Last Updated on August 29, 2012.
Exclusive Interview with Munah Holland
By: http://championshiproundsmma.blogspot.com
Munah Holland is one of the best fighters in the most underrated division in MMA: women’s flyweight. Lots of people overlook this division, as they believe it is sparse of great talent.
That’s a mistake.
Women’s 125-pound division holds great fighters such as Sheila Gaff, Tara LaRosa, Cat Zingano, Jessica Eye, Barb Honchak, and WMMA legend, Rosi Sexton. That’s a lot of talent and it only scratches the surface. Among these world-class fighters, Munah Holland is almost unanimously ranked as number 6 in the world and looks to continue up the ranks with a win over Michelle Ould at Bellator 74.
Before her big fight on September 28, Munah Holland sat down for an interview with us. Check it out:
Championship Rounds: Talk about your fight with Michelle. How has training camp been going?
Munah Holland: I am extremely excited about this fight with Michelle at Bellator 74. I think it will be exciting to have an opponent whose skills fall under wrestling and grappling. This will be a great fight and the fans will not be disappointed.
My training camp is incredible. I have the most amazing teammates to work with in all the styles necessary to be my best and the most well rounded I can be for this fight. I am also very grateful for the coaches I have at Tiger Schulmann’s. Having Tiger Schulmann himself, Master Ron Schulmann, Boxing Coach Ray Velez, Jujitsu coaches Sensei Jason Lopez and Sensei Robert Villafane, and Wrestling Coach Rusty Reade. They all bring the best out of me for my stand-up and ground games and I am very happy with the torturous training I receive. It’s so tough and so rewarding.
CR: What do you believe are her strength and weaknesses?
MH: I never assume anything, so I am only going off of footage I have studied with my coaches. I feel her stand-up game is a weakness and her wrestling game her strength.
CR: If you win this fight, do you believe you will fight for the 125-pound belt in Bellator?
MH: As long as there is a 125 lb Tournament for Bellator, I will fight for the 125 lb belt. I know how hard I work with my team and I know what I am capable of, I am hungry for this and would love to have the opportunity to hold that belt.
CR: Do you ever see yourself moving to Invicta FC to fight there?
MH: In this game you never know what can happen. I have an agreement with Bellator for 2 years so unless they felt it was best to release me to fight [in Invicta FC], it would be unlikely. I am keeping my focus on Bellator right now.
CR: What is it like training out of a place filled mostly with men?
MH: Have you ever seen Lyman Good, Jimmy Rivera, Julio Arce, Shane Burgos, Nick Pace, or Louis Gaudinot? And the list goes on and on and on; you will not catch me complaining. I am so fortunate to have great men to help train with me and they do not “baby” me, they know I get pissed off if they do. They make me work hard and it pays off!
CR: How is the atmosphere at Team Tiger Schulmann?
MH: Morale is always high at Team Tiger Schulmann. We train ridiculously hard and smart every day and we laugh a lot, a whole lot. We have a great balance of hardcore training and a whole lot of fun, too. Tiger Schulmann does not tolerate distracting nonsense or disrespectful behavior so there is always a great deal of discipline in our training, that’s why we get so much done in the time we train. But, Tiger Schulmann also knows when we all need to let go and just have fun too.
CR: Are there any fighters from your gym that we should keep an eye on that we might not already know about?
MH: Jimmy Rivera, Julio Arce, Michael Murray, Rachel Kendall, Shane Burgos, Brandon Cuttino, Stephen Regman, Jenna Serio, and Mike Trizano.
Thanks again to Munah Holland for being our first Women’s MMA fighter that we have interviewed and we wish you the best of luck!
Please follow Munah on Twitter @Munah_Holland