Six Questions With Matt Lindland Who Faces

STRIKEFORCE Newcomer "Jacare'' Souza

On Dec. 19, 2009, SHOWTIME® Card

Tickets For STRIKEFORCE: Evolution On Sale NOW!

December 19, 2009

HP Pavilion

San Jose, California

Live on SHOWTIME at 10 p.m. ET/PT

SAN JOSE, Calif. (Dec. 17, 2009) - Former Olympic wrestling medalist Matt "The Law" Lindland, who

recently took a stab at the world of politics, answered Six Questions recently posed to him regarding his

highly-anticipated return to mixed martial arts (MMA) action this Saturday during the live SHOWTIME®

telecast of STRIKEFORCE:  Evolution.

Lindland (21-6) will take on submission expert "Jacare" Souza (10-2) at middleweight (185 pounds) on the

star-studded fight card being headlined by Cung Le vs. Scott Smith at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

Lindland, the 2000 Olympic Games silver medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling, holds wins against Pat

Miletich, as well as former champion Carlos and Jeremy. Lindland is one of only two men to submit

Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Travis Lutter.

QUESTION: How's your training been going for Dec. 19?

LINDLAND: "How's my training going? I answer those questions every day. Can't you be a little more

creative than that? My training is going good and if it wasn't I'd lie to you anyway and tell you it was."

QUESTION: OK. Fair enough. We'll get right into the politics questions. In 2008 you won the primary for a

seat on the Oregon House of Representatives but were defeated in the general election. What did you learn

from that experience and how active are you currently in politics?

LINDLAND: "You know, I'm really not that active. I'm an activist. I'm a registered Republican and I just felt it

was my civic duty to run. I felt like we did not have a qualified candidate to run. Would I run for politics again

if I had to? Yeah, absolutely. I would first try and find someone more qualified than me to do it and get

behind them and support them instead but if I felt there wasn't anyone qualified then I would.

QUESTION: You must have learned a lot during your run in politics?

LINDLAND: "I did learn a lot about the political process. I learned it's not about valuables and principles but

how much money you can raise. Politics is dirtier then NHB (No Holds Barred) when fighting was first

starting and there were no rules. Politics has fewer rules than that."

QUESTION: Who is the toughest fighter you've ever faced?

LINDLAND: "I think it just really depends on what point of my career I was in. I mean, early in my career I

faced the legend Pat Miletich (in 2003). Then I had to face Fedor Emelianenko (in 2007) who is the best

heavyweight in the world. It just depends on where you're at in your career and when you're fighting these

guys. But I guess the obvious answer would have to be Fedor. Everyone knows I've fought him and he's a

phenomenal fighter."

QUESTION: You fought him in Russia. Was that tougher to do on his home soil than over here in the

States? And would you like to face him again?

LINDLAND: "I think so. They don't make calls in Russia when guys grab ropes and stuff. He's in a different

weight class now. It's a fight I don't need to take but I'll fight whoever. It doesn't matter to me."

QUESTION: Do your two children James and Robin like and participate in mixed martial arts?

LINDLAND: "Robin is a sophomore and doing track and field. As far as martial arts goes she's the highest

ranked kid we've ever had come out of our kid's program. Both kids are pretty active in studying the martial

arts. It's not something they're pursuing long term but I think teaching martial arts to kids, any combative

sport, is a must. It teaches them a lot of good principles. 

Tickets for Dec. 19, priced from $30, are on sale at the HP Pavilion ticket office as well as at all

Ticketmaster locations (800-745-3000), Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com) and STRIKEFORCE'S

official website (www.strikeforce.com).

Doors at HP Pavilion will open at 5 p.m. PT for the STRIKEFORCE: "Evolution" event presented by Rockstar

Energy Drink and the first preliminary bout will begin at 6:00 PM, PT.

The live SHOWTIME telecast will begin at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast).

About STRIKEFORCE

STRIKEFORCE (www.strikeforce.com) is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on

Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its "Shamrock vs. Gracie" event, the first sanctioned mixed

martial arts fight card in California state history.  The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary

champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose's HP Pavilion,

played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265.  Since 1995, STRIKEFORCE has been the exclusive

provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world

championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts series with "Shamrock vs.

Gracie."  In May 2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of STRIKEFORCE, partnered with

Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation

aspects of the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose.

 

Contacts:

- STRIKEFORCE

  Mike Afromowitz: mafromowitz@strikeforce.com

- BZA

  John Beyrooty: JohnnyBey@aol.com

  Steve Pratt: SteveP@bzapr.com

 

- Press Release from STRIKEFORCE with a little editing from us (color, etc...)

Subject to change

(12/17/09)