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 Kurt Schindler Interview - Overcoming 155lbs Contender
Salutations glorious mixed martial arts fans! K-Rad here taking another deviation from my traditional role as weekly crap talker that previews and reviews fight nights to bring you a very special interview with one of the men who has been in the midst of the OverComing Amsterdam lightweight war of words, Mr Kurt Schindler. For those of you not in the know, for example you've been busy listening to your Justin Bieber CDs and playing with your My Little Ponies, Schindler is one side of an ongoing feud with the current OC 155lbs champion Heraldo Magnifico. These two have been trading insults and trash talk for quite some time now and I was fortunate enough to get an opportunity to sit down with Schindler and discuss some of the finer points in life.
K-Rad: Good afternoon Kurt! Thanks for coming down and meeting with me, did you travel in from Munich or were you already in Amsterdam?
Schindler: I was already in Amsterdam. This is where I live and train full time now. You think I'd come all the way from Munich just for an interview???
K-Rad: Whilst we're on the topic of Munich... are you a Bayern Munich supporter and what are your thoughts about them successfully making the Champion's League grand final in what has turned out coincidentally to be a home ground match?
Schindler: I am somewhat of a Bayern Munich supporter, but football is a girl's sport. I don't lose any sleep over it.
K-Rad: Well, there you go! So, as per usual I want to get the really tough questions out of the way early, so, boxers or briefs? Why?
Schindler: Boxers, because I'm cool like that.
K-Rad: Fascinating! So you're 26 years old and have 7 professional MMA bouts behind you now and 6 wins. 26 is, no offense intended here, makes you a little older than many of the fighters in the current circuits, why did you decide to turn pro at 25?
Schindler: Well I grappled a lot when I was younger but I never really did any other martial arts when I was a kid, so I just stuck to grappling tournaments and never really thought about fighting until I started training MMA and felt like I was good enough to go pro.
K-Rad: Well we are glad you did, you've put on some very exciting fights and have shown versatility in your ability to KO, sub or win on points. You've also brought a lot of interest to the 155lbs division with this ongoing battle of words between you and Magnifico. How did that come about originally?
Schindler: Well its a long story, but it all started before my debut in Overcoming at O6: Melo vs Magnifico when I was fighting in the co-main event against Rich Harew. We basically went at it at both the pre and post fight press conferences with trash talk and that's how it all began.
K-Rad: That makes sense, so you guys fought back in mid-March and "The Magnificent One" came out on top, scoring a unanimous win to retain his title. What are your thoughts on that fight and what are your expectations regarding another shot at the title?
Schindler: Well our first fight has highly talked about, and it basically went down like this. I gave him the toughest fight of his career. It was tied at two rounds each going into the final round. In that deciding round he managed to stay on his feet for enough of the round to pull out the decision and scrape out the win. I got a takedown in that round but sadly it came to late in it. He never hurt me once in the entire fight and honestly, he felt like one of the weakest punchers out of all of my opponents so far. I was a big underdog going into that fight and I surprised a lot of people with how competitive I was, but in the rematch I will be victorious and shock everyone even more.
K-Rad: Have you been doing anything different in training, style or gameplan to overcome any perceived weaknesses or problem areas in your game?
Schindler: Well the weakness in my game was obviously my striking. I have won all of my fights so far because of my wrestling, but since my fight with Magnifico I have made some massive improvements to my striking game so that I will be ready to strike with him when we fight again. I don't want to give away too much but all I will say is that he better not overlook my striking when we fight. I have been sharpening my ground game as well and trying to add some more submissions to my game. I submitted my first opponent with a heel hook which was a pretty cool submission but unfortunately since then I have not submitted anyone else. That will change soon though.
K-Rad: Fair enough! So you bounced back from your title challenge loss with a good win over Jerry Cox. Run us through your thoughts on that fight and that fighter.
Schindler: Jerry Cox was a very dangerous and difficult opponent for me. He had dynamite in his fists and in his previous fights he had shown some very good takedown defence so I was a little nervous coming into that fight. I actually came in as the underdog and if I remember correctly, you predicted that I would get knocked out in the first round. But that did not happen, I ended up completely dominating him for three rounds with my takedowns and ground and pound. I was dissapointed not to get a finish but it was still a good performance. In the first round I scored two takedown and attempted a lot of submissions on him. The second round was slightly more difficult as he landed a couple of hard punches on me on the feet but I took him down three times and clearly won the round.
The third round was my best round of the fight. I simply whooped his ass. I got a takedown into half guard and advanced to the mount. From there I started hammering him with punches and the guy showed great heart to survive the round because he was getting beat up.
K-Rad: OK, great, next up is Itay Elgad who is a touch lighter and a touch taller than you and has been making waves lately with his explosive ground and pound knock outs. What are your thoughts on Mr Elgad's fighting style and abilities and is there anything you'd like to tell us about how you plan to go into this fight?
Schindler: Well I've studied all of his fights on tape and I have to say that I was very impressed with what I saw. He is undefeated at 4-0 and has finished his last three opponents. He has shown some pretty good striking also, but what I was most impressed with was his wrestling and ground and pound. In my opinion he has some of the best ground and pound in Overcoming. His first three fights were one sided but in his last fight he proved that he also has the toughness and heart to overcome adversity. He was hurt badly by Jerome Totti but he managed to get a takedown and knock Totti out with ground and pound late in the first round. I don't have anything bad to say about him but make no mistake about it, he will be taking an ass whoopin on the 13th of May.
K-Rad: Have you been in any kind of discussion with Jakub West about what is required of you in order to get another crack at the championship?
Schindler: Yes I have, but honestly, I'm not to worried about when or what I need to do to get a title shot. It will come eventually as long as I keep winning so that is all I am concentrating on doing. I actually even requested a fight with another top contender Michal Bicki and that was before I even knew that I wasn't getting a title shot in my next fight. I wanted to fight him because Magnifico was looking for an easy title defence against him and claiming that Bicki was a greater challenge to him than I would be. Well I would submit Bicki or knock him out with ground and pound in the first couple of rounds and everybody knows that so I was dissapointed to not get to prove it.
K-Rad: On that topic, how and why did you end up in Amsterdam after your successful streak in the QFC?
Schindler: Well I fought on the QFC circuit to build up my confidence and get some experience before signing with an organisation and looking for titles. Thankfully it all went well for me in the QFC and after going 4-0 I was on the lookout for an organisation to sign with. I looked at all my options and decided that Overcoming would be the best fit for me. I am very happy that I signed with them and I hope to stay with Overcoming for a long time and because one of the most highly respected fighters on the roster.
K-Rad: Very good and how do you see your career progressing with OC? What are you ultimately driven to do, achieve or gain through your professional MMA career?
Schindler: I want that belt that Magnifico is minding for me right now. That is my ultimate goal. I also want to become a legend in Overcoming one day and like I just said, become one of the most respected fighters around.
K-Rad: Your manager is Mr Freddie Roach, allegedly an Irishman, what can you tell us about him? Does he drink Jameson and play hurling?
Schindler: I'm sure he does, but I don't really ask. Freddie helps me find good gyms and good training partners, and he was also the main reason in getting me signed with Overcoming, so I thank him for that.
K-Rad: One of your stable mates and training partners, Peter Jones, just won himself a title, how does this make you feel and does it motivate you towards getting one of your own even more?
Schindler: I was very happy for Peter Jones, he is a friend of mine but I haven't trained with him in a good while since he doesn't fight in Amsterdam anymore like he used to. But Freddie is always telling me about how good he is looking in training and in his fights. He is a difficult opponent for anyone because he has great striking with big power, and he is amazing on the ground aswell. That was a big win for him and our team. It motivated me and the rest of my team to repeat his success and bring back some more gold to our manager and mentor Freddie Roach.
K-Rad: You've managed to secure a sponsorship with Wolfpack Threadz, an official partner of OverComing, how are they treating you and how is your relationship with them?
Schindler: They are treating me very well and I can't complain, but really, they are the lucky ones to get to be associated with such greatness as myself.
K-Rad: I see, I see, so unfortunately our time is coming to an end so is there anything else you'd like to say about anything at all?
Schindler: Yes, make sure that you all buy a ticket get down to the Beer Garden on the 13th of March to see me handle my business in style against Itay Elgad. He has not shown me any disrespect in the build-up to this fight, but this is the fight business, and enemies or not, I am going to go in there and beat him to a pulp. Once of us has to lose, and its not going to be me!!
K-Rad: Great, well thank you very much for your time Kurt and best of luck in your next fight and on succeeding along the path to glory as we are all super keen to see the Schindler-Magnifico rematch whether it is for a title or not!
Schindler: I want that fight with Magnifico to happen aswell. His days at the top are coming to an end, and he will be eating through a straw after our next fight.
There you have it boys and girls, the man himself, Kurt Schindler, live and in person and giving you the low down on everything pertaining to where he stands in his career and where he wants to go. Thanks for your attention and I look forward to seeing you all at the next event!
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