[KawikaVeeka]

source: http://news.hawaiifightnetwork.com/2...t-to-come.aspx

Interview with Ron "Machine Gun" Jhun:
"My Best is Yet to Come."

Hawaii Fight Network: Every fighter has found an inspiration to compete in MMA. What sparked your interest to fight?

Ron Jhun: My brother-in-law Ray Cooper was into wrestling. When he came home from college, he started getting into the fight game and was training with one of the first guys who competed here in Hawaii, Kawika Pa’aluhi. Ray was training and I started getting interested too. Then Ray told me, “Eh Ron! I doing one ultimate fighting.”

HI-FN: So it was Kawika Pa’aluhi who got you into it?

RJ: Yeah. I pretty much had to asked my wife about it and she said, “I don’t think so!” Then when Ray got the opportunity, I got to go in his corner and see it first hand. I was kinda like, “Whoa!” It looked kinda crazy, but exciting too.

HI-FN: Did you do wrestling in high school?

RJ: I did some my junior and senior year. I played football. Other than that, nothing else special.

HI-FN: You get into a lot of fights when you were young?

RJ: Yeah! I had to fight for my lunch money. (laughs)

HI-FN: Seeing Ray compete, did that get you more comfortable to do the same.

RJ: Yeah. I saw him do well and that made me want to do it. I didn’t say anything to anyone. I just kept training and working hard. Then the promoter approached me to see if I was interested. He asked me and I was like, “Shoots!” That was it. After the first time I got in there, I found something I liked and I knew what I needed to do.

HI-FN: You trained out of Jesus is Lord at the time. Was that directly linked to your church or was the incorporation of God and Jesus on your own as you trained?

RJ: My brother-in-law and Monica gave themselves to the Lord. I was going through some trials and tribulations in my life, going through my ups and downs. I ended up going to church with them. Then the promoter labeled us Jesus is Lord because we came out with that on our shirts. TJ (Thompson) called us the Jesus is Lord Team. Everyone recognized us as that so we just left it as that. We were on our own, but we did seek formal advice from our pastor to see if we were stepping out of our boundries as Christians. He told us that as long as we go in looking at this as a sport and competition, there are no guidelines saying that what we are doing is wrong. Since we did it out of the passion for the sport rather than the violence, we can carry on with it.

HI-FN: You now train out of 808 Fight Factory. Do you still work with Jesus is Lord?

RJ: I kinda stemmed out. Jesus is Lord had a closed door policy. A lot of guys were coming to train, but weren’t doing it under the rules and guidelines that we would train under. I had a lot of friends that wanted to train, but couldn’t commit to that. The schools are next to each other so I still train with them. It’s all family. I look at it like a church. When it gets too big, you have to expand. The vision of helping people is the same. I still proclaim Jesus as my Lord and Savior and appreciate what he did for my life.

HI-FN: You’ve been in the fight game for a fairly long time and have had over 40 professional fights against many recognizable names in the MMA game. Are there still butterflies or are you more than comfortable in the final moments?

RJ: There’s still them jitter bugs. I think if you become accustom, you learn how to control it after a while. You gotta have that adrenaline and butterflies because that’s what drives you. You know that excitement? (laughs) I’d say it’s like parachuting. Even if you jumped outta that plane a hundred times, you still gonna have the butterflies. That’s because you know that behind what you’re doing, there’s a possibility that your chute may not open. It’s the same thing with fighting. No matter how much times you train and train, there’s still a possibility in the back of your mind that something can go wrong. You know it’s there, but you just hope and pray for the best to happen.

HI-FN: Great comparison. It hasn’t been said better than that. What’s your protocol in the final moments before a fight? Do you sleep? Get hyped up?

RJ: I try to rest and keep my heart rate down. I’ve learned that you get excited from the event without even realizing. Watching the earlier fights, your heart rate gets up and you burn yourself out without you even knowing. I try to get some rest during the preliminary fights. Then at the middle of the event, I walk around, get taped up, and start warming up to get my blood circulating. I have kind of a ritual I go through. It works for me. I just listen to Kirk Franklin and other kind of
gospel music, and get The Word into me, and get strengthened inside. That’s
the difference for me. I get more inner strength and have it come inside-out. Then I work on the physical side after that. I feel the music and feed my soul. Some people get all nuts and let the emotions of the fight and event get them worked up. That’s only human nature. You start getting excited. You see a fighter come to the back all buss up. Things run through your mind. You have to guard your mind from the negative things people say at the event. That’s when you have to fill yourself with positive things and strengthen yourself from the inside-out.

HI-FN: What was your most memorable moment in your career?

RJ: One that stands out would be winning the King of the Cage welterweight title against Shonie Carter in Las Vegas. That fight stands out the most. We fought to a draw in Superbrawl and the crowd was just booing. So we fought again in Vegas for the vacant King of the Cage welterweight belt. That and the war I had with Pete Spratt. That was four or five years ago. It was just back and forth. The crowd was just going nuts. That was a Warriors Quest fight.

HI-FN: You’re a family man and also keep a day job like most other fighters here in the islands. What’s the typical day for “The Machine Gun” when he’s in preparations
for a fight?

RJ: I’m a sheet ****l worker. I get up at 5 o’clock, make my breakfast, take my pills, get on the road at about 6, start work at 7. My work schedule is from 7 til 3:30. I get home at 4. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, I go to the chiropractor and straighten my back. Then I get home, get showered up, eat dinner, and get the family together. Then we’re on the road at about 6. I head to the gym and start my workout at about 6:30 til about 9:30. That’s a daily plan there from Monday through Friday. As I get closer to a fight, I also go on Saturday and work more technical stuff there.

HI-FN: You really juggle a lot then.

RJ: I rather have it that way. I’ve tried staying home and just train and it seems like I have no balance like that. I like the working and coming home and training. It works more on my mental strength. I come home and I’m beat and it makes me kick it into overdrive. It seems hard, but once I get my sweat going, I can train for five hours straight. It’s just me getting out of the gym and winding down. I cannot got to sleep until 11:30 or even midnight. Then I’m hanging the next day. My work partners know when I had a hard practice the night before. (laughs)

HI-FN: The 808 Fight Factory is known for being a freestyle fight team. Who are the important players in the evolution of the different elements of your team?

RJ: To me, the unique part of our team is that we’re just a bunch of guys in the gym. Guys like Harris Sarmiento, Keali’i (Ed) Newalu, Niko Vitale coming together. No particular coaches, I watch videos. It’s pretty much self taught and we roll with it. I also cross train with Anthony Torres and the Wolfe Twins at MMAD to work on wrestling and grappling.

HI-FN: Tell us about what we can expect from some of your fighters there.

RJ: Harris “The Hitman” Sarmiento is one of our professional fighters. He’s fighting “Razor” Rob McCollough a day after my fight in the WFA in a rematch on the same card as Bas Rutten versus Kimo. He’s making some waves in the 155 division. We’ve got Ed Newalu who is the 135lb Icon and X-1 champion. He’s going to be fighting one of the top shooto fighters at 143. He’s gonna try to make a splash in the SHOOTO sanctioning body. We also have Bryson Kamaka who has gone through some ups and downs in his career. He’s out there expanding himself with cross training in Wahiawa and at North Shore JJ. We even have some upcoming guys like Fatu Tuitafi who’s now 2-0. Also Aaron Rose is coming up. We also have 3 or 4 guys on the back burner who are either having children or having to work and train. They’re telling me that it’s some hard to work and train.
(laughs)

HI-FN: What’s the status of Niko Vitale?

RJ: His wife is pregnant with twins right now just like my wife and I had. They’re expanding their family right now. Niko’s going through a family-phase in his life right now. He’s taking a break with training because of it and pops in when he can.

HI-FN: You’re fighting the undefeated K-Taro Nakamura for the vacant SHOOTO Pacific Rim MW Title. Explain the feeling of anticipation that has been going through your mind since the announcement was made that you’ll be fighting for the belt.

RJ: It’s almost like the time I got the call from the UFC. It’s like a dream come true as far as my goals for the sport are concerned. I set out a few goals and fighting for a SHOOTO title is one of them. I’ve been on Cloud 9 when I first heard the news from the promoters. Since I’ve dropped weight, I’m more focused on my weight than my fight. I’ve been taking my mind off my opponent and more focused on my diet and watching what I’m eating. I think that’s the difference with going down a weight class.

HI-FN: You are going down to 167 for this one right? Are you more accustomed at 170, and didn’t you fight at 185 before?

RJ: Yes, that’s correct it’s at 167. I was fighting at 185 pretty much my whole career. I was eating plate lunches and didn’t even care about my weight. I was walking in at 187 and hit a crossroad. Then somebody, I think it was Ray, asked me to fight at 170. I came to the conclusion that I might as well try it. The Shonie Carter fight was my first fight at 170. I realized I could make the weight. Whoa, but 167 is pushing the envelope. That extra 3 pounds is kinda livin rough, but I think I’ll make it. (laughs)

HI-FN: Have you been preparing differently for Nakamura?

RJ: I’ve never really trained specifically for a fighter. I just train everything, but most of all cardio. I’m pretty much ready to fight whoever it is and whatever style he is. My experience will be able to overcome adversities in the ring and adapt to the fighter. During the round, I’ll make changes of my own. I’ve never really studied fighters because it seems like they’re also studying me. They probably won’t come out the way you seen them according to the way they fought somebody else. I never go out with a game plan. I just go out there and be prepared for whatever happens.

HI-FN: Have you been informed on the career projection of the winner? Will there be an immediate World Title fight against Aoki since you’re the #3 ranked SHOOTO middleweight?

RJ: They haven’t promised it, but it looks like the winner will fight Aoki in the Year End Show. I know he’s a good judo player and I heard his jiu jitsu is phenomenal. I told myself that I always wanted to test myself with the best fighters in the world. I think he’s one of the unkept secrets right now. They have him ranked in the top ten in the world. SHOOTO hasn’t got him out to where he’s competing on US soil to really showcase his fighting style. I’m not looking past Nakamura, but I can see myself competing against Aoki.

HI-FN: How many SHOOTO fights have you had and what is your comparison to SHOOTO and all out MMA?

RJ: I’ve had nine SHOOTO sanctioned bouts. I think SHOOTO is more of a sportsman’s event. There’s no elbows on the ground. The strikes need to be made with the knuckles. Therefore you cannot do any kind of fancy striking on the ground. You get knockdown and you’re given a count to recover or redeem yourself versus the other circuits where you get pummeled when you go down. There’s the pros and cons about SHOOTO, but overall, I like it.

HI-FN: Has the standing 8 count ever saved you?

RJ: Yeah! (laughs) It was against Suda. We fought to a decision. In the third round, I caught him with a one-two. He rolled-out the right hand that I caught him with. Then he came in with a spinning backfist right on my chin. He kind of phased me. I stumbled backward and in the process of him coming forward, I dropped into guard. So the ref stood us up and gave me a standing 8 because it came off of a standing punch. I remember that he was counting and he was on 7 or 8, and when I got up I felt wobbled. The standing 8 kind of saved me. (laughs) He had the title at the time, and I was scheduled to fight in a Superbrawl about a week after that fight. I was ready because of that and that’s when Japan called me to fight him. His original opponent got hurt and they needed a replacement. If I beat him, I’d be ranked #1. It was a non-title fight, so if I won, I’d get to fight him again for the title. I figure take the fight. Japan? I’ll fly up there! (laughs)

HI-FN: Was that the first time to Japan?

RJ: That was my fourth trip there, but my third time fighting in Japan.

HI-FN: What’s the difference between fighting Japan compared to anywhere else?

RJ: You know what? The fans in Japan make you feel special. You go up there and they no shame. They ask you for autographs. They just go nuts and let their emotions show. Down here in Hawaii, local fans see you and the give you the “Ho! Wassup bah!” In Japan, the fans come running up to you with pictures and magazines for you to sign. They wanna take pictures and stuff. You feel special. It was motiviating and I was in the gym to go back t. It was a good experience for me.

HI-FN: What went through your head as Rumble proposed the fight with Pele? Why didn’t it take place?

RJ: His management said that his visa expired and wasn’t going to be able to get it by the date of the show. That’s what the Rumble management informed me about. I was excited to hear about the fight though. Everytime I get proposed to fight a world class fighter I get all excited.

HI-FN: You beat TUF2 welterweight contract winner, Joe Stevenson a while back in Warriors Quest. Rumors say that the UFC was planning to get you back in the cage with him for his first official UFC bout. Any truth to that?

RJ: I don’t know if it was me being on a losing streak that swayed them from making that decision, but I know that Joe did an interview and was saying that I was on the top of his list for him redeeming himself. I’m not sure, but I’ve had a lot of people coming up to me saying that he wanted a rematch. I don’t know. That was just rumors flying around.

HI-FN: What Hawaii fighter has made the biggest impact on the sport here?

RJ: I would have to say BJ Penn. In the amount of time that he did it and the level of fighters he fought along with the way the marketed him. I trained with him a couple of times when I was working in Hilo. The guy is unreal. He’s real explosive, good balance. I would say that he’s strong and really technical. He uses a lot of leverage. He’s a guy who put wrestling, jiu jitsu, and streetfighting and conformed it into his own style. He was fighting at 155 when I trained with him and walked around at about 170. I was walking around at 180 or 190 and I couldn’t hold him down. The guy has cat-like reflexes. You flip him over, he’s gonna land on his feet no matter what. (laughs) I was blown away when I worked out with him. He’s unreal.

HI-FN: Anyone outside of Hawaii that has made a big impact on the sport here?

RJ: I would have to say Royce Gracie. If you was to mention his name,
everybody would know. He was tapping out everybody in his gi from back in
the day.

HI-FN: What did you think of his loss against Hughes?

RJ: That was just the passing of the torch. I don’t think he expected Matt Hughes to be as dominant as he was in their fight. It was probably a reality check in his training methods. Look at Matt and who he trains with. He’s got almost every belt in the UFC training with him. It was the young versus the old, but you gotta say that jiu jitsu was the foundation for everybody.

HI-FN: I’m going to mention something about MMA. You tell me the first thing that comes to mind:
Harris Sarmiento.....

RJ: Bloodline. He’s Bloodline to the end.

HI-FN: WFA.....

RJ: The next best thing.

HI-FN: PRIDE Openweight Grand Prix Champion.....

RJ: Wanderlei or Nogueira

HI-FN: The Ultimate Fighter “The Comeback”.....

RJ: Wish I was in it. (laughs)

HI-FN: Punishment in Paradise.....

RJ: Destiny!

HI-FN: Mayhem Miller.....

RJ: One crazy haole. (laughs)

HI-FN: Shinya Aoki.....

RJ: Diamond in the rough.

HI-FN: Carlos Condit.....

RJ: The next generation of fighter.

HI-FN: Antonio McKee.....

RJ: LUCKY!! (laughs)

HI-FN: Jose “Pele” Landi.....

RJ: Icon

HI-FN: BJ Penn.....

RJ: Exactly what his nickname is. He's a prodigy.

HI-FN: SHOOTO.....

RJ: What fighting really should be.

HI-FN: K-Taro Nakamura.....

RJ: The fighter that stands in my way.

HI-FN: Ron “The Machine Gun” Jhun.....

RJ: My best is yet to come.

HI-FN: Thanks for the interview. Do you have anyone to thank before we go?

RJ: I’d like to say thank you and mahalo to all the locals. From Lanai to Kaho’olawe to Maui, all the islands. When I’m down and out, all of you that support me, I’ll fight for you guys. Mahalo again to everyone that supports me. I promise you, my best is yet to come. Mahalo and Aloha!!!!