Tommy Speer Interview @ MNMMANEWS.COM
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Elgin’s Tommy “The Farm Boy” Speer returns to the cage March 19 for a showdown against Ryan Ford at “The Fight Club” in Edmonton, Canada.
Speer, who is 13-4 as a professional, hasn’t fought since October. In his last bout, Speer defeated Travis Perzynski by decision.
Since his brief stint in the UFC, Speer has gone 4-1, with his only loss coming against Beau Baker. After his time on “The Ultimate Fighter,” Speer lost to Mac Danzig in the TUF Finale and then to rising star Anthony “Rumble” Johnson before being dropped by the UFC.
Speer is now in Illinois, preparing for the showdown against Ford (11-2) at Matt Hughes’ HIT Squad.
We caught up with Speer between morning and afternoon workouts this week.
Tommy where do you stay when you’re down there with the HIT Squad?
SPEER: I stay with head trainer Marc Fiore.
I know you had planned to go down a week earlier but you didn’t leave until last week. What happened?
SPEER: Well, I got a staph infection on my chest. So I had to let that heal up. The doctors just gave me antibiotics, but my trainer in Rochester, Mario Roberto, wasn’t really thrilled that they didn’t take care of it a little quicker. It’s fine now. I’ll probably have some scar tissue there, but it’s fine.
How often are you training when you’re down there?
SPEER: We train about two or three times a day. The morning is usually just conditioning and cardio stuff.
You’re fighting Canadian Ryan Ford. What do you know about him?
SPEER: He’s very athletic, very explosive. He’s an athlete, and I know he brings it. But I think conditioning
could play a factor. I feel like I can save a lot of energy by just being sharp with my technique and doing things the right way. He’s a wild striker, but I don’t know if he can keep that momentum going. He does have a lot of power, but I just don’t see a lot of technique behind it.
Ford has trash talked a lot. What do you think of that?
SPEER: Well, I don’t spend much time on the Internet looking up what he’s saying. I find it funny that he said he’s going to try to make a name for himself off of me. He’s overconfident. But when all is said and done, all that matters is the performance in the cage. It doesn’t matter who’s winning the verbal argument.
Ford has a very checkered past, with a felony conviction and some prison time served for a violent crime. What are your thoughts on that?
SPEER: I’m not focused on that stuff. As for his past, though, I definitely frown upon the stuff he’s done. He has a bad past, and I have a clean past. His past reflects on him as a person. I don’t think people like him are good for the sport.
A good chunk of Ford’s trash talking has revolved around him saying you backed out of a previous fight with him. But I know you said you never accepted that fight. What happened there?
SPEER: My manager, Monte Cox, called me and offered me that fight with less than a month’s notice. I wasn’t training at all because I was out in the field helping with the fall harvest. So Monte called and told me to look Ford up and see what I thought. I told him I didn’t think it was a good idea, since I hadn’t been training and Ford is obviously a good opponent. Plus I didn’t like the pay at the time. So I turned it down. Well, a short time later, I got a Facebook message from some guy with the organization up there in Canada, saying basically how excited he was to have me come up and fight. So I had to tell him that I hadn’t accepted the fight. Well then Ford started telling the press up there I backed out and that I took another fight a week later in Brazil. Well, that also wasn’t true. I was never ever contacted by the people down in Brazil, and they were using my name for some reason. But I never was offered a fight down there and I definitely didn’t accept a fight down there. So that’s pretty much it. I didn’t accept the fight. I didn’t accept any fight at the time because I wasn’t training.
Ford’s a wild striker, so do you want this fight on the ground?
SPEER: Yeah, I think at some point I’d like to get it to the ground. When that will be, I don’t know. I’m not just going to go in there and try to take him down right away. I want to set some things up. I’ll need to sell it. The last thing I want is for my takedowns to get stuffed on a bad shot and have to pay the price for it. But the way his standup is, I think I can counter it pretty easily.
You’re still fighting at 170. How is your weight now?
SPEER: It’s good. I got down here and I weighed a solid 200 pounds. That’s the biggest I’ve been, so it’s going to be a challenge. We’re going to do some different things to cut down because I have more muscle mass than I did in the past. I might have to work a little harder, but it won’t be a problem.
Why are you going to win this fight?
SPEER: Because I’m eager to get back into some higher level competition. I had a period there last year where nothing really happened for me. But I want to get back to the big shows again soon.
Your manager recently talked to you about commitment. Have you changed since then?
SPEER: Yeah, there’s been a step up in my commitment. I’m still farming while I’m home, but I’m more commited to the training. My family has been supportive. They know when it’s time to train, I have to leave. And they’ve helped with the extra work. I’ve also been more serious about my diet and just getting to the gym regularly.
So what’s next for Tommy Speer?
SPEER: Well Monte thinks a win here will definitely open up some opportunities for me. Ford’s a guy people know, even though he hasn’t been in a big show yet. But he’s this organization’s big money maker. Hopefully I can catch some eyes with this fight and then move on to something bigger.
Is there anyone you need to thank?
SPEER: Yeah, Mario Roberto for sure. He’s spent a lot of time teaching me technique. I’m really looking forward to helping him get his new gym off the ground. I’d also like to thank Marc Fiore and everyone at HIT Squad. He’s really a great guy to help me get ready for a fight. And finally, I’d like to thank my mom and dad.
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