Photo: Carlos Ozório

Our GMA in Las Vegas Robert Drysdale won his second professional MMA fight, again by submission, with a snug first-round armbar (watch it here). The bout took place last Saturday in Canada, and the black belt spoke with GRACIEMAG.com about the fight, his new projects, and much more.

What’s your take on your fight against Clay Davidson?

It was cool. Nowadays, I feel good in the ring. I feel at home, and I felt really well preparing for the fight. This time losing weight was harder, I suffered a bit, but on the day I was at full form and confident. My plan was to stand and trade a little longer, but we ended up grappling early on and I managed to use my Jiu-Jitsu. It was a cool experience, and – who knows? – maybe soon I’ll be in a bigger event.

Do you feel you’re already prepared to enter a big promotion like the UFC or Strikeforce?

I’m confident, and when I watch the UFC, I feel I can fight those guys. But I feel there’s no need to rush things. I feel a lot of guys feel in a hurry because of the money and I don’t think that’s cool. It never was the money that motivated me. In Jiu-Jitsu I competed at white belt, after a little while I competed at blue, and so on. I wasn’t in a hurry to get to black belt. It has to be the same in MMA; you can’t go skipping steps. I’m my own motivator, I try to be better tomorrow than I am today.

Só, to make it to the level you yearn for, what eles do you feel you need to work on?

Jiu-Jitsu’s my forte and I don’t feel it’s cool to set it aside to work only on my hands or takedowns. If you don’t practice what you’re best at you’ll become a worse fighter. But of course, I prioritize my standup and takedowns. Truth is, I train everything every day. I’m not one of those guys who thinks he knows everything there is to know on the ground, so I don’t forget about my Jiu-Jitsu. Even when I’m not competing, I like being a part of the evolution of the sport, because it’s what I love.

Now you count two submission wins. Do you plan to get some knockouts on your record, as well?

I train standup with a group of professional boxers, so I feel confident. But on the other hand, I feel it’s nonsense to want to become a striker over night. Of course, it could happen that the guy thwarts my ground game, but striking’s plan B. I have thirteen years of Jiu-Jitsu under my belt and two striking. So it’s as though I were a blue belt in the standup department, and it wouldn’t be smart for me to stand and bang in MMA right now. I have what it takes, but it would be a tactical mistake. I’d rather stick to the ground as plan A, and that’s not likely to change.

Any new projects?

I’ve got a really good team affiliated with me over in Manaus. Even Roberto “Pato” Fonseca, who just qualified for the World Pro, is there. I’m going to set up some fights for him and I want to set up a Jiu-Jitsu challenge between those guys and the fighters here in Vegas. That’s what I’m working on and it should be cool.

In his first appearance for the Canadian promotion, Robert applied an armbar from the triangle against Bastien Huvenners. This time, against Clay Davidson, the armbar came from the mount, also in the first round.

See how it went:

Check out all the action:

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Robert helping Frank Mir get ready for Minotauro. Photo: Sean Rigo

Robert Drysdale started off his professional MMA career on the right foot this Saturday, when he submitted Bas Huveneers with an arm triangle in just 1:12 min at Armageddon Fighting Championship in Canada. Now the black belt has a new mission, to sharpen up Frank Mir’s ground game to face Rodrigo Minotauro at UFC 119. Robert spoke to GRACIEMAG.com in the following interview:

Was fighting professionally tougher than it was in your amateur MMA appearance?

I found it even easier. Truth is, I felt more at home than ever before. I was really calm, much more than in my amateur fight. It was against a much more experienced opponent, with 11 fights on his record, but that didn’t throw me off at all. I was really confident, happy and raring to fight. When I stepped in there, I felt happy to be there. It was real great, man. It was perfect, everything went as I hoped it would.

I feel Frank is the favorite against Minotauro” Robert Drysdale

How is your future in MMA coming along? Do you have to fight in the AFC till the end of your contract?

They’ll hold another event in November, but my contract with them is only exclusive in Canada. If something comes up in some promotion in another country, I can fight there. If something comes up in Dream, Strikeforce or Bellator, for example, I can fight. It’s a question of writing up the contract properly.

Drysdale attacking Jacaré's back in ADCC 2009 superfight. Photo: Carlos Ozório

How does Jiu-Jitsu fit into your life?

I practice Jiu-Jitsu every day and I feel a big mistake some folks make in MMA is to abandon their base. I see a lot of that here: The guy’s a wrestler and when he goes on to do MMA all he wants to do is train boxing. If you stop your base sport, you fall behind. You may not lose your technique, but your timing changes a lot. You have to hone your strength, and mine is Jiu-Jitsu.

But will you still appear in any competitions?

I can no longer compete for free. I’m 28, have trained my whole life and I can’t be an amateur anymore, I have my priorities. I do think about competing in the ADCC, where you’re paid. I’m at my peak now, not 15 years from now. What will I do after that? I was dying to compete at this year’s Jiu-Jitsu World Championship, but I have to train too much, I don’t have time. Furthermore, I want to take on new challenges. I’ve already done a lot of Jiu-Jitsu and it’s using that background that I now want to reach new heights in MMA. That’s my priority now.

Photo: Sean Rigo

How is Frank Mir’s preparation for his fight with Minotauro going?

Mir is always training. He never stops. He knows Minotauro really wanted this rematch, but he’s well prepared for it. We respect Minotauro a lot for all he’s done for the sport and for the way he fights in the ring, but I have the utmost confidence in Frank, wherever the fight plays out. If he gets the takedown, he’s not going anywhere with Mir, and I feel he won’t want to fight Frank standing. We’re ready, training and we pretty much have a strategy in place. Now it’s all about ironing out the kinks. It’ll be a great fight. Frank respects him, has great admiration for him, but we want to win. We’re taking it very seriously and I feel Frank is the favorite.

Photo: Carlos Ozório

ADCC 2007 absolute champion and Jiu-Jitsu coach to MMA stars like Frank Mir, Robert Drysdale made his professional MMA debut on the right foot. This Saturday the black belt made quick work of Bas Huveneers at Armageddon Fighting Championship 3 in Canada.

Drysdale needed just 1:12 min to sink the arm-triangle choke. After passing guard and mounting, he dismounted with the hold already in place.

Before this bout, Robert would win once in amateur MMA. His contract with the AFC goes until the first half of 2011 and the fighter may still appear four times for the organization.

Check out how Drysdale’s first professional MMA outing went:

Check out the complete results:

Kalib Starnes submitted Nick Hinchliffe via armbar at 3:49 min of R1
Robert Drysdale submitted Bastien Huveneers via choke at 1:12 of R1
Nick Driedger submitted Baz Cunningham via rear-naked choke at 2:18 min of R1
Mike Hackert defeated Dan MacIver via unanimous decision
Diego Wilson submitted Dan Lin via armbar at 0.46 min of R1
Justin Shaw defeated Rob McCormack via TKO at 0.19 min of R1
Misha Cirkunov defeated Shawn Pauliuk via TKO at 0.57 min of R1
Derek Medler defeated Myles Dearden via TKO at 2:56 min of R1
Darcy James defeated Conner Wood via KO at 1:36 min of R1
Dajan Kajic submitted Adam Gabel via rear-naked choke at 3:37 min of R1
Keri Scarr defeated Sarah McLeod via TKO at the end of R1
Conner Riddell and Dan Ring fought to a draw
Theo Brisley submitted Iury Aquiano via guillotine at 1:14 min of R2