Looks like Dean Lister is really moving up. He's already got prime position on the pride poster for the show he's debuting in. That's pretty cool.
Also pretty cool interview at ADCC as well...
Dean lister - PRIDE BOUND!
Submitted by: Keith Mills
Posted On 07/15/2004
This weekend in Pride “Bushido 4” Dean Lister takes on Amar Suloev. Officially a member of Gracie United, Lister is the current ADCC Unlimited class champion and former King Of The Cage Middleweight champion. His black belt in BJJ came from Jeff Higgs who trained under Rickson Gracie black belt Fabio Santos. Suloev is a member of the Red Devil Fight Club based in Russia and is the ADCC #9 ranked 170.1-185 fighter.
After winning and defending it twice, Lister relinquished his KOTC belt prior to fighting Jeremy Horn at 205 pounds back in December. He has recently talked about not being sure if that is the weight at which he will continue to compete or not but his difficulties at making 185 put him in-between those weight classes. Dean is coming off a loss to Jeremy Horn by majority decision in a fight where an early elbow opened up a cut that partially blinded Dean for the remainder of the fight. Dean’s only other loss was his first fight against Jacen Flynn in an outdoor KOTC show, where rain soaked the canvas and impaired several of the fighters’ ability to get traction. Dean won their rematch.
KM: Your next fight is in Pride. Congratulations. How are you feeling about this? DL: Thank you. Feeling good. I know it’s going to be a good trip, nothing but positive.
KM: Your opponent is Amar Suloev, maybe the toughest fighter you have faced so far. What do you think of Amar? DL: Actually it’s funny. I had this feeling about Jacen Flynn which is one of my old opponents (note: KOTC 7 & 12). I saw the guy fight and I don’t know why, somehow I knew I would face him and I faced him. I had it about Amar when I saw him a long time ago. He’s a good sportsman which I admire. I know he’s going to be tough on the ground but he’s really tough to take down and tough to strike with. He has the chin and he’ll hang in there, he’s a tough guy. I feel like he’s a really tough opponent and actually that is what I want. Win or lose I know I’ve always taken the hard way.
KM: This is possibly the biggest test of your standup. Do you feel that is accurate? DL: Yeah. The biggest name I’ve fought before this was Jeremy Horn. Pretty much I understand he is going to be playing angles, circles, and try to knock me out but it’s probably going to be him being patient I imagine and being smart. I heard he has a good sprawl…we’ll see how my takedowns are.
KM: Did you get a chance to see his fight against Din Thomas? DL: I didn’t see that.
KM: Amar out-weighed Din by about twenty pounds. It’s going to be different with you. DL: Yeah, I think by about five pounds, I’m not sure.
KM: Tell me about your loss to Horn. DL: I definitely won the first round. (Regarding the bloody pics on the internet) that was the first elbow…I lost more blood than people realized. I think it affected my cardio a little bit. With the cut I couldn’t see very well on my feet. I never had that experience before so I didn’t know how to react. If you can’t see and somebody is punching you…I didn’t know where I was. One time I took a kick and fell on my butt. That doesn’t look good to the judges. It was a close fight. One judge gave it to me and the others to him.
KM: One thing I wanted to clarify was the weight class. It wasn’t for your Middleweight belt? DL: It was the last fight on my contract. I had already by that fight given up my belt. It’s up for grabs but I still have the belt, it’s still here (at home).
Dean is sponsored by Bad Boy fight gear and Osiris Shoes. He teaches BJJ at City Boxing in San Diego. For more on Dean check out www.cityboxing.com.