The Triangle Choke: Jon Madsen Interview

Jon Madsen discusses wrestling & MMA with Pro Fighting Fans just before the premeir of The Ultimate Fighter 10

Jon Madsen will compete on Season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights (See our TUF 10 season preview). Jon has an extensive wrestling background competing at the NCAA Division II level where he won a National Championship. The South Dakota native moved to Illinois to train at the prestigious H.I.T. squad. Under the direction of UFC legend Matt Hughes, Madsen has a career record of 3-0. I had a conversation with Jon prior to the 1st episode of TUF Season 10:

SD- Hello Jon, talk about your high school athletic background in South Dakota.

JM- I’m from a small town in South Dakota. We had a small wrestling team but had a pretty large following. I placed four times in state; I believe it was 3rd, 2nd, 1st and 1st. I played high school football where I was All-State 2 years and All-Conference four years. I did everything from running the ball to middle linebacker, to punting and kicking. I went out for track my senior year and qualified for state throwing shot put and discus. I tried to dabble in a little bit of everything. I was trying to see exactly where I fit in and what I was good at and what I wanted to do. I think they helps you become a well-rounded athlete.

Jon Madsen photo is courtesy of Hughes Intensive Training.

SD- You went to South Dakota State to compete in wrestling. Is that a DII school?

JM- They were when I was there. I believe they went DI in 2003 or 2004 but when I was there we competed against a lot of DI schools.

SD- You won the National Championship there, correct?

JM- Yes, I did. When I got to South Dakota State I was wrestling behind a guy named Ryan Resel. I believe Resel won it all 3 times and was a runner-up another time. So he was a very good wrestler. I redshirted behind him my first year. I won the starting my 2nd year and ended up peaking at the right time. I had a great National Tournament - I didn’t get taken down once. I ended up beating a kid from Fort Hays State, Keith Blaske who was a senior. Blaske was picked to win it but I beat him 4-3. I was around 225lbs and he was probably around 285lbs. That was quite a bit of size and weight difference but I was in a lot better shape. I was wrestling with confidence and just knew I couldn’t be beat that day.

SD- You also competed against the UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, talk about that experience.

JM- When I wrestled Brock it was my first tournament of my college career. He actually wrestled against my older brother the match before me. I got the winner. Brock shot in and picked my brother up, slammed him down and broke his back. My brother had to drop out of the tournament and I believe he didn’t wrestle anymore for the rest of the year. I was looking at him thinking I cannot let that happen to me. I just went in and wrestled as hard as I could. He ended up beating me 7-3, 7-4 or something like that. He was by far the strongest person I have ever competed against.

SD- What did Brock weigh for the match?

JM- He was 270 and I was around 230.

SD- That is a tough size advantage to overcome...

JM- Yeah and he is very athletic too. He is a big guy that moves like a little guy which makes it tough.

SD- Did you have plans to compete in MMA while you were in college?

JM- I never really thought about it while I was in college, I was just focusing on wrestling and extracurricular activities I guess. I finished college in December of 2004 and was really battling with some personal stuff. I hadn’t really found a constructive path. I finally had enough when somebody approached me and said you have this wrestling background, you should compete in MMA. I was lifting weights at the time and was stronger than I had ever been. I just figured I wasn’t doing anything else and I was working all these dead end jobs. I wasn’t using my college degree and still had a desire to compete so I said why not give MMA a chance.

SD- Did you start your training in South Dakota and how did you transition to Hughes Intensive Training?

JM- I started training with the Augustana Wrestling Team (South Dakota) around October of 2006. I started doing their wrestling practices and doing cardio to get back in shape. I decided to do some open wrestling tournaments. I believe I went 12-1 or something like that. I owe a lot to Head Coach Jason Reitmeier and Assistant Coach Tom Meester, who was training for the Olympics at the time, for opening their doors to me. They knew my past and my competitiveness. They overlooked the path I was going down and told me they thought I was doing something big and they wanted to be a part of it. I got in shape with them and came to H.I.T. in February of 2007 and have been there since.

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SD- In my opinion wrestling translates quicker to MMA than any other discipline. Talk about what it’s like training with one of the greatest wrestlers in the history of MMA, Matt Hughes and the great striker Robbie Lawler on a daily basis.

JM- Matt runs our grappling practices here. I call his style wrestle-jitsu. He is a great wrestler, phenomenal on top, real strong rider and he adapts Jiu-Jitsu to his game as well. I try to model myself after that and pick up on the stuff he is doing. So far I’ve been picking up on some good stuff. He still has a lot of competitive fire left in him and I believe he just signed a new contract with the UFC so he is not done. Robbie is the same way. He is a little different but has great takedown defense. He is not as decorated as Matt in wrestling but his hands and his striking are phenomenal. If you cannot take him down you are pretty much out of luck. He also has amazing competitiveness. It doesn’t matter if you are playing chess or the Wii, he wants to whip your ass and he thinks he can do it everytime. Taking that from Robbie and all the things from Matt, you cannot find a better camp.

SD- Talk about the interview and try-out process for The Ultimate Fighter and how you felt coming into that.

JM- I was pretty confident going into the try-outs. I knew they were aware that I wrestled Lesnar and all that which wasn’t going to hurt me. Also having Matt Hughes gym behind me and Coach Mark Fiore supporting me definitely gave me an edge. I went in and did really well in the grappling and on the pads. I did fairly well on the interview portion. I didn’t want to be too boastful or arrogant I just tried to be myself. I figured they would take it for what it is and they must have liked me as they called me back.

SD- I know you cannot go into many details but at a high level talk about the experience and if you feel your game has improved from your time in the house.

JM- Actually when you are in the house you are not there to improve your game but sharpen what you already have. It is too short of a time to add things to what you are already trying to do. You take your strengths and weaknesses and try to sharpen them. From the time I started a year and a half ago to today, it’s not even a comparison. My hands are a lot better from my 1st fight until now. I can tell that from sparring sessions when news guys come in. Now I’m peppering them with shots etc, no way I would have been doing that when I first got here. In the house you cannot help but get in better shape and you have constant training partners. That is the nice thing about the house; you work out twice a day and you have seven other big guys in there with you that are dedicated and are there for the same reason. They are driven and you know they are not going to miss a workout. It is very motivating.

SD- Good luck Jon, we will stay in touch.

By Scott Dryden
ProFighting-fans.com Editor-in-Chief