Brian Foster: Living In The Fire

Brian Foster goes in-depth on Matt Brown, living in the fire and much more in this exclusive interview.

It takes exactly two seconds to like Brian Foster.

The Oklahoma native has a rustic charm that comes across as appreciative and genuine. His smile is contagious, his handshake firm, and the scars on his face give you a sense that he’s comfortable in his chosen profession.

Throughout his short career in the UFC, Foster has proven to be a guaranteed show. Even in his two losing efforts, you could see that there’s something special about the kid.

That’s because Brian Foster lives in the fire.

The majority of a fighter’s attributes can be taught or drilled until it’s instinctual, but the ability to stand in the fire and trade punches can’t be learned in any gym. It is one of a fighter’s rarest traits, and it’s what makes Brian Foster tick.

I sat down with Foster at the HIT Squad. We eventually talked about facing Sean Pierson at UFC 129 and what fans may not realize about his fight with Matt Brown, but we started by talking about that instinct to stand in the pocket and trade.

“Honestly, it isn’t something that can be taught. Marc Fiore tells me all of the time that being able to do that – to stand there and touch the barrel – is something you are born with. I was raised in a different sort of way where you weren’t given what you wanted, and if there was something you wanted you had to go after it. That’s just who I am.”

“A lot of guys are scared to get hit or they fear it so much that they game plan to the teeth to make sure that doesn’t happen. But I’m not like other fighters. I don’t mind it as much. It’s a Rocky type motivation where it’s not how hard you get hit, but how hard you can get it and keep stepping forward. I have no fear of it because I know that it’s part of my job. And if he lands a shot on me and drops his other hand while he’s doing it, I’m right there to capitalize on that mistake. A lot of guys will hit you and drop their other hand just an inch too far and that’s the only window I need. I’m a counter puncher and an aggressive one on top of that. That’s my style. I finish you, or you finish me.”

Foster has shown growth in recent fights. He scored a TKO victory over Forrest Petz, but it was his most recent outing against Matt Brown that brought out intense personal feelings for Foster.

“Things got a little bit personal. Things usually tend to be said inside of camps and those things leak out. Some of the things he said got out because some of the people he trains with know some of the guys I train with. Brown was saying that he didn’t respect my game and that I didn’t have any heart. He said that he didn’t respect my stand-up and that he could and would beat me anywhere and everywhere the fight went. Small things that some people might brush off, but those are the things that I take personally.”

“Saying that I have no heart? Brother I’m all heart. I fight with my emotions on my sleeve and I feel that I’m one of the few fighters in the UFC that can do that. If you go back and watch my fights, you see that moment where I get angry is when they get close to ending. You piss me off and here we go. My anger doesn’t mean bad things for me. A lot of other fighters deviate from their game plans when they get angry and it leads to their undoing. I get mad and I get violent. It runs into who I am as a person and as a fighter and Matt Brown pissed me off, and Matt Brown got finished for it.”

UFC fans started to take notice of the fast-paced style that Foster brings. As a reward for his performance, the UFC called to ask Foster if he wanted a bout with Pierson on the UFC 129 card in Toronto.

“I definitely think that Sean has more pressure going into this fight than I have. He’s wanted to fight in front of his hometown crowd for so long. I don’t see it being a problem for me. I’ve been a lot of different places and fought guys in their hometowns so it’s another fight for me.”

“It all comes down to the fact that everyone wants to see a great fight. Everyone wants to be entertained and they want two guys who are going to go out there and go after it. I tend to think that Pierson and I are going to be one of the best on the card based on how our styles compare and because of what this means to both of us. I don’t feel any added pressure going into Toronto and that is all going to fall on him.”

Foster continued.

“This has ‘Fight of the Night’ written all over it. If you look at some of the things he is saying, it shows that he’s wanting to come in with more of a game plan than he has before. He wants to win first and foremost because of where the fight is taken place. I don’t see him wanting to stand with me for too long. Sean’s a pretty intelligent individual and I just don’t see him wanting to stand and trade with me.”

“I think he is going to want to get this thing to the ground as quickly as possible and I’m prepared for that as well. I have some great coaches and I have my jiu-jitsu coach Kyle Watson, who I know could submit him anywhere. So I tend to think that this camp has prepared me to be dangerous if it goes there so there is not a doubt in my mind that I’m ready and if we hit the mat it’s going to be intense. It doesn’t matter if it’s standing up or on the ground. I’m finishing this fight, period.”

Foster realizes just how historic UFC 129 will be. But April 30 holds a place in his heart, and it’s not just because of his fight. Foster’s younger brother passed away during a tragic hiking accident on the same day. They were inseparable, but Foster says his brother remains the driving force behind his fighting career.

“My brother was the entire reason I got into fighting. Before he died it was all about me becoming a boxer. It was always something that I wanted to do, but never had the confidence. I like to throw hands man, always have. And growing up I idolized movie stars like Rocky or Jean Claude Van Damme, but at the same time real athletes like Muhammed Ali and other great boxers who were great with their hands.”

“The issue came in the form of money because growing up my family wasn’t on the fortunate side of it so I was never able to get into classes where I could learn the technical aspects of boxing or even karate. Before my brother died I had this strange stage fright where I was really worried about what people thought of me or if I was even good enough, so it really held me back. My brother always knew I could do it. He was always my biggest fan, pushing me towards getting out there because he saw something in me that I couldn’t see in myself.”

“Then we were on a hiking trip back in 2006. He was sitting down and the rocks gave way. He went with them and that changed my life completely. After he died, I knew what he wanted me to do before hand and it just didn’t matter to me anymore. I realized that you are the one living this life and it’s on you to make it happen. After he died I had my first and second professional fights on the same night one month and fourteen days later.”

Foster looks into the distance as he continues.

“I don’t think there is anybody alive, GSP included, that would want to mess with me on that date. I’m a pretty smart guy in my own right when it comes to where I belong in this division, but on that date in particular, there isn’t a man on his best day that can beat me. This is one of those things where I feel like God sets you forward on a path and he’s going to give you signs that you are going in the right direction and this is one of those things for me. With this fight being on that date it tells me that I am where I’m destined to be and that I’m on the right track.”

A third consecutive victory would put Foster in line to face top UFC competition. It’s rarefied air for UFC welterweights, and it’s tough for new contenders to crack the glass ceiling of contenders. But Foster is one of several new welterweights – including Jake Shields – that plan on turning the division upside down.

“Out with the old and in with the new is the way I see it. In one of my past interviews they kind of exploited something I said where I said that I was coming up like an Oklahoma tornado. It was an analogy I used to describe the situation. The way it was edited and used made me sound a bit more country than I am, but while I wasn’t happy with how it came off, the analogy rings true. A tornado destroys what it touches and that’s what I intend on doing. I’m coming through this division to shake it up like an earthquake and I’m going to rattle everybody’s brains while I’m doing it. I’m going to put on a show that when another welterweight sees it they have to realize that I’m in their division and they are going to shake a little bit at the thought that they might have to fight me.”

“I want them to have it sitting in their heads that I’m coming through to tear them up. I’m from Oklahoma and if there is one thing that comes through and rips it apart, it’s a tornado. It tore me up a bit when they used that saying out of context. When I said it, it had meaning behind it. But when they put it out there it made me sound like a country bumpkin. I’m proud of where I come from, but it just wasn’t used the way it was said.”

Foster and I begin discussion the evolution of well-rounded fighters. There are few easy outs in the UFC, but Foster believes there are still one dimensional fighters that are doing their best to blend into the divisional pictures and said it will only be a matter of time before they are exposed.

“I definitely believe that you will be able to see who is keeping up with the modern techniques and staying current on what’s going on out there. There are still one dimensional fighters in the UFC but they are going to get exploited to where they are going to be forced to play their opponents game. Guys like myself and GSP who will bring your weakness front and center, exploit your game and then beat you with it.”

“This sport has evolved a lot even over the past few years and the way Coach [Fiore] explains it goes back to Matt Hughes and his reign of dominance over the UFC. When Hughes was tearing it up things were still very much one dimensional and his wrestling allowed him to dominate fighters so the fight game was like checkers…you move, I move. Then fighters started to adapt and realize they had to be able to stuff takedowns and make wrestlers stand and exchange if they were going to have a chance in the fight.”

“This is where the game evolved from checker to chess and fighting became a thinking man’s game. I tend to believe the evolution has brought it back around to checkers because every fighters is coming into that cage so well rounded that it’s back to you move, I move. Your opponent makes a move on the ground, you have a counter move for that and if he tries something standing up then you have to counter his move there as well. No one wants to watch two guys get in there, down on the ground hugging but at the same time it’s a fighter’s job to learn how to deal with that position.”

“I’m learning how to take a game plan where a guy wants to come in and try to take me down and hold me there. I’m going to make him pay for it and put him in the type of positions where he doesn’t want to put me there. That will force him to stand and bang with me. If you are a one dimensional fighter you are going to get exploited. Someone is coming in to exploit you if you have a weakness. Those one dimensional fighters are called wannabes and while they want to be real fighters you can’t be trained to do what I do. I’m born to do what I’m doing.”

“You can be taught the technical aspects of fighting but you can’t be taught to stand in there, touch the barrel of the gun and stand in that pocket and bang. I ain’t worried about getting hit or knocked out because I hear it’s pretty peaceful.”

As the interview wrapped up, I accompany Foster and Coach Fiore to pick up Foster’s medical packet before makes the trip to Toronto. At the doctor’s office, Foster is given some unfortunate news: his pre-fight MRI reveals a brain hemorrhage. While the initial diagnosis sounded severe, the doctor’s initial sense was that a nerve ending had ruptured during a sparring session days before the MRI was taken. The doctor told Foster he would not be able to clear him or have a final word until the UFC was alerted and collaborated on the information.

After parting ways with Foster in Granite City the UFC called to inform Foster that the injury was simply too severe to risk it, and he was removed from UFC 129. Foster contacted me with the bad news, but I could tell that the situation hadn’t diminished the fire in his chest one bit.

“Everything was going great man. Everything was right on schedule and it breaks my heart to put in the work, to be in the best shape of my life and have something like this happen. I give my all each and every time and to have this happen really has me upset but it’s a setback that I’ll get past and come back better than ever.”

“The UFC wants me to take six to eight weeks of rest, heal up and then we’ll get it looked at again. I’m okay and feel good but they feel it’s just too dangerous without knowing for sure how severe this injury is and I can respect that to the fullest. I just want my fans and fight fans in general to know that I do what I do for each and every one of you. I’ll be back man and this just makes me that much hungrier.”