72 hours before his big fight with veteran Lucas Lopes (who recently successfully completed a Strikeforce run) at MMA Big Show: All Or Nothing, I had the chance to speak with big-time local favorite Billy “Mojo” Horne about many topics at hand including his honest thoughts on Lucas Lopes and what it’s like to be one of Rich Franklin’s main training partners. Join me as I go one-on-one with Mojo Horne!
Read More After “The Jump…”
This Saturday, MMA Big Show (one of the midwest’s most successful fight promotions) will be putting on one of their biggest event of the year: “All or Nothing”. Big-time local favorite Mojo Horne will be facing his toughest challenge to date in Lucas Lopes in the show’s main-event. Lopes, an 11 year veteran, recently had a successful run in Strikeforce and even defeated (albeit in 2001) UFC Welterweight Thiago Alves. Even with all the names on Lopes’ resume, Mojo Horne is not impressed with his opponent’s track record and is more than ready to scrap when they meet in the cage this Saturday night.
“[Thiago Alves] was probably like fifteen years old when they fought,” Horne joked. “I’m not impressed with that; I’ve beat a UFC vet, a WEC vet— I mean I’m a long time training partner of Rich Franklin. For a long time I was one of his main training partners… so… I don’t care. I step up to the competition.” Horne continued, “As long as I’m getting paid, I’ll fight anybody [laughs].”
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Inside Fights: How did you get into mixed martial arts?
Mojo Horne: Trained in martial arts as a kid and I just wanted to test myself out and see what it was all about. My first fight was as at heavyweight and it was in a square cage. [Laughs] Yeah, that was awesome. Everybody found out I was fighting, everybody came, walked out and there must have been 200 people there to see me fight. They were chanting my name and everything, I think I knocked the guy out in 47 seconds. He actually verbally quit because I was just pounding on him and I was just hooked from there on.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
With Rich Franklin sidelined due to his fight with Chuck Liddell, Mojo Horne didn’t get much of a chance to train with him for this upcoming fight, but that doesn’t mean Mojo isn’t as ready as he’s ever been for any other battle. His motto “Fight the Fight” may seem like a default quote, but there is a ton of strategy behind it. “He can walk in ready, and you can train for something and prepare for the guy to throw a right hand,” said Horne. “Training [to counter] the right hand… training, training, training for his right hand… but then he throws a left hook. I train to fight. Whether it’s on the ground or standing up, I have my strengths and weaknesses just like any other fighter does. You have to fill in the gaps in your game.”
Even though ten of Lucas Lopes’ nineteen victories came by way of knockout or technical knockout, Horne does not feel threatened and, much like one of his idols Bas Rutten would do, is going to stay devoted to his game plan continuing to fight the fight. “I don’t feel that Lucas Lopes has a lot of K.O. power in his hands,” stated Horne. “In the fight with Bubba (Lopes’ last opponent), he knocked Bubba out, but his head was down and he was just swinging for the fences. He popped him on the chin… I’m not worried about his power. I’ve got a strong right hand, a strong left hook”
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
I.F.: Anderson Silva or Chael Sonnen?
M.H.: I think if Chael gets Anderson to the ground— it’s going to come down to who imposes their will first. That’s pretty much everyone’s game plan [is to get Anderson to the ground] and Anderson’s game plan is not to go to the ground. They’re both really good at what they do. Chael is probably one of the best in the business in taking people down. He’s an awesome wrestler… but [Anderson] is one of the best strikers on Earth.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Though he is not intimidated by the knockout power (or lack thereof) in Lucas Lopes’ hands, he’s not dismissing his opponent right away either. “This is going to be a really interesting matchup,” Horne said. “The guy’s got good Muay Thai and that’s my main standup. He’s a brown belt in jiu-jitsu… I definitley feel I’m going to be stronger than him, probably more explosive and hopefully I have enough technique and skill to make those attributes work for me.”
MMA Big Show’s “All or Nothing takes place this Saturday night (July 17th) at 8:00 PM EST. Tune into channel 354 on your DirectTV to see Mojo Horne duke it out with Lucas Lopes, as well as fights featuring Chris Bennett, Brad Smith, TJ Ball and Danny Surface! Click here for more details on the event and to see how you can attend the show LIVE.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
I.F.: Thank you for your time, Mojo. Is there anything you’d like to plug?
M.H.: Come out and see us fight! Also make sure you guys check out Cincinnati Brazilian- Jiu-Jitsu and Sacan Martial Arts.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Click here to see Mojo Horne defend his Middleweight Title against another MMA veteran, Brendan Seguin from MMA Big Show: Retribution. I would once again like to thank Mojo Horne for taking time out of his busy schedule while in the process of cutting weight, and giving us this interview!
