In 1994, John Dixson, a little known fighter from Biloxi Mississippi headed to the Kiev in the Ukraine to participate in a new type of contest. The 28 year old had studied the Martial Arts since he was 12 held a WKC Kickboxing title but wasn’t entirely sure what this new event, The International Fighting Championships was going to be about. After disposing of Igor Mandrik and Igor Guerus, he met another little known Kickboxer named Igor Vovchanchyn in the finals. Eighteen minutes of brutal trading left Vovchancyn with a broken jaw and Dixson with a broken nose. The contest was halted because the Doctor couldn’t staunch the flow of blood from Dixon’s nose.
On December 10th John Dixson's long road in the sport will lead him to Kevin Jordan and a shot at the Vacant FFC Title.
FFC: When did you start training?
JD: Well I have always studied the arts, but frankly I didn’t really train in grappling till 1999 when I started to get some students to roll with. Until then I rolled with heavy bag.
FFC: Who has influenced your style?
JD: Marco Ruas, he was the first guy to really tie the ground game and stand up together. He showed the benefits of being multi dimensional. After seeing him fight I dedicated myself to learning the whole game. Before that I was just a Kick boxer who could grapple if forced to do so. Now I am just as comfortable on the ground as I am on my feet.
FFC: You are coming in off a big win in King of the Cage® against Don Richards, a guy with a reputation as a good wrestler and BJJ guy. You finished him in the first round, what happened?
JD: He is a big 265 pounder, good wrestling, very strong, and he got a takedown almost immediately. I was able to stand back up before he shot a second time. I caught him in the transition with a guillotine and got the win. It was a good learning experience.
FFC: Really what did you learn?
JD: I was really calm and worked around his aggression. I was in a similar situation against Travis Wiuff last June and I did not handle the aggressive wrestling as well in that fight. Wiuff also got the takedown, but he transitioned to a better position. He ended up landing some good elbows from that position, which cut me and the Ringside Physician, had to stop the fight. I did a better job with Richards and things went my way.
FFC: You are fighting Kevin Jordan for the FFC Heavyweight Title, what do you know about him as a fighter.
JD: He is a great guy and I consider him a friend, but we are going to show the crowd what professionals do
FFC: What do you think Jordan will try to do to you?
JD: I think he will try to bang in the beginning. He dropped both Kerry Schall and Eric Loveless with big jabs. I think he will eventually try to get me on the ground, probably from the clench. That’s fine with me, I’m real comfortable in the clench, “Welcome to Muay Thai”
FFC: What’s your game plan?
JD: I plan to stand-up. I prefer to strike and put a show for the crowd. I haven’t had a lot of chances to perform in front of my family and friends in my career. My early MMA fights were, the IFC in Russia, my next MMA fight was in Brazil against Barretto, and then back to Russia, when I finally fought in the US it was against Dan Severn in Louisiana. I always seem to be the away team so this is nice. I promise we are going to put on a great show. I’ll have my family and friends there and I do not intend to lose in front of them.
FFC: Thanks for the time.
JD: Always.