Maybe I'm a bit biased since Chris Howie is my homeskillet, but he seems to prod some interesting details out of anyone he interviews.
MMANews.com: With a win do you see yourself right back in line for a shot at Jamie Varner?
“Razor” Rob: For sure.
MMANews.com: Obviously that would be a fight you’d like to have back. What surprised you most about Varner and going back, what would you have done differently?
“Razor” Rob: You know, when I started that camp - and I’m not making excuses here, the better man came out on top that night. But with that being said, I started my camp for that fight a little late and training for a five minute, five round fight, takes a lot of fucking training. When I got in there I was kind of feeling a little blah. I had a lot of grapplers with me before the fight to work on shutting down his take downs and in the fight when I realized I did shut down his take downs, I realized I busted my eardrum and that through my whole game out the window. My striking wasn’t up to par and I wasn’t throwing kicks and punches as well as I could have. The second time around will be one hell of a different fight.
MMANews.com: Did he surprise you with his hands?
“Razor” Rob: Yeah he was tagging me with shots, he has a monkey reach and he was surprising me but I was laughing at him the whole time. When I realized that I busted my eardrum I was like “Ahhhh man” and at that point I realized I had to get him with a big shot. When I did get him with the big shot (Steve) Mazagatti stopped the fight because he lost his mouth piece and the time out was called. At that point I realized that all my momentum was gone and then he clipped me. It will make for a great rematch.
MMANews.com: What effect did the eardrum have on you?
“Razor” Rob: Well, when you bust your eardrum it throws off your equilibrium which controls your balance and such. It was super annoying because I could hear myself breathing inside my head. I busted it once before boxing when I was 17 so I knew what it was when it happened this time.
Full interview here: http://www.mmanews.com/other/Exclusive:-Razor-Rob-McCullough-On-Next-Fight-Varner-More.html