, Chris Ben and Mark Phillipe".
 

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