The MMA Digest

Photo: koboxingclub.com

the MMA digest: How’d you start working with Kimbo?

Randy Khatami: Well Bas (Rutten) and I own a gym and one of our partners in the gym, a silent partner, has done business with people who own Reality Kings, where Kimbo used to be a bouncer for the porn business. Since they knew Kimbo was going to be fighting they wanted to see if he’d mix with Bas and see how his training would go. So Bas started training with him and Bas got really busy with the IFL and for about a week he sent him to Vegas with Shawn Tompkins. Then Kimbo came back to

California and since Bas was so busy he wanted me to step in and help train Kimbo. So the way it is now, Bas trains him in the morning and I train him at night.

the MMA digest: What skills did Kimbo already have when he started training with you and what did you work on with him?

Randy Khatami: He had really good head movement, pretty good footwork, his hands were decent—he just used a lot of his shoulder for punching, he didn’t use his lower body to punch. So we definitely straightened that out. Bas is an excellent striker and that what my game is—boxing. So we definitely straightened out his punches a little bit and added significant power in his punches. But he definitely came in with some good head movement and footwork and power, he’s a really strong guy.

the MMA digest: What has impressed you about Kimbo as he has learned the game?

Randy Khatami: The biggest thing that impressed both Bas and myself is his work ethic. The guy comes in the gym and he just works and works, if I tell him to do 2 minutes of a certain drill he’ll do it for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. He’s always trying to challenge himself and better himself. He’s like teaching a kid—he’s like a sponge, he absorbs everything you teach him and he comes in the next day in training and he’s trying to use the same Jiu-Jitsu move or same counter punch or same technique you showed him before. So he’s constantly challenging himself, he’s just really absorbing the game.

the MMA digest: How has it been going training for James Thompson (May 31^st bout)?

Randy Khatami: It’s going really good. People don’t realize how good Bas is on the ground. I know he’s mentioned as a great striker and great striking coach, but people fail to mention his ground game. Bas is an artist the ground, he’s amazing. Bas has been working with Kimbo tremendously on the ground because if you think about it, if we were going to set up a game plan to fight Kimbo the first thing we would do is think, “Let’s bring him to the ground, let’s see what he’s got on the ground.” So we’re anticipating that and Bas has been tremendously on the ground game with his Jiu-Jitsu and takedown defense. And I continue to work on his elbows, knees and striking more.

the MMA digest: Kimbo has become very popular and there’s been some criticism from other fighters about him. What are your thoughts on some of the reactions from some of the older MMA fighters who may not be fans of Kimbo?

Randy Khatami: That’s okay, everybody has different opinions on Ultimate Fighters, you read blogs about all different MMA fighters and all people have opinions and rankings. That’s okay, we accept that. No matter what professional athlete or what level you’re at you’re always going to have people criticizing you or people loving you and that’s just part of the game. Just like if you’re celebrity—if you’re an actor or actress some people love you and some people hate you, that’s just the name of the game. So we don’t let it affect the training camp at all, we have an objective and the objective in front of us is James Thompson and we’re going to be going at him on the 31^st.

the MMA digest: What are you working a lot more lately to improve his game?

Randy Khatami: A lot of the takedown defense, simple movements, a lot of different counter punching. Since I have a boxing background I’ve been working significantly on a lot of different counter punching and elbows. As I mentioned Bas is doing the ground game, tweaking his ground game so much, it’s amazing how much Kimbo’s learning in this particular training camp right now in the ground game.

the MMA digest: What are some misconceptions about Kimbo Slice?

Randy Khatami: I think just that he’s a basic brawler and he doesn’t have any MMA skills. He’s said this himself, he’s a small squirrel in a big tree and he’s learning the game. Just like anyone else, any other champion in this sport or any veteran in the sport that had to fight their first, second, third and fourth fight and move up the ranks, and that’s what he’s trying to do. He’s in the limelight and spotlight now but that’s not his fault.

the MMA digest: That’s true. He just made his debut a few months, only fought 2 times. Usually people who just enter the sport don’t fight veterans like Bo Cantrell and Tank Abbott right off the bat anyways.

Randy Khatami: Exactly. You took the words right out of my mouth. People are criticizing him but he’s not going Fedor. People are comparing him to Fedor, but that’s like comparing apples and oranges.

the MMA digest: Just the fact he came in with so much hype has caused this.

Randy Khatami: Right. And I think one of the biggest misconceptions as well is he’s a family guy—he’s got 6 kids at home. He plays a big active role as a parent and he has a fiancée at home. He’s a family guy and likes to spend time with them. He sacrifices 6 weeks of full training and comes out here to

California and stays in a house close to our gym and is away from his kids—he has a wide variety of ages for kids, in high school, middle school and junior high and it’s tough to be away from your kids for 6 weeks. So it’s a huge commitment for him.

the MMA digest: How do you see this fight going? It’s two fighters who like to strike and go for it, do you see a knockout in the first round?

Randy Khatami: I think we might see something different, I think we might see some of the ground game. If I was training James Thompson for this fight I would think, “Okay, everyone has seen Kimbo’s power and striking ability, let’s see what happens if we take him to the ground?” that might happen in the fight and we’re certainly prepared for that and certainly prepared for the striking. No matter where it goes, on the feet or ground, we’re prepared and come the 31^st of May I think the fans are going to see two guys banging it out.

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