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 Besides New York, Philidelphia has been known for blasting great fghters out of the woodwork. It's hard to disagree when the City of Brotherly Love is the hometown of Bernard Hopkins, Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier, and Rocky Balboa. This legacy has yet to translate into MMA. Given, we have Eddie Alvarez, but even Alvarez will tell you that he's not the best MMA fighter from Philly. That distinction belongs to the man I am interviewing today. Ladies and Gentleman, I would to introduce my guest for today, Jaime Ferguson.
KK: Jaime, I want to thank you for taking some time off for this interview.
JF: It's cool, I'm honored to be here.
KK: Cool, Let's get started. First question: How did you find MMA? How did it come into your life?
JF: Well, being from North Philly, I grew up fighting, most of which, was for the wrong reasons. Fighting was something I've done my whole life. Other than that, I grew up watching Boxing matches. The first fight I ever saw was Marvin Hagler against Tommy Hearns.
KK: Oh, The War of 85, Nice.
JF: Yeah Yeah, I saw that fight and I was instantly hooked. Then watched more boxing, learned more about Philly's Boxing history, and got hooked (No pun intended). Then I started train when I was 16. By 18, I was fighting in the indy circuits. My amateur boxing record was 16-1, and that one loss was because of a DQ, so I never really lost. By the time I was 23, I wanted to do something different, so a friend of mine, Eddie Alvarez, said I should train MMA, and I was open minded so I did it.
KK: What was the transition to MMA like?
JF: Well, for me I knew I can't just do standup, there's more to it. So I learned takedown defense, grappling, some ground and pound, other than that, It's been fun.
KK: Have you fought in the cage yet?
JF: Yes I have, I have an amateur record of 4-0, all by way of knockout, in the first minute of the first round.
KK: WOW! That's good. Who are your influences?
JF: Well, easily Joe Frazier, but then again, that's philly flavor talkin. Other than that, there's Mike Tyson, Joe Lewis, Jack Dempsey, George Foreman. Also MMA fighters like Chael Sonnen, Robbie Lawler, Nick Diaz, Chuck Liddell, Eddie Alvarez (Of Course). Basically, Dudes that will bang with you, and knock you out. I'm like that, I'm gonna stand and fight, and go for the knockout, puttin pressure on the opponent, and just swingin.
KK: Final Question: We've talked about the whole fighting history of Philly, do you feel there is any pressure to live up to that, and the amount of hype that has been bestowed upon you? I mean, there's a big buzz in the air about you. Eddie Alvarez talks highly about you, Randy coutore, and Nick Diaz has given you high praises. Even Bernard Hopkins says you will be one of the best strikers in the game. What's your thoughts?
JF: I don't think there's any pressure on my part, I'm honored to be the next chapter in that fighting tradition. I love Philly, I love my city. it don't matter where I'm at. I could be in L.A., Detroit, Hawaii, The Moon. Wherever I go, I'm always bringing 24th and Somerset with me. I bring North Philly with me. Especially when I fight, I guarantee you that I'm gonna be going for the knockout, and my fights will never go into the judges hands. I'm gonna Philly on the map, and that's a promise.
KK: Well, that's about it. Thank you for stopping by. Anything you wanna say before we wrap up.
JF: 215 ALL DAY!
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