KOTC veteran & Strikeforce Contender

Nam Phan

Written Interview

Nam Phan is one of those exciting fighters who has well earned the reputation as a crowd favorite by his

display of heart, determination and skill that we have had the pleasure of watching many a time at King of

the Cage. We were very fortunate to have Nam put some time aside for us to answer some questions we

shot off to him during his very busy schedule this past Friday.

- TFG.tv: Many in the MMA community know you from King of the Cage but for those out there who may be

  new to the sport and may not have had a chance to see you fight yet, can you give us a little background

  about yourself - how did you get started in Martial Arts & how did you make the transition into MMA?

- Nam Phan: I started training in martial arts since I was about eight years old. I started out with a

  Vietnamese martial art where I eventually got my black belt. I started wrestling in high school in 10th grade

  and continued into junior college. Then I started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Franco De Camargo

  and one day I asked him if he could train me to become a fighter - he said Yes and took me under his

  wing. At the time that I asked him, I was only at the age of 17.

- TFG.tv: Who do you train with now and what's your training / schedule like?

- Nam Phan: I train with Jeremy Williams Apex Jiu-Jitsu in Mission viejo and Art James with Team Punch

  Out in Anaheim. Every morning about 8:30 am, I run about 3-5 miles depending on how close I am to the

  fight - I will run more or less. On Mondays, I train with MMA Apex, then later that day, I train boxing.

  Tuesdays I do Jiu-Jitsu and I wrestle at the local junior college which is Santa Ana College. Wednesday,

  I train MMA at Apex and later that night, I will train at my boxing gym. Thursday, I do Jiu-Jitsu and later

  that night, I will train Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai. Friday, I just train boxing and Saturday morning, I train Jiu-

  Jitsu and Muay Thai. Sunday I will rest for the whole day.

- TFG.tv: What's your favorite and least favorite part of training?

- Nam Phan: I think my favorite thing about training is that I get to improve myself as an athlete and as a

  person - but my least favorite thing is that I don't get to see or spend time with my friends and family as

  much as I would like to.

- TFG.tv: What fight would you say has been the toughest on you physically and on you mentally so far?

- Nam Phan: I think my toughest fight physically and mentally would have to be my fight with Razor Rob

  [McCullough] because at the time I was only a 20 year old kid and Rob a was very well known and

  accomplished kickboxer - for me to fight a world class kickboxer was a bit hard on me mentally at the age

  of 20. I also think he gave me the worse beating I ever had in any of my fights. The next morning waking

  up, I couldn't even get out of my bed because my body was in so much pain.

- TFG.tv: Is there something particular wish you could go back and change in a past fight…like, if I had

  kicked instead of punched, I could have finished the fight sooner?

- Nam Phan: Naw, for me, I don't like to look back on past fights and think about if I woulda, coulda done

  this or that. I just try to do the best that I can whether I win or lose and just move on with my life.

- TFG.tv: What are some memorable movements for you so far in this game?

- Nam Phan: One would be my involvement with Fight Promoters University - I was contacted by Mr.

  Englebert to be a guest speaker for his educational course on Mixed Martial Arts - he said he would give

  me a couple of bucks to do it, it was close to my house so I thought it would give me some extra exposure

  and I went for it. I figured it would be easy 'cause all I had to do was talk about my experience in Mixed

  Martial Arts.

  Also, my first Professional Boxing match against Julio Vargas at 154 pounds. Julio was coming off a 0-3

  fight losing streak at 165 pounds and he would have an easier match against a 0-0 guy at lightweight

  which was me. First round, we both came out swinging and he caught me with some over hand rights - my

  hands were down a lot and I was too passive. Before coming out for the second round, my coach told me

  that I was being passive and I gotta bring the heat. Second round, I came out firing shots everywhere - I

  went to the top and then I went down stairs - I was jabbing him, straight shots here and hooks there -

  finally, about one minute left in the second round, I knocked him out with a left hook.

- TFG.tv: What's something that people would be surprised to learn about you?

- Nam Phan: Hahaha, I love listening to R&B music - especially the ones from the 90's.

- TFG.tv: You are fighting on Friday at Strikeforce against a tough veteran in Josh Thomson (UFC &

  Strikeforce vet) who is coming off a submission win over Duane Ludwig at the last Strikeforce - in general,

  how do you plan to fight him...if you have a plan...and do you learn anything from a fighters last fight?

- Nam Phan: My plan for Josh is to go to the ground and use my Jiu-Jitsu on him because I think I am

  stronger than he is in that aspect of fighting. The only thing that I learned from his last fight is that he is a

  very well rounded fighter and he should not be taken lightly.

- TFG.tv: Will we see you at Strikeforce again?

- Nam Phan: Yes, of course...Strikeforce is my new home.

- TFG.tv: What's your ultimate goal in MMA?

- Nam Phan: My first goal is to beat Josh Thomson and take the Strikeforce Lightweight Title. Then maybe

  fight over in Pride Bushido and become the champion of Bushido as well.

- TFG.tv: Anybody you would like to give a shout out to?

- Nam Phan: I would always like to thank Jeremy Williams and Team Apex, Art James and Team Punch

  Out, The whole Ma Du Family, Tapout, Knoxx MMA Gear, Korner Cafe, 7 Stars Karaoke, America First

  Mortgage, and Vietcircles.com. I also would like to thank you guys for giving me this interview.

- TFG.tv: If someone out there wanted to get a hold of you for a fight or sponsorship, is there a number,

  website or e-mail they can reach you at?

- Nam Phan: Yes, they can reach me through my website at www.iamnam.com.
 

- TFG.tv: Thank you for your time.

- Nam Phan: Of course, always a pleasure.

 

(12/4/06)