In part one of this MMA Plus – Dan Severn Exclusive, the UFC Hall of Famer discussed career longevity, the issue of fixed fights, the iconic mustache, his dream ending and more – read the full article HERE.
As mentioned in Part-1, Severn spent the vast majority of his 18-year career competing outside of the UFC, but the American’s accomplishments as one of the early grappling powerhouses in the Ultimate Fighting Championship are what he’s best known for as a mixed martial artist.
Preparing for the UFC
Highlighting the old-skool nature of MMA in the 90s, the decorated NCAA Division I wrestler spoke of his throwback training regiment with WWE (then WWF) fan favourite Al-Snow, in preparation for the UFC 4 tournament.
“When I was given the nod that I was in my first UFC, I only trained for five days. An hour and a half a-day, I didn’t train a single strike, I didn’t train a single submission. I drove from Coldwater, Michigan, to Lima, Ohio, where I did my professional wrestling training, to use a professional wrestling ring as the closest thing to a cage,”
“I had three gentlemen, Al Snow who was the coach of the professionals, and two other protegees with a pair of old boxing gloves. The name of the game was to try punch and kick at Dan, and I would either stay out of range, close the distance, clinch them, throw them to the ground, simply slap on an amateur wrestling move, make it illegal, make them scream and squawk, and that was my training camp.”
“I hung out a great deal with Mick Foley and Al snow. I always thought that Al was very talented, very under utilized (as a pro wrestler) for what his capabilities are.”
As a sportsman, the American broke down his views of physical competition, stating that he’s never been a fighter, but that he’s a competitor. Dan explained that his UFC days, beginning in 1994, came long after his prime as a world-class amateur wrestler in the 80s. Bringing all the factors together, ‘The Beast’ boldly claims to be a cut above any other athlete.
“I was at the top of my game from 1984 to 1986, I ruled the world then,”
“Coming from the background I had since 1969, I’d been traveling and competing domestically since 1972, and since 1976 internationally, it’s been quite the education along the way.”
“Truly, I will say I am way beyond any other athlete. When you look at how many sheer matches I have had, the fact that I’m lifetime chemical free, you find another heavyweight who can claim those first two things, now lets look at what age I started (in MMA). In all of those years I’ve only done two training camps, one for UFC 5, and one for the Ultimate Ultimate. One was for 32-days and one was for 35-days. The rest of the time, I merely showed up to matches, put my trunks on and walked out to the cage. Find another Human Being who can make those claims and have the success ratio. I guarantee you my friend, it doesn’t walk this planet. I’ve never been in a fight my entire life, I’ve been a competitor my entire life.”
Losing to Royce Gracie
In Tulsa, Oklahama, the imposing figure of Dan Severn advanced to the finals of the UFC 4 tournament in December, 1994. Having brushed aside Anthony Macais and Marcus Bossett with a pair of quick submissions, he faced MMA icon and Gracie Jiu Jitsu master – Royce Gracie, in the tournament finale.
With Gracie patiently working from the bottom, the significantly larger Severn found himself sucked into the Brazilian’s guard. Seemingly lost, Severn appeared stuck and unsure of how to proceed, before submitting to a triangle choke.
However, referring back his views as a competitor, Severn claimed to have been holding back to a certain extent, suggesting he could have launched a ground-and-pound assault from above, but chose to refrain, due to such ferocity being against his morals.
“Nobody knows what went down in that match,” Explained Severn. “Royce doesn’t know what went down in that match. I struggled more with my conscience than I ever did with opponents. For me to ball up my fist and to strike a man directly into the face, I had to go against 26-years of rules, regulations, sportsmanlike conduct, and even then I couldn’t throw it directly into him. I was throwing peripheral off to one side. It’s one of those things where I can’t turn back the clock of time. if I had the chance to do that match again, oh I would have done something totally different.”
Similar to a number of competitors in the early UFC tournaments, Severn feels he took the occasion lightly, and that he could have produced the key to defeating the grappling wizard, should he have taken the time to further prepare for a Gracie encounter.
“Honestly, I didn’t think much of the match in the first place. When you think about preparation, I only trained for 5-days, there never was true preparation when you think about it, I just went into it.”
“What did I think about Royce Gracie? I didn’t think about him. To me he’s got two arms and he’s got two legs. I thought I was doing just fine in that I took him down. My game plan was running fine, I couldn’t care less if he was wanting to pull guard, there’s nothing truly advantageous about that. When you look at how most matches are still won, matches are won with taking a man down to the ground, and it’s won one of three ways, ground and pound is still number one. Number two is some form of a choke, number three is an arm-bar,”
“I’m a stats man, when I work with my athletes, I say to them these are the top ways matches are being won. So when you think about how they are being won, you train to defend. Granted, some people are going to pull off a cool kimura or something like that.”
“If you look at a specific opponent, you do things specifically for them. When you look at young guys and how they go about a match three or four months ahead of time, they can actually train properly for that individual. I did not have that luxury, I’ve been a busy person, I was busy back then, I’m a busy person now.”
Tank Abbott
Despite talk of good morals and sportsmanlike conduct, that was all thrown out the window for one man. ‘The Beast’ was truly focused when it came to facing an infamous MMA throwback whom Severn referred to as “evil”, a man he feels represents everything that is wrong with martial arts, and is a bad influence on the sport and young generations; David ‘Tank’ Abbott.
“I’ve really only ever had one match where I went out there with evil intent and that was a match against ‘Tank’ Abbot. ‘Tank’ Abbott was an evil person, he would have done all kinds of cheap shots and things like this, I went into that match knowing that and just wound up taking him out of the equation and never giving him the opportunity. I treated him in a way that I’ve never treated any other athlete, but you kinda get what you give.”
“Anytime he won a match, it degraded sportsmanlike conduct. I think I love the traditional martial arts more in a number of ways because of what it teaches young people. I like hearing no Sir/yes Sir, I like them standing at attention, it’s a lost commodity nowadays. Worldwide, younger people just don’t have the respect or same type of manners.”
MMA to Pro wrasslin’
Well versed as both an MMA fighter and pro wrestling performer, having found success in both the UFC and WWF, among various promotions, Severn split his years of experience in the two worlds, and over time has developed promotions of his own.
“Pride of Glory has always been for the pro wrestlers and the Danger Zone, when I first started it up, was no-holds-barred, and it’s slowly transitioned to the current product of mixed martial arts.”
When asked if he experienced any hostility when joining the WWF, as a UFC veteran, Dan explained there was more animosity due to his amateur wrestling background.
“I would say I had more of that (rivalry) as I transitioned from an amateur wrestler to a ‘professional wrassler.’”
“I had been approached in the mid 80’s to turn pro, but had I turned pro at that time, I would have lost my amateur status and my amateur wrestling career meant a whole lot more to me.”
Check out the final part of Dan Severn’s exclusive MMA Plus interview next week, where the UFC Hall of Famer takes a look at MMA today, in comparison to the early pioneering years of the UFC.
Brought to you by Jorden Curran. Follow Jorden on Twitter @onejcurran
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