Ryan Schultz

Interview by Daniel Regan

After defeating Chris Horodecki to capture the IFL Lightweight title, Ryan "The Lion" Schultz talks exclusively with MMARising.com about his training, past fights with top competitors and his plans for the coming year in the IFL.

Ryan Schultz has had many great battles in his career, and remains as the only person to hold a credited victory over Roger "El Matador" Huerta, as well as a Draw with top lightweight fighter Gesias "JZ Calvan" Calvancanti.


He shares his thoughts on past fights, and looks forward to the future challenges that lie ahead of him.



Daniel: Hey, how are you doing? I'd like to thank you for taking the time to meet with MMARising.com. If you could start off by telling us a little bit about you. Perhaps where you were born and where you currenty live?

Ryan: Well, I'm married. I have been for the last 2 years and 10 months. I was born in North Platte, Nebraska. I lived there for most of my life, where I went to college at the University of Nebraska and I majored in Criminal Justice and minored in Sociology. I live in Estacada, Oregon now.



Daniel: Now, we've all enjoyed following your career, both through the ups and downs. Everyone wants to know - where did it start? What brought you in to the MMA world.

Ryan: Well, I've always been interested in fighting. I was a pretty rowdy kid growing up. I did the normal construction and plumbing type things after college. It wasn't too long before one of my friends, Riley Hughes, got me interested in competing in MMA. He was a guy I knew from college. He always kept pushing me to do it. Well, he entered me in a Dan Severn show. I had no MMA training whatsoever but I was in pretty tip-top shape from all of my years of wrestling. I fought some guy from Canada in April of 2003. It was a tough fight, as he was a kickboxer, so he was a good striker but I KOed him. It was kind of a strange environment though. Everyone showed up with their coaches and teams, and I showed up with my drinking buddies from the bar. It was then that I moved to Oregon, in June 2003.



Daniel: For those unfamiliar with you, tell them what team you're on and how long you've been a part of it.

Ryan: I'm a part of Team Quest and have been since 2003.



Daniel: Congratulations on your recent IFL Lightweight title victory over Chris Horodecki. It was a highly impressive win. Tell us about your camp leading up to the fight.

Ryan: Horodecki is a great fighter. I really hope he bounces back. He needs to go to the drawing board and work on his ground game. As far as me, though, I had a great camp - great training partners. Everyone comes in all the time, so there's no days off. That means there's always bodies to train with. Ian Lovlin was an awesome training partner. We trained a lot together, anytime - night or day. It was real good to work with him a lot since he has a similar style to Horodecki. Of course, Matt Lindland helped refocus my ground game. It was really a joint effort by everyone at Team Quest. People like Chris Wilson, Ed Herman and Robert. It was a really good camp.



Daniel: I know you took this fight on short notice, so did that factor in? Having a limited training time against such a tough competitor?

Ryan: Professional athletes should be training all the time. I don't see the fight as on short notice, just as a blessing. Matt offered the fight to me and I definitely wanted it. Of course I wanted it!



Daniel: What do you feel was the key to victory in your second fight, as opposed to your first meeting in 2006? Any thoughts on a rubber match in the future?

Ryan: My mind. In the ring, I hold back sometimes. However, this time I had four wins built up in a row. Riley was super tough and helped me build my confidence back. I really felt well-rounded coming in to this fight. I was putting my whole game together. I was able to use wrestling to set up my strikes, and my Ground N Pound came a long way. While I don't get to use them too often, my submissions were very strong. I was mentally the whole package.



Daniel: And a Rubber Match? And future matches?

Ryan: As far as I'm concerned, I'd love to fight him, ANYDAY! They'll set it up. I'm sure they'll have him back in the mix. If I beat him, which I'm pretty sure I will, it'll either be Bart or Kirt. I'd probably say the second guy is Kirt, then it'll be Bart or Horodecki. I would love to fight Bart again. It doesn't bother me anymore, I know he's a hard hitter. I would fight him again.



Daniel: How have things changed since winning the belt?

Ryan: I get a lot more interviews. Lot more calls. It's been pretty interesting, and my contract has changed a bit. I get more respect with all of the publicity and stuff. I've always felt like I was one of the best fighters and now I've shown it more.



Daniel: You are the only person to have a credited victory over current UFC lightweight posterboy Roger Huerta, and have also fought to a Draw with top-3 lightweight Gesias Calvancanti. If the situation ever arose, would you like another fight with "El Matador" or "JZ"?

Ryan: Man, with that JZ fight, did you see it? I think I won that, and got hosed on that decision. I won that fight, and he seemed happy to get that Draw. He's a tough, tough guy, but I felt that I won that fight. Don't get me wrong, that was a helluva fight and he's tough. He's come a long way, but I just feel that I won that fight.



Daniel: And Roger Huerta?

Ryan: So is Roger. When I fought Roger, I knew I wanted to compete with the best in the world, and I feel like I'm there any given day. In 2004, I was like, "watch out for that guy." I knew he was going somewhere. That fight went everywhere, it was ridiculous. I just happened to knee him a few times and popped his jaw, then he got spooked and tapped.



Daniel: How has the IFL treated you? What are the benefits of being in the IFL?

Ryan: They've treated me well. They seem to be really on top of things, and I have money coming in consistently. It's a big organization. I've got a bit more respect now since I have one of their belts. I feel, though, that they're a really good company and I'm happy to fight for them.



Daniel: Looking ahead to the upcoming months, how many title fights do you anticipate having in 2008? Any particular opponents that you have in mind?

Ryan: I'm guaranteed three fights for 2008. All of those have to be title defenses. I'm not sure how things will go, with the new format and all. It's not really locked in, and I'm not sure of how exactly it's going down.



Daniel: How is your training camp looking right now?

Ryan: Going well. I'm training hard as always. I took a week off after the last fight. That's the longest I've taken off since starting. I'm good to go.



Daniel: Describe a typical day.

Ryan: Get up, go for a run. 9-minute mile pace, 4 to 4.5 miles. Lift weights, train at 3:00 P.M. Go over skills, whatever we're doing. After that, we do some sparring with big gloves, and some with the little gloves. I'll go home then. Generally, I have a full schedule, and we go twice a day. The boxing coach usually comes in some nights.



Daniel: So you do weight-lift?

Ryan: I do different stuff. I bought a rope and I'll climb the rope. Sometimes, I lift over at JJ Weston, since there's a weight room in his house - which is right across the yard from my place. I like to lift over there and go through different workouts. Primarily, I deal with a lot of situational stuff. I do a lot of work, with a lot of circuit training. I work through a small amount of bench, you know it feels good - stabilizing stuff. I like to do medicine ball slams, since it applies directly to a fight. I'm a big fan of the rope climb, though. We do deadlifts also. Mike Dulce is huge on them.



Daniel: At this time next year, where do you see yourself?

Ryan: I see myself holding that belt. I've been talking about what we are going to do now. I definitely plan on fighting for the IFL for this year. Then, we'll see what comes from that. Everyone's going to be gunning for me.



Daniel: Any advice for young fighters looking to break into the IFL or other, smaller MMA promotions?

Ryan: Yeah, stay committed. Train hard. Focus on what you do outside of the gym! If you've got potential, it's a good way to make a living. Stick with it. It's very important to surround yourself with a good camp. You're only as good as your training partners. If you're at a gym where you can beat everyone, you need to move on. Surround yourself with the best. That's how you succeed.



Daniel: Thanks again for taking the time for this interview with MMARising.com. We greatly appreciate it.