After Paul ?The Head Hunter? Buentello pulled off a slick guillotine choke to finish off Kevin Jordan at UFC 53, ADCC needed to talk to this submission master!BUENTELLO: (laughs) Thanks for the interview and after my awesome submission display at UFC 53 I’ve been waiting for this call!ADCC: Okay now to the serious stuff. How did you find out you were fighting Andrei Arlovski at UFC 55? BUENTELLO: Well for the past few months I’ve heard a lot of rumors about Mir not being ready for the October show. We figured I was the front runner with Mir on the shelf so when we got the call last week we weren’t surprised.ADCC: You?ve been in the fight game for a long time and fought in many different shows. Over the last two years you have been on a roll and now you?re fighting for the UFC Heavyweight Championship belt. Tell me what?s that like. BUENTELLO: It?s surreal. I NEVER thought I’d be fighting for this belt. I’ve been contempt being what many consider a journeyman like fighter. My goals were to compete and test myself against the best fighters in this sport. As long as I have a fight lined up I’ve been happy and have never really looked at like I was climbing the ranks. All I wanted out of this sport when I retire is the for fighters and fans to have enjoyed watching me and have their respect. For me to get this opportunity, I can only compare it to something from the Rocky movie.ADCC: And just like Rocky, you will most likely be an underdog. With that being said, who are you training with and is there anything in your preparation that you will do differently? BUENTELLO: Right now I’m in Austin Texas with my fianc?e and kids and have been picking up some side jobs. As far as my training its an art form known as ‘manual labor’. (laughs) Other than that, I have worked with Phil Cardella and a few of his guys while I’m down here. This Monday, I fly back to San Jose where I will start up my training with the guys at the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA).As far as my training for this fight, I plan on just busting my ass. I’m injury free so that makes things a lot easier and I have a great team that scouts my opponents weaknesses and the things that I need to work on to fill holes in my game.ADCC: What injuries did you have when you fought Kevin Jordan? BUENTELLO: Going into that fight, my hand and wrist were injured and that really took a lot out of my training. About all I could do was run and its hard to get in fighting shape running. Kevin was a game opponent and it shows that you have to be on top of your game always because there is always someone that wants your spot, and in this sport anything can and usually does happen. I’ve pretty much made a career out of it.ADCC: Now lets discuss your opponent, current interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski. He is a fighter that can be victorious by submission or a knock out, what part of his game do you respect the most? BUENTELLO: All of it. I truly feel he is the most well rounded UFC Heavyweight Champion in the companies history.ADCC: You?ve seen Arlovski fight, is there anything is his game that you think you can expose or counter? BUENTELLO: I’ve seen some things that we can work on. Bottom line its it will be a war and I’ve been in few of those in my career. A lot of times I’ve had to come back from getting beat to win and I really haven’t seen Andrei have many of those type of fights. In all his wins, he’s been dominate from start to finish. I don’t think I’ve seen him take a good shot or win a fight he’s been behind in. That?s not saying anything bad because when your as dominate as he has been as of late there is no need to mount a comeback. I just plan to keep the pressure on him and let my hands go. Same game plan I always have.ADCC: Close your eyes and picture this in your head. Big John McCarthy is in the center of the octagon and says, ‘Let’s get it on.’ Arlovski is standing across from you ready to go, what happens next? BUENTELLO: I can’t wait for that moment. The fight is the easy part and is why I think us fighters go through what we do outside the ring. I know a lot of fighters and can count on one hand how many that don’t have to work second jobs or have to leave their families to train. I’m lucky because I have guys like Ray Jr. & Sr. from Vice Fighter, Sprawl, Sherdog, and Joey Oddessa from BetOddessa.com that help pay the bills every month. I’m sure the fans hate it when we always plug our sponsors after our matches and in our interviews, but I wish they can see how much these guys help the fighters. There is a lot of pressure fighters go through and when you know you have a check coming, it allows you to focus on what you have to do to prepare for the fight. Not being able to relax with your family, you have a lot of time to think. Mentally worrying and thinking about the fight can wear on you as well. Reading the forums and e-mails help out a lot and makes me realize how lucky I am to be where I am today. So I can’t wait until John tells us to ?get it on? and as far as how I see the fight going…..I can’t predict the future but if I’m sure someone?s getting knocked out (laughs).
