In just over a year and a half, KJ Noons went from being an unknown fighter who got knocked out on the first EliteXC event to the promotions deposed champion. The series of events put Noons on the mixed martial arts map to the point where, upon the fall of EliteXC, speculation regarding Noons future ran wild. Would he sign with the UFC, or would he go to Strikeforce? The latter ultimately won out, but not before Noons returned to his combat sports roots: boxing.
Now, with nearly identical records of 8-1 in boxing and 8-2 in MMA, Noons has returned to the latter. His return in Strikeforce, though successful, was not up to Noons standard of entertainment. It’s the desire to entertain and his passion for combat sports that makes Noons the fighter that he is. Those same qualities provide Noons with the motivation to re-assert himself as a top lightweight and prove once again that he is a better fighter than former challenger and current Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz.
First things first: Noons will face Conor Heun on Wednesday’s Strikeforce event in conjunction with the 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). In our interview, Noons discussed his fight against Heun, his return to MMA from boxing, his experience with video games, and how he thinks he stacks up in both the Strikeforce Lightweight division and against rival Diaz.
Heavy.com: How has your training been for this fight?
K.J. Noons: It’s going great, man. This is probably one of the best training camps I’ve ever had. Great conditioning, great shape, just getting better and getting ready for the fight on the 16th.
Heavy.com: How is this camp different from previous camps?
K.J. Noons: Oh, I just try to switch it up. Every training camp you just try to make it a better camp and fine tune your skills, so you take whatever from last camp and try to get better.
Heavy.com: How are you affected by the late change of opponent from Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett to Conor Heun?
K.J. Noons: I don’t care. It doesn’t matter, man. I kind of at the beginning just mentally prepared myself for maybe Charles wasn’t going to come through. Who knows, because he always has things going on, so I kind of prepared myself mentally already. It’s not a big deal. Whether its him or anyone else, I train like it’s a title fight anyway. I think people are always gunning for me.
Heavy.com: Do you want to avenge the loss to Bennett?
K.J. Noons: I want to avenge the loss. Of course I want to avenge that. It’s just that, knowing Charles, you just don’t know. I’m not surprised. I’m disappointed. Maybe we can make that match in the future happen. But you know, we’ve got Connor and I’ve been training hard to move forward and go into that fight now.
Heavy.com: How did training change when the opponent changed?
K.J. Noons: I always laugh, because when I fight, I guarantee you you’re going to get your money’s worth. When K.J. Noons fights, it doesn’t matter who I fight. I’m going to put on a show for you, I’m going to put on a show for everybody, I’m going to put on a show for myself. I’m a fan of fighting. I like to watch good fights, I like to put on good fights. I like to fight. People are going to want to watch.
Heavy.com: Do you have a sense of the entertainment value of your fight while you’re in the middle of the fight?
K.J. Noons: Of course! I’m getting paid to fight! Are you kidding me?
Heavy.com: But you understand that not every fighter feels the same way you do, right?
K.J. Noons: That’s because they aren’t real fighters. [They’re] dorks from high school that got picked on and could wrestle, and now they want to fight when they’re 18 [years old]. I come from a family of fighting. I should have come out of business school and made a lot of money. Instead I chose my passion, something I love, something I’ve been doing my whole life. I love the sport. I love muay thai, I love boxing, I love MMA. I just like the art of fighting.
Heavy.com: What is your plan to keep your MMA career balanced against your boxing career?
K.J. Noons: Variety is great. I still have a goal in boxing, but with the whole dissolving of EliteXC, I just felt like this was a good time to come back with Strikeforce. They’re still going to let me box if I want to, but I want to show them that I’m committed, and whatever fights they want [for me], I want to stay busy. As long as they keep me busy, I’ll keep fighting in MMA, and whenever I want to switch back [to boxing], I’ll switch back. But I would love to do a crossover down the line and do a match between and MMA champ and a boxing champ like [the UFC is] going to do with James Toney and Randy [Couture]. Until then, if that comes up, great. If not, I’ll just keep fighting in MMA and just keep building my record and hopefully get a real title shot somewhere down the line.
Heavy.com: Given your background in boxing, how do you feel about James Toney’s entry into MMA?
K.J. Noons: I think it’s a little bit of a joke, because match-ups make fights, so why would you put a boxer against a great Greco-Roman wrestler? That’s just stupid. That just looks to me like someone it trying to put egg on somebody’s face. Especially for a legend in boxing like James Toney, why wouldn’t you put him up against a striker? But, whatever. It is MMA, right? But whatever. You can draw your own conclusions, I have mine. I don’t think it’s the best match-up, but whatever.
Heavy.com: What is your perception of James Toney v. Randy Couture as a draw?
K.J. Noons: I think it’s interesting. Don’t you think it’s interesting? I think girl fighting is interesting. I think a lot of things are interesting. Is it the pure sport you want to see? No. But hey, in this sport now, it’s entertainment, so there’s all kinds of stuff. It’s not just about the best of the best. There’s a lot more factors that [matter] these days.
Heavy.com: Let’s discuss your transition from EliteXC into Strikeforce. What are the key differences between EliteXC and Strikeforce that you’ve noticed thus far?
K.J. Noons: Not so many chiefs, I guess? If you want to get something approved, you’ve got to go through 50 people in EliteXC, 50 VPs, whereas in Strikeforce there’s not as many chiefs. There’s [Strikeforce CEO] Scott [Coker], there’s the VP, and there’s another matchmaker.
Heavy.com: What was the negotiation process like between you and other MMA organizations after EliteXC dissolved?
K.J. Noons: Strikeforce didn’t have the first right of refusal. I was a free agent. I was boxing and it was an easy transition to Strikeforce because they were going to let me box. They’re going to let me box still. If I want to go box or do something, then I’ll go do it and Scott’s like ‘yeah, if you want to go do something else, I’m not going to hold you back.’ Some of the things at UFC, if you want to wipe your ass, you’ve got to go ask if you can wipe your ass. I don’t like to ask if I can wipe my ass. In so many words, I just want it a little [less] strict. There’s different promotions and they’re a different promotion, you know? It’s why UFC is so successful.
Heavy.com: Before officially fighting in Strikeforce, you returned to MMA in a fight for Dream in Japan. What was that experience like for you?
K.J. Noons: It’s was great, man. It was a great experience. I’ve always wanted to fight in Japan. It was a dream of mine and it was cool to go out there where they have such a high respect for martial arts. It was really neat go out there and travel and fight out there.
Heavy.com: You’ve discussed how important it is to you to put on entertaining fights. Why was your fight against Andre Amade less entertaining than your other fights?
K.J. Noons: It was just hard. I tried to make it exciting. I came forward the whole time. There were a few times that I almost tripped running forward when I was trying to hit him. Really when I look back, it was almost stupid how much I ran forward and came forward and exposed myself while getting hit because I wanted to make it such an exciting fight. It just kind of turned out how it did. I got the win, but maybe it wasn’t how I wanted it to be, but I hadn’t been in [an MMA match] in a year and a half and he’s a dangerous fighter. It really wasn’t that exciting. I’ve only watched it, like, two times. I’m not going to say it was the best fight, but I tried. I worked my ass off. I tried my hardest to try to bring the fight and end it, but it just didn’t turn out that way.
Heavy.com: How much do you focus on the ground aspect on MMA during training?
K.J. Noons: As much as boxing and kickboxing. I’m always doing takedowns, doing takedown defense, always doing jiu-jitsu.
Heavy.com: You were originally scheduled to fight on July 26. How does your fight being moved up 10 days affect you?
K.J. Noons: I had been training 8 weeks out before the fight. That doesn’t really even matter. I’m in top shape and I’m ready to go. I know this guy’s going to be in top shape and I believe he’s as tough a competitor as Krazy Horse, just [a different] discipline and his style. I think it’s going to be a great fight.
Heavy.com: The June 16 Strikeforce event will take place as part of the 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo and will help to promote the EA Sports MMA video game in which Strikeforce is featured prominently. Do you play video games?
K.J. Noons: Yeah, I love video games! I want to be on the game, but I guess [I’m not because] I haven’t fought in the states, I don’t know. Maybe I can get on it if I win. There’s some people I don’t even know that are on the game., so I hope I get on (laughs).
Heavy.com: What is your favorite game?
K.J. Noons: Probably Halo.
Heavy.com: How much time do you have for gaming?
K.J. Noons: Whenever I get some time, I like to play video games. Whenever I’m icing my leg or fixing an injury or something or just chilling out for a minute, yeah. I just started playing because I have these injuries, so when I’m chilling on the couch I started playing Halo. I just started playing a lot, actually. I used to be addicted, but now I’m back on it because of my injuries. It’s a lot of fun, actually.
Heavy.com: Given that you were the EliteXC Lightweight champion, has Strikeforce indicated to you a timetable for you to receive a title shot?
K.J. Noons: It doesn’t even matter to me, man. People are going to watch me no matter what. That belt…I know I’m going to get that. I know [Strikeforce Lightweight champion] Gilbert [Melendez], he’s a nice guy. If I was Gilbert, I’d be naming everybody else except me, too, because I’m just a nightmare to fight.
Heavy.com: What is your sense of Gilbert Melendez as Striekforce’s Lightweight champ?
K.J. Noons: I’m the champ! I’ve got a title! Why don’t they put champ against champ? I don’t know. They’re probably trying to build me back up. I’m just going to be a team player, man. I’m going to put on the best fights and to tell you the truth, it doesn’t matter if I have one belt or two belts.
Heavy.com: Will you call Melendez out if you beat Connor Heun?
K.J. Noons: No. I don’t have to cut the line or say ‘I’m the champ, I want to face the champ.’ I’ll be number 10, number nine, number eight, number seven, number six, all the way up to to number one, it doesn’t matter. I’m here, I’m ready to fight, and I want to put on great shows. I’m not trying to be cocky, but I’ll prove to people that I want to put on good shows. I don’t care; I’ll work my way to the top…Let’s look at the styles. If you were Gilbert Melendez, would you want to fight me?
Heavy.com: One of Melendez’s training partners is Nick Diaz, with whom you are very familiar. Would you like to fight Nick Diaz?
K.J. Noons: Oh yeah, of course. They’re going to make that happen. That’s huge money for Showtime [and] Strikeforce. [They’ve] got to thank K.J. Noons. We’re in the entertainment business; that’s good entertainment…I want to fight him. I’d like to get a title first, but whatever Strikeforce wants.
Heavy.com: Why didn’t the rematch against Diaz happen in EliteXC?
K.J. Noons: The whole reason why it didn’t happen in the first place is simple…I beat him. They wanted a rematch, I said ‘fine.’ [EliteXC] said they were trying to pay him three-times more money than me for the rematch, so I told them to go fuck themselves. I said, ‘pay me even and we can make it happen.’ I’m not going to fight someone for three-times less money who I beat the shit out of and gave plastic surgery to who I can’t stand. I told them ‘if that’s how you want to treat your champion, then here’s your belt.’ The next day, they stripped me.
Heavy.com: What happened after they stripped your title?
K.J. Noons: They called back in the office and they tried to give me all the reasons to give me back my belt and now they want to give me a new contract, and then they went under.
Noons would like to thank all of his fans and invites everyone to visit his website, www.kjnoons.com.