Rex Richards Interview

Rex Richards: Next Victim of the Tom Erikson Syndrome?


By Evan South
2007
originally published by full contact fighter
fcfighter.com


Tom Erikson syndrome- Defined as a syndrome where a fighter is consistently ducked or avoided and has trouble finding opponents. The next fighter who may suffer from this could be Rex Richards, a young super-heavyweight who is undefeated and incredibly dangerous.

How dangerous? His last fight at Strikeforce this past June lasted only 34 seconds.

“I sensed that I hurt him (opponent Ray Seraille) early on and that’s why I went straight for the attack” said Rex about the quick bout. “I threw a quick combo and a leg kick and I could see that it hurt him, I got him against the cage, the ref broke us up and I could see that I could maybe charge him with a couple punches and get him down and ended up knocking him out.”

Rex’s previous fight at Strikeforce last December also went quickly. Rex reflected on his last bout stating “I didn’t even throw a standing punch. I took the guy down, did a little ground and pound and went for the submission.” So far Rex’s 4 pro fights have lasted a total of approximately 5 and a half minutes. Does he worry these quick fights are not preparing him for a long drawn out war?

“That’s yet to be seen” replied Rex. “I train like I’m doing 12 rounds so I think I go into every fight prepared as far as cardio, technique, everything for the 5 minute rounds. That’s something we’re going to find out down the road, how I can continue and react to going the full rounds. I’m sure we’ll see that in the future. I think as hard as I train there will be no problem with that.”

Rex is already used to opponents changing regularly and this last fight was no exception. Concerning that situation Rex said “That’s part of the reason I went into that fight a little more pissed off than normal. I’m a creature of habit, I played football a long time, I watch film, I study. I didn’t have much detail on the previous guy I was going to fight, however I was training for a particular style and body type and it changed and that’s kind of the reason I went in there, took care of business, took a shower and went home.”

Rex mentioned playing football and is best known to some as a former lineman for the San Jose Sabercats. What would make someone go from a promising football career to the uncertain world of MMA? Rex answers “My football career was going very well, I was with a team I really enjoyed, but I decided MMA is going to be a bigger thing in my life. I’ve always enjoyed fighting more than football. This last football season I signed a Strikeforce contract and decided to do MMA full time. I see a lot of opportunity in MMA and just want to be involved in it. There is something in me that I always wanted and needed this as a career. If there was a big UFC on and the Superbowl, I would be in the other room watching UFC.”

Regarding the aforementioned Tom Erikson syndrome Rex had the following thoughts: “I think I’m in a really weird place right now, I think I’m in a place where I need to make a big jump up in the fights. I’m also still in a bad position that I don’t know if any of these big name guys want to go out and risk a loss. I’m hungry, I consider myself a very athletic fighter. I think I have a lot to offer the super heavyweight category and maybe down the road the heavyweight division.”

Rex is 6' 5" and walks around 305lbs. Would he be willing and able to cut to heavyweight?

“If I could do it” answers Rex. “I don’t know if my frame will allow it. I haven’t been under 270 lbs since I was a junior in high school. I would make the cut if I knew something in particular was going to happen (as in a specific match up) and I could stop everything I was doing and concentrate on training to get prepared for that. I know I would be very explosive and very strong at heavyweight. That’s something I would like to consider down the road but right now it’s tough. I’ve got a really big, thick frame. It would be a battle to get to heavyweight but I think I could do it and I could be really strong at heavyweight.”

Currently surveying the super heavyweight field, Rex did mention a few names of who he would like to face. “I’d like to fight Brock Lesnar. I know not a whole lot of people want to get on him right now. Ron Waterman has been mentioned as a future fight maybe with another promotion I’m going to do some work with too.”

In relation to pay as part of stepping up in competition Rex had the following to say: “I’m not going to turn down a fight with any of those guys, but I’m not going to fight the #1 guy in the world for what a prelim guy is making. I’ve got to make a smart career choice.”

So what is next for Rex Richards? “Strikeforce will probably be my next fight but I have an open (non-exclusive) contract with them, so I can go fight for other companies as long as they can match what Strikeforce is paying me. I have 4 more fights left with Strikforce. Strikeforce was cool to offer that kind of contract to me. I’m just looking for big fights that will boost the career. I’m thinking about doing the Mundials in August in Los Angeles as a brown belt. I would like to win the brown belt division. I definitely want to get my next fight in by September.”

Rex closed by talking about the type of fighter he wants to be. “I like to finish my fights. I want to be exciting. I want to be that fighter the fans say they want to see again.”

With the birth of his first child (daughter Riley) this past April Rex summarized everything best by saying: “A lot of good things happening right now”. As long as that Erickson syndrome will stay at bay...

myspace.com/rexafl