The Triangle Choke: Victor O'Donnell Interview

I spent some time with Victor O’Donnell at Team Vision as he finished up a grueling workout in preparation for the biggest fight of his career against Shonie Carter. O'Donnell will face Carter in the ICF's co-main event at the April 11th event scheduled for US Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio.

TTC- Did you grow up in Ohio?

VO- I was born in Ohio. I lived out in Los Angeles for awhile then Detroit, moved around a lot. The majority of my time has been spent in Ohio. I recently moved from Bethel, OH to Milford, OH.

TTC- What brought you to MMA?

VO- Well, (laughs) I was a street fighter. I fought in the streets a lot. I was very small as a child so in the public schools I got a lot of grief. I had to fight a lot. I just learned to love it, the rush, it’s a high.

TTC- Do you have a street record like Kimbo Slice (laughter)? So the streets really prepared you for MMA?

VO- Laughs, I had tons of fights but I didn’t keep my record. Like any kid, I watched He-Man, Batman, Spiderman, and video games and all that. I loved it even as a kid. As I grew up it stuck with me. I watched UFC as a kid, watching Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, Bas Rutten, some of the best fighters in the world. I knew I wanted to do that. I decided to pursue it.

TTC- How did you get involved with Team Vision?

VO- I was going to a gym, what use to be Gold’s Gym, with a friend of mine named Blair, he and I talked about fighting and stuff. I told him I wanted to fight. We made a lot of bets at the gym on UFC fights, everyone was into it. He told me about something called an Ice Fight at Metropolis ( Cincinnati area). I went there to check that out. I saw the 185lb champion there who was 7-1 at the time. The Champion knocked a guy out in 13 seconds. I told Blair I wanted to fight that guy. My first MMA fight was against the Champion Casey Ratliff. He was a tough fighter. It was ruled a no contest. Rod Housely saw me fight and talked to Blair. Blair called me and told me a gym was opening up. I came to Team Vision and there were maybe 7 people here at that time. Real tough guys though, I wasn’t going to go to a camp where I was going to be able to challenge the fighters there. I wanted to go to a gym where I was going to get my ass kicked. I came here and got man handled. I loved it.

TTC- When did you arrive at Team Vision?

VO- I think I started sometime in November of 2007.

TTC- Team Vision is one of the best gyms in all of Cincinnati and surrounding areas. Rod Housely has done a great job here. In training you are competing against the likes of Dustin Winterhalt who is a 170lb Champion, Roger Bowling who is a 170lb Champion, TJ Ball who just won a 205 lb title, Steve Muldrow who owns a 155lb belt (mentioned Chris Curtis because he was sitting by us! Sorry Chris.), what is it like training with these guys on a day to day basis?

VO- It’s a blast, it’s fun and always a great challenge. When I first started, like I said earlier I was getting man handled. Now I can actually roll with these guys. My challenge now is to surpass them. There is a great group of people here. I consider these guys family. It’s painful though. Rolling with Roger Bowling is a big challenge. When the bell rings I get butterflies just rolling with him. I’m more nervous about rolling with Roger than I am getting into the ring man. He is explosive. It is great, a rush.

TTC- I’ve been visiting Team Vision to cover the team since July of 2008. I can see a vast improvement in your game. Before I visited here, Roger told me you were going to be a good one. He was certainly right. In the last ICF event you crushed Neal Craft. I was against the cage and could feel the punches you were landing. You have tremendous punching power. What do you attribute that too and did you posses that in the streets?

VO- Yeah, I guess but to tell you the truth I don’t think I hit very hard (everyone in the gym is laughing). Seriously, I don’t think I hit very hard (Chris Curtis chimes in, try taking some of your puches!). I guess I’m pretty heavy-handed.

TTC- Yeah, I would say so. What was your record as an amateur and when did you turn pro?

VO- I was 6-0 as an amateur. I don’t really remember it was in under a year.

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TTC- You are now 6-0 as a pro for a combined record of 12-0. You have had some light shining on you. Now, the big lights come on at US Bank Arena on April 11 th as you face the experienced, exuberant, UFC Veteran Shonie “Mr. International” Carter. As I’m sure you know, Carter is anything but bashful. He is going to talk smack and be in your grill, you know that will happen.

VO- Yeah, I know that and that is fine. Carter has like 100 fights under his belt or something crazy like that. He has fought more than I’ve trained. I can probably tell you what he is going to say. He is going to call me a kid, say I’m wet behind the ears, go watch some more cartoons. I’m not one to talk garbage. I hope it’s a good fight. I watched his fights. I saw him knock Matt Serra out but then again I’ve watched him get knocked out. He is beatable; he has losses on his record. I’m not going to say anything bad about him. He is 36 years old. I would say he is pretty much in his prime. It’s going to be a tough fight. I’ve trained harder for this fight than any previous fights. To tell you the truth I’m more excited about the fighter I’m going to be before I step into the ring than the fight itself. I’m training like I’ve never trained before. I can already see a difference and I’ve only been there for almost a month (speaking of conditioning training). I now actually have a strength and conditioning coach. I train there with Roger Bowling. I feel sorry for the guys Roger has to face. I pray for those guys (the interview was conducted prior to Roger knocking out Seth Baczynski). He is strong and like his name is “Relentless”. He doesn’t get tired and his incredibly strong. Training with him gives me confidence. I hope Shonie is ready for me. I’m not going to get into a war of words with him but he better be ready for me. I hope he doesn’t take me lightly.

TTC- There will be a big crowd there in a venue like US Bank Arena, wow.

VO- I’m going to be excited man. US Bank Arena, amazing. The biggest place I ever fought was King of the Cage. I was kind of star struck. At first the fans were booing me but after I defeated their home town favorite in a minute and 30 seconds, they started cheering me in the post fight interview. That was amazing (Chris chimes in it was like Rocky IV). That event was in Youngstown, OH where I faced Jim Bundy. Bundy owned his own school and everything. People underestimate me. They see my resume with submission victories; they don’t realize I can stand up and beat people into submission. I’m really looking forward to US Bank Arena which will be the biggest venue I’ve ever competed in. Hopefully I will have the home town crowd cheering for me.

TTC- I don’t think you have to worry about that. We are looking forward to seeing you at US Bank Arena on April 11th. Thanks to Victor and Team Vision.

For tickets and information on the entire card please visit: www.icfmma.com

By Scott Dryden
ProFighting-fans.com Staff Writer & Director of MMA Content