The first time I saw Steven Peterson, I was in the Combative Sports Facility in Arlington, Tx and he was beating the living hell out of some guy (Jeremy Hontz to be exact… thanks MixedMartialArts.com!) and seemingly not breaking a sweat while doing it.
Pounding out Hontz in the first, having a smoking hot ring girl wrap his United States Amateur Combat Association 145-pound title around his waist, and then being greeted by a building full of newly converted fans isn’t a bad way to spend a night.
And yeah, I was one of them! I immediately sought him out for an interview. Granted, most of the evening’s fighters were out and about post-fight but only Steven had a giant, bad ass flaming Superman logo tattooed on his chest.
Estimated cost? I’d say about a grand.
I was lucky enough to have him on my old radio show, Tap or Snap Radio (pour out your 40s), and now I’m lucky enough to be interviewing him on the eve of the biggest fight of his career for NTF.
In case you were wondering, I’m pretty damn lucky.
Peterson is set to throw down in San Antonio tonight for Bellator Fighting Championships. BFC is no stranger to Texas having already had one show in San Antonio as well as a big show here in Grand Prairie. That show was like a Fitness Fight Factory showcase as Johnny Bedford, Doug Frey, and Chas Skelly all picked up wins that night. So it’s great to see Bellator coming back to the Lone Star State and taking advantage of all the great talent coming out.
I asked Steven what he had been up to since he last spoke and he said he was training, training, training. It’s like a full-time job for this kid. He’s been “working on cleaning up… striking and getting more technical with [his] ground game.”
He “trains day in and day out” and has completely overhauled his camp since going professional last month. As an amateur, he only lost once. Once. And that was his first fight. It seems he didn’t get a taste for it since he rattled off four am wins in a row. He turned pro on August 4th in Houston and submitted Marcus Dupar in the third.
Tonight at Bellator, he’ll be taking on Ernest de la Cruz who fights out of the San Antonio gym Texas Powerhouse. Hometown boy? Doesn’t seem to bother Stevenson. “I expect that he will have a large hometown crowd.”
Baller.
No guarantees that Peterson’s bout will air since the card will also include three bantamweight tournament bouts and an awesome, AWESOME Featherweight Championship fight between champ Joe Soto and last year’s tournament winner, Joe Warren. Regardless, we’ll let you know what happened and continue to bring you updates on this guy’s promising career.
Peterson said he’d like to give a shout out to his BJJ coach J.D. Shelly, his Muay Thai coach Kru Carlos Murano, his manager Pierre Bertrand, Joe “Jitsu” Christopher (another local talent fighting tonight), Kris Bickham who just won the 170-pound title for XFC last weekend in Louisiana), Fernando Salas who picked up the 135-pound title for XFC), Bobby Pena, Jon Hunter, and all of his other training partners at North Dallas BJJ aka North Dallas MMA and North Texas MMA.
Be sure to check out the inset for more Steven Peterson info including how he cracked his kneecap. Oh, and he won that fight.
CHUUUUUCH!
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Because Peterson is all that is awesome we picked his brain on some more topics!
Steven Peterson on: What he’ll be doing in San Antonio and whether or not he’ll try the Four Horsemen burger:
“Spending the weekend after the fight down there and having a good time. I’ve never heard of Chunky’s but if I see it I’ll be sure to stop by and try that out.”
His Walkout Music:
“Queued up my favorite part of “I’m a Go Getta” by Lil Wayne (Victory consistently train all year to be the enemies misery….) or my favorite part of “Drop the World” by Lil Wayne and Eminem (Eminem’s verse). I’m gonna make the choice the day of the fight based on what I’m feeling at the time.”
His Nastiest Injury:
“Cracked my kneecap from checking a kick in a fight. Not very gross but it hurt like a mother!”
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