Jared Hamman interview

Jared Hamman: Making a Name the Hard Way


By Evan South
Originally published by Full Contact Fighter
2007
fcfighter.com


There are many ways to make a name for yourself in the sport of MMA. One is to fight in an old school tournament where you fight more than once the same night. The other is to face a big name, preferably a UFC or Pride veteran. Jared Hamman did both in the same event. Recently, the International Fighting Championship held a 4-man Cruiserweight (between light-heavy and heavy) tournament. Hamman made it past his first fight to defeat UFC and Pride veteran Travis Wiuff in the finals.

Even more surprising for this relatively unknown fighter would be his background. “I only did 1 year of wrestling in high school and then played football at University of Redlands” said Hamman. “I’ll have only been training and fighting for 2 years this coming November”.

Hamman recalls his introduction to MMA, “I was coaching football at University of Redlands and I had always joked about fighting. I wanted to do something, so I went to the local gym and started training and I was hooked. I had my first smoker amateur fight 3 months after starting training. I won 5 of those in a row. I had my first pro fight after about 4 months of training.”

Hamman’s pro win streak landed him as an alternate for the International Fight League’s Tokyo Sabres. As the light-heavyweight alternate this gave him the fortuitous opportunity to train with Vladimir Matyushenko.

“We trained together all the time” recalls Hamman. “We became friends and training partners.” In replying to what it is like to train with Matyushenko, Jared responded, “His grappling is unbelievable. I’ve seen him mop up so many people. It’s kind of disheartening to train with him sometimes because he is that good.”

Vladimir was also the one who first told Jared about the IFC tournament. “Vladimir asked me how much I weigh and I told him I walk around about 215lbs. He tells me the IFC has this new weight class of 205-230lbs, and I’m thinking here we go! I knew I would still be underweight and I weighed in at 222lbs with my shorts on and a full belly of food.”

Hamman’s opponents were both bigger fighters who were more than likely cutting to make the 230lb limit. Fighting in a tournament style format is difficult due to not knowing who you may face if you get past the first fight, so developing a game plan can be tough. Hamman explains, “My gameplan for the whole tournament, I predicted I was fighting a bunch of ground guys. I knew my first opponent, Rogent Lloret, had won multiple Abu Dhabi trials, so I knew he was really good on the ground. So I trained the whole time to defend take downs, get off my back, and avoid submissions.”

Jared’s first fight with Lloret, however, didn’t go as planned. “When Rogent came out and he was straight kickboxing, it blew me away,” said Hamman. “We went to the ground one time and just ended right back up. His kickboxing was awesome. He was actually the hardest fight because he was so big. I’m usually taller than most guys I’ve fought, and he was taller than me. His reach was really long, really stiff jab, really good movement. It kind of threw me off because I was expecting a submission expert!”

Complicating matters was the fact Hamman was knocked down in the first round.

“From what I remember, I went down to a knee, but I definitely got knocked down, that’s for sure,” Hamman says. “The ref told me later that it was close, but I got right back up and kept on fighting, that’s why he didn’t stop it. I knew at some point, my head was spinning.”

Surviving the first round, things were not better for Hamman going into the second. “I inside leg kicked him in the first round and broke my foot. It forced me to calm down. In between rounds my corner (Matyushenko and coach Brian Warren) told me to relax and use my footwork. And this with a broken foot” laughed Hamman. “First round was a street brawl. Second round I slowed down, I was setting up my punches more, using my head movement because I knew I couldn’t kick him anymore, my foot was done for! I had been working on my inside left and right hooks with my boxing coach, he told me I had a pretty strong right hook, and that’s what I ended up catching Rogent with.”

With Travis having fought right before, Hamman knew who he would be facing in the finals. As Hamman tells it, “I was waiting in the wings to fight Rogent during Travis’ fight, and he beat his guy in less than 2 minutes. I saw that and thought this is going to be interesting,”

Hamman had a decision to make in between fights as to whether or not to continue due to his broken foot. In addition, both eyes were really swollen. As Hamman tells it, “I told my corner my foot was broken and I don’t know if I can walk on it. Once that adrenaline goes away...I decided to put it on ice and see what happens, because there were several more fights in between. However, I decided I didn’t come out here to quit, I didn’t come out to fight one fight, I came out to do the whole thing.”

With the first fight jitters out of the way, Hamman could now concentrate on his final opponent.

“I had just been in a war with Rogent, so when I went out there and looked across and saw Travis, I was thinking I was not scared of anything now,” Hamman tells FCF. “If I had fought Travis first, I may have been more nervous. But now I was ready to fight and bang.”

Hamman was also surprised that Travis chose to stand and bang with him. “I think he got a takedown in the first round, but we just stood through blows. I don’t know if it was my takedown defense, but we just went toe to toe. In the second round, he got another takedown, I reversed position and we stood up. I did kind of a judo throw, threw him against the fence, pushed my weight against his body to smash him up against the cage. I started pounding away with my right hand; he couldn’t defend because I had one of his arms trapped. After about 7 or 8 unanswered punches the ref stopped the fight.”

One would think the sky would be the limit for the 25 year old undefeated fighter, but as Hamman explains; “Now that I won this belt, I need to learn how to actually fight! I haven’t even been doing this for 2 years. People are telling me I need to go to the UFC. I’ll go to the UFC and get smashed.”

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