UFC 110 spotlight – ProMMAnow.com interview with Brian Foster

H.I.T. Squad fighter Brian Foster (13-4, 1-1 UFC) makes his third UFC appearance this Saturday, Feb. 20, at “UFC 110: Nogueira vs. Velasquez” in Sydney, Australia. Foster dropped his first fight in the organization at UFC 103 last September, with a submission loss to Rick Story. Two months later, he bounced back in a big way with a TKO win over the much more experienced and very tough Brock Larson.

On Saturday, Foster will face one of the toughest and most exciting fighters ever to step inside the Octagon, Chris “Lights Out” Lytle (37-17-4, 9-9 UFC). If he were to defeat Lytle, the UFC welterweight division would be forced to take notice. Lytle’s fights rarely go to decision, and Foster has never gone to a decision.

ProMMAnow.com spoke with the 25-year-old Foster this week to get his thoughts on fighting a wily veteran like Lytle, and what it means for him to be part of the UFC’s first ever show in Australia. We also talked about his five second knockout of the “King of Pop,” and more.

Thanks so much Brian for taking the time to speak with us at Pro MMA Now (www.prommanow.com). I assume you are already in Sydney, Australia. How was the flight over there, and is it your first time in the “land down under?”
Yeah it’s my first time out of the country! It’s really beautiful over here, I’m grateful to be a part of this. The flight wasn’t bad. I had a lot of stuff to keep me busy.

What does it mean to you to be able to fight at the UFC’s Australian debut? Do you have any special plans while you are there other than the fight?
It means a lot to me, I get to introduce our sport to people that have never had the pleasure of being at a UFC event. Its awesome! Yeah I want to check out the beaches over here. I hear they are pretty cool.

Now, your most recent Octagon appearance was back in November. You submitted Brock Larson with punches in the second round. How good did it feel to get that first win in the UFC, following the fight with Rick Story? What do you think made the difference for you against Larson?
The difference was that I needed to relax and just fight. The fight with Story I was calm almost to the point of… walking to the cage it was then that I realized I had made it to the big show. 17,000 people can really play a roll on your nerves. I had the first UFC fight jitters. (laughs)

You are fighting a tough tough veteran, Chris Lytle this weekend. Give us your thoughts on Lytle; where do you see him within the UFC welterweight picture, and how do you see yourself matching up with him?
I think we match up well, he’s a very experienced veteran with a lot of fights under his belt. He hits hard, as do I. I think that he’s one of the toughest welterweights in the division. He’s taken losses to some of the top ten fighters in the division and that’s where I want to be. If I beat him by a decision that puts me on the list of Marcus Davis, Josh Koscheck, Matt Hughes, Robbie Lawler, and Matt Serra. That’s a good list to be on, but if I finish him that kinda puts me on a different list I think.

If there is one thing about Lytle’s game that most concerns you, what would it be?
The fact that he hits like a truck would probably concern anyone that fights him, or maybe it’s the black belt thing. (laughs)

Obviously you have knockout power, and Chris likes to bang it out too. How do you see this fight going? Are you going to try and keep it standing and knock him out?
I like to think I’m a flow fighter, meaning that I can handle anywhere the fight takes place.

Speaking of knockouts, you have what has to be one of the fastest knockouts in MMA history… it was a 5 second KO. And what’s even cooler is that it was against a guy named Michael Jackson! How cool is that? Tell us what happened in that fight… was it just one punch and he was done? You got something against Michael Jackson’s music?
Nah, he’s a cool dude, he actually made a pretty big mistake. We touched gloves he went to throw a right hook and I threw a straight right, he fell, I followed up. He actually trains with me now at the HIT Squad, him and his twin brother Ken Jackson in whom I beat as well earlier on that year. They are both cool dudes. Micheal Jackson’s music is alright! (smiles)

I read where you got into MMA as an outlet after your brother passed away. First of all, I’m sorry. My brother actually passed away this past December, and it’s not an easy thing to go through. What was your brother’s name and can you tell us a little about him. Was he an MMA or fight fan?
His name is Brandon Foster. He was a very big part of my life. He was like my alter ego. I was the older brother, strong and serious. He was the one year younger little brother and my best friend, always funny and mischievous! His loss had a hell of an impact on me, but I took a negative and turned it into a positive. I think he would be happy with what I have accomplished since his passing. We always had planned on me boxing and him being my corner man, but he wasn’t really a fan of boxing or MMA. Actually, I didn’t even know anything about MMA until I started training for it. I only followed boxing a little, just enough to be interested in wanting to do it. He was more of a fan of me fighting than fighting in general.

I’m sure he is very proud of you and what you have accomplished. Did you have any kind of sports or wrestling background growing up, or martial arts? Or did you just go straight into MMA?
I fought a lot growing up. Nothing more than in the streets though. I wrestled a little in junior high but that’s about it.

Thank you Brian. Best of luck on Saturday. Would you like to thank any sponsors or send any shout outs?
I would like to thank the HIT Squad for the preparations for the fights, The United Keetoowah Tribe, Everlast, MMA Warehouse, Dales Harley Davidson, and Unbreakable Mouthpieces. And a shout out to A Fighter’s Chance charity.

Be sure to check out Brian Foster’s website, coming soon at www.brianfostermma.com.