ENTIRE INTERVIEW AT HTTP://LEGACYFIGHTS.TV
It was high time that Texas MMA signed its very own, grade-A certified “Bad Boy,” and after the release of Leonard Garcia from the UFC last month, Legacy FC did just that. The 15-11-1, 145er has had a bit of a rough patch, with five consecutive blemishes to his record since March 2011. Instead of hanging his head and quitting the sport, Garcia has, instead, turned a corner and become half of one of this summer’s most anticipated bouts. He will face Reynaldo Trujillo [15-9] at Legacy FC 21 on July 19th, looking to prove to the world that he may be down, but he is most certainly not out.
Legacy: I'm sure you've had a long day....
Leonard Garcia: It was a good one!
Legacy: What made it so good?
Leonard Garcia: I got three workouts in today, so that's a good day. I'm out here in Sacramento now [at Team Alpha Male], so it's a new system, new program, new everything. It's a total change from what I've been doing. Not as far as just training; I'm doing a lot more drilling now, going through every technique as much as I possibly can. Duane Ludwig is probably the best coach that I have ever had. He's really making me pay attention to detail, which is something that I've done before in the past with him, but never to this degree. It's really cool. This morning, we woke up at 7:30, ate breakfast, drove to the gym and for an hour straight just drilled technique, not really hard, not anything gong crazy, but everything very technical and breaking a good sweat. Thirty minutes after that was over we had wrestling practice, run by Lance Palmer…the whole crew of guys there are all standout wrestlers. Now that's one thing I'm getting out here that I wouldn't get at home: a room full of wrestlers at my disposal. If I have a question, it's never a "dumb" question to them; they're questions that they've heard their whole lives. I'm asking, "Why does this work?" "Why does this not work?" "Why am I getting taken down from this position?" They just ask me, "What is the absolute way that you know, for a fact, the guy can shoot that's going to take you down?" and I showed them that position and then we go a whole series, just on that one position. Them paying attention to me like that makes me feel really good and being that it’s a new gym, a totally different style, it makes me feel at home. I came home, grabbed something to eat and 2 and 1/2 hours later, I went back and did an hour and half of drilling in Duane's class again. So, you might be Leonard Garcia going for a takedown this next fight.
Legacy: Oh yeah? [Laughs]
Leonard Garcia: [Laughs] I feel like it definitely opened my eyes; it makes more sense here than it ever did anywhere else. I think the amount of wrestling these guys do, I don't feel helpless underneath them, but I feel vulnerable. So it's, like, I want to be that guy on top. That feeling of control that they have? I want to feel that as well. That's my goal is to leave here and have that mentality: if I take a guy down, I'm going to be able to hold him down and make him work to get back up, not just let him back up like I did Max Holloway. Or even submit him. It's exciting and it's fun again. I've been doing this for a long time and when you reignite a fire, it always feels good to get it lit for the first time, no matter what you're doing. If you're barbecuing, whatever, once you get that fire lit, you know it's time to get going. Right now, you know, that's what it feels like; it's my first week here [at Team Alpha Male] and it's been a great experience. Monday till now, it's a really hard workout in the morning and then we hang out and then Saturday is wrestling again. I'm going into the one workout a day, Friday and Saturday, so it's not two or three. I get to chill out a little bit.
Legacy: Team Alpha Male reminds me of a fraternity.
Leonard Garcia: All the guys are real cool. It definitely does have that feel; you're right! The "Varsity Blues" feel. Everybody has a good attitude. They start and end the practices with, "Win on three," so everybody has a "winning" mentality out here. You look at these guys' records and see where Urijah [Faber], Chad [Mendes]…and also all the new guys that are coming up, there's a lot of fighters there that are undefeated. They all have the same mentality; so, when you come in and you get on that same wavelength as them, you are all pushing for the same thing. It's like a football team trying to get a win, so it does have that "fraternity" or "varsity" feeling; whatever it is, it's a good wave to be riding on.
SO MUCH MORE with Leonard at HTTP://LEGACYFIGHTS.TV
