Paul Bradley Talks TUF 7 and Headlining King of the Cage: Chain Reaction

Following the breaking news that middleweight, Nick Thompson would be unable to compete against “Smile’N” Sam Alvey at King of the Cage: Chain Reaction on July 17th, Strikeforce veteran Paul Bradley luckily agreed to be Thompson’s replacement in the main event.

Bradley has a professional MMA fighting record of 12-2, and has competed for national organizations such as Strikeforce (current), Ultimate Cage Fighting Challenge, and Ring of Combat. Not to mention, this former NCAA Division I stand-out is a former (and slightly controversial) cast member of The Ultimate Fighter—Season 7.

Bradley is a former high school State wrestling champion (and two-time State runner-up) who earned a scholarship to the University of Iowa, which is well-known as a collegiate-wrestling powerhouse. There, the two-time All-American (at 184 lbs.) finished second at the 2004 Big Team Championships, and fourth in 2005.

This is my interview:

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James Ryan: Hi Paul. Thanks for taking the time out of your schedule to speak with me.

Paul Bradley: No problem James, my pleasure. I’ve read some of your other interviews and I really like what you’ve done.

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James Ryan: Thank you. So what’s the deal, Paul? You’ve got to be the only fighter without his own Wikipedia page. [Laughs]

Paul Bradley: [Laughs] Ya, I don’t know what’s going on there. Right now if you search out my name on the internet, you’ll probably just come across some guy who builds model airplanes—I’m not that guy. [Laughs]

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James Ryan: [Laughs] Dang! There go all of my questions. I was gonna ask you about the best glue to use.

Paul Bradley: [Laughs]

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James Ryan: Okay, are you ready for this?

Paul Bradley: Definitely.

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James Ryan: Aside from being with Strikeforce, I know that you were a very good wrestler all through high school and College, and that you were on the ‘TUF 7’ show with Rampage Jackson and Forrest Griffin. In fact, I remember that you had won your very first preliminary fight, securing your spot in the house—only you didn’t. What happened that prevented you from being on the show?

Paul Bradley: Unfortunately, I broke out with a little bit of a skin funk that I acquired through my college wrestling days. I was told that I would have to leave the show immediately, so without any argument, I did. I just basically accepted what they told me and was sent packing.

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James Ryan: Wow, that must have been incredibly disappointing for you.

Paul Bradley: Ya, it was pretty bad.

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James Ryan: Did the UFC make any plans to bring you back at a later date? How did they leave it with you?

Paul Bradley: After talking with Dana White and those guys—they didn’t really leave the door open for me.

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James Ryan: They just said ‘see ya around, thanks anyway?’

Paul Bradley: From the conversation that I had with Dana without the cameras on, he told me that he would try and help anyway that he could, but later, when I called the Producers regarding my chances of coming back—one of the actual Producers that I had gotten close with, told me that my chances weren’t looking too good.

So that pretty much shut the door on any future hopes that I had to get back into the show.

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James Ryan: I find that surprising. The UFC always seems to bring back a lot of guys who had lost during the season and then match them up for a second opportunity during the finale. And here you had actually won your fight, but still, no second chance?

You were forced to leave due to a skin condition. Did that surprise you at all that the UFC turned their back on you like that?

Paul Bradley: Yes, it did. And just to be clear, my condition is called herpes gladiatorum, which is also known as ‘wrestler’s herpes.’ It is transmissible by skin-to-skin contact. While it’s commonly passed through normal human contact, it is strongly associated with contact sports and is quite common amongst wrestlers and other athletes.

Back in the days when ancient gladiators used to wrestle, they used to get it all over their bodies. Thankfully, I only get it in one or two spots, usually around my forehead or my neck.

As of recently, I’ve been seeing a lot of other fighters on camera with it. I think my situation, although unfortunate, was made to be a bigger deal then it was for TV ratings and all that crap. Because to be honest, our season wasn’t very exciting.

Plus, it was no secret from the beginning that Dana White wasn’t a fan of wrestlers who could take it to the ground and control the fight. My stand up wasn’t really that established back then, so I was definitely more of a one-dimensional fighter in that sense. Shame on me I guess, but I was pretty much training myself at the time.

I gave up a job where I was making good money, doing something that I loved, and there was no way that I was gonna give up all of that, just to lose out on making it into the actual filming of the show. I did everything in my power to at least get the win—whicj I did.

Even though it wasn’t done in dramatic fashion like some of the other guys, I was making sure that I didn’t sacrifice everything to be sent home a loser.

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James Ryan: Makes sense. You gave up a lot to be there and you were just trying to make sure that you made it into the house. I can appreciate that.

Where are you training out of right now?

Paul Bradley: Currently, I am training out of the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy—home of Sean Sherk, Nick Thompson, and Greg Nelson. They’re a great bunch of guys to train with.

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James Ryan: Awesome! Sounds like a great crew.

Paul Bradley: They are.

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James Ryan: Wait a second—Nick Thompson? Isn’t that the guy that you are replacing at King of the Cage: Chain Reaction on July 17th?

Paul Bradley: The same.

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James Ryan: I see. So then, I’m curious, how is possible for you to be able to fight at King of the Cage when you are currently under contract with Strikeforce? Is there a special arrangement that has been made between Strikeforce and King of the Cage? Are you still technically with Strikeforce?

Paul Bradley: I am still with Strikeforce and they are allowing me to fight. King of the Cage is a pretty big show, but not really on the same level as them. Strikeforce hasn’t used me in a while, so they are allowing this fight to happen.

The good thing about Strikeforce is that they are pretty lenient. If they’re not using a fighter then they will allow them to compete outside of the organization. King of the Cage is a smaller, non-competitive organization compared to Strikeforce, so they really don’t mind.

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James Ryan: Wow, that’s great! I can’t imagine the UFC allowing their fighters to do something like that—good for Strikeforce.

Was it through Nick Thompson that you initially heard about the possibility for this fight? How did it come about that you were able to get onto this card as part of the main event?

Paul Bradley: It more or less came about after my Manager, Monte Cox, who is helping to put the show together for King of the Cage, received a call from Strikeforce that I wasn’t going to be fighting at the July 23rd event.

I won’t lie, I was pretty irritated. I had been training for over two months for that fight. I’m a fighter—I want to fight. It’s not about the glitz and the glamour to me—it’s about getting in there and testing myself. Seeing what I’m made of.

When you’re making your life as a full-time fighter and you only end up fighting a couple times a year, it makes it kinda tough to make a living. I’m fighting this fight because I am a full-time fighter and a part-time personal trainer, but working part-time only pays part-time bills.

I want to fight. I’m only getting older and this is what I do. I’m a fighter.

If Strikeforce can’t use me right now, then I’d rather be out fighting and staying active someplace else. Again, it’s really great that Strikeforce allows me to at least do that.

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James Ryan: Two weeks isn’t a lot of time to prepare for your opponent. What do you know about him? How difficult is it to prepare with only two week’s notice?

Paul Bradley: It makes it very difficult. I haven’t been able to find any film on the guy, meanwhile, there’s a little bit of film out there on me, so the advantage definitely goes to my opponent in that regard.

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James Ryan: Do you know anything about him?

Paul Bradley: Very little. I know that he’s a good striker and very heavy-handed.

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James Ryan: What do you want the fans to know about you?

Paul Bradley: Just that I’m a mid-Western boy trying to make it in the fight game. I’m working really hard out there to make it to the top. And I don’t talk trash just to get attention.

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James Ryan: That’s good—shows good character. How do you generally prepare for a fight, considering that you juggle a part-time job in the process?

Paul Bradley: I train in the morning and again in the afternoon. I do personal training in the evenings, so it doesn’t really interfere, which is lucky.

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James Ryan: I know that you’re a good wrestler but what other fighting styles are you currently training in?

Paul Bradley: A lot of jiu-jitsu. Right now I am a blue belt and I’m working really hard to move my way up. I’m training a lot in boxing as well, which has been really good for my footwork and head movement.

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James Ryan: What did you learn from your last defeat?

Paul Bradley: I totally fell into my opponent’s game-plan. He had about a seven or eight inch reach advantage, and I didn’t really try to take him down at all. I wanted to stand with him but that only worked into his favour. He kept challenging me to stand with him and I was more than willing to oblige. Shame on me. [Laughs]

I have definitely developed a lot from the TUF show but people still think I’m the same fighter now, as I was then. They don’t think that I can do anything but wrestle.

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James Ryan: Good! Let them think that. It will only work to your advantage.

Paul Bradley: You’re right—for sure it will.

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James Ryan: Georges St-Pierre has been under a lot of criticism for using too much of his wrestling skills to win a fight. Some fans have even called him ‘boring.’ What do you think is more important—entertaining the crowd, or getting the win?

Paul Bradley: Good question. I would probably have to say that getting the win is more important. Yes, it’s important to entertain the fans, but if you lose and get cut from a major organization, then you’re right back to fighting for peanuts.

One person that I can relate to and talk to about this is Sean Sherk. He was labelled for a long time as a ‘lay-n-prayer’ and then all of a sudden, he had all of these amazing stand up fights with guys like BJ Penn, and his classic bout with Tyson Griffin. Then people started to criticize him, saying that he needed to get back to his wrestling.

As a fighter, you’re always gonna have critics and people telling you how you need to fight. Realistically, you gotta get that win first and if you can entertain in the process—great! But the priority is definitely the win.

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James Ryan: Well said. Any sponsors that you would like to thank?

Paul Bradley: Carried Out Fight Gear for sure—they’re a great company and have really been a big supporter of mine.

Also, Clinch Gear, which is Dan Henderson’s company. They’re just awesome—a great company to work for. I’m one of the lucky guys to represent his company—I wear their shorts during my fights. They’re a fighter-based, friendly company for sure.

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James Ryan: Who is the best fighter in the world at 170 lbs?

Paul Bradley: Georges St-Pierre, and then either Nick Diaz, Josh Koscheck, or Jon Fitch. St-Pierre is head and shoulders above the rest though.

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James Ryan: Seeing that you are over at Strikeforce, how would you feel about fighting Nick Diaz?

Paul Bradley: Ya for sure, I would do it in a heartbeat. I would just hope that I wouldn’t get two week’s notice on it. [Laughs]

That’s a fight I feel I match up great with.

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James Ryan: Well best of luck on July 17th, Paul, and thank you again for taking the time to answer my questions.

Paul Bradley: My pleasure, James. I was definitely happy when Kevin told me that you were willing to do my interview. I really appreciate it.

Great talking to you.

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This is my interview. If you don’t like it…I have others. Check them out at www.mrjamesryan.com

Carried Out Fight Gear was founded in 2009 by a group of Ex-fighters who realized that the true essence of a warrior was being lost by some people giving up. The Carried Out mindset of “One Way Out—Carried Out” signifies that a fighter will never surrender, and will fight to the very end. Leaving everything he/she has in the ring, on the mat, or in the cage.

ONE WAY OUT…CARRIED OUT!