Five Minutes With Jeremy Horn

In the last 15 years, fighters have come and gone from the mixed martial arts scene.  One constant
has been Jeremy Horn.  The MMA Corner was able to spend some time with Horn discussing a
variety of topics from how he got his start in MMA to his plans for the future. In a phone
interview, Horn stated that he kind of just fell into MMA. His older brother was fighting so he
started fighting. He stated that his first fight was an accident but after that he just went with the
flow. Horn stated that he “just likes to fight” so he started his fighting career and wanted to fight
who ever, when ever. This “fight anybody” mentality would come into play early in his career as
he often fought numerous fights in the same night as well as multiple fights in the same week.
When I asked Horn how he felt about high profile fighters today that only fight two or three
fights a year compared to him fighting as often as possible he stated “that is up to each individual
fighter, I fight because I love to fight but each fighter is different. Some fighters fight for the
competition and the ones that are fighting just for the money can get by on one or two high
profile fights a year. Plus if you are fighting at a high level of competition then you need some
down time to rest.” While we were discussing his role as both a fighter and trainer I asked Jeremy
if he had any regrets about the fact that he spent so much time training other people and helping
them becomes champions instead of focusing on his fighter preparation. Horn told me that he
has no regrets in life. He has been able to train and teach and fight and make a career out of the
sport that he loves. He said that he would not change a thing in his life. This belief in not
changing a thing in his life was evidenced when I asked him about who he would to get a
rematch with. Horn quickly said that he does not care about rematches that he just wants to fight
who ever is across the ring from him. Horn continued to tell that he wants to keep fighting as
long as he can. He said that he is continuing to get better and evolving as a fighter. This lead me
to ask him what is the best base for MMA these days, BJJ or wrestling? Horn stated that he
believes that everything is important but wrestling teaches you about weight resistance and
technique and gives you a better base to start with but if you want to be able to compete at a high
level in MMA you need to have skills in all areas. I asked Horn when he started to train
wrestling and he stated when he moved to Iowa. He stated that training with the guys at the
Miletich camp he had to learn how to wrestle. Fight fans that have followed the sport since the
mid to late nineties know Jeremy Horn as an MMA icon and pioneer. It was fighters like Horn
that helped put MMA on the map. Horn has 85 victories with over 100 fights and nothing else to
prove so is retirement in his future? Absolutely not! Horn is coming off a big first round
submission victory over Sean Salmon at the IFC show this past weekend and indicated that he
wants to continue to fight for as long as he can. His plans for the future are to take a little time
off to eat which is one of his favorite things and then he wants to get right back to fighting.
When asked who his next opponent might be Horn stated that he did not know and he did not
care, he just wants to fight. When asked if we might see him in the UFC again he did not rule out
the possibility stating that he will never turn down a fight so if the opportunity comes he will take
it. For more information on Jeremy Horn and his gym please go to http://
www.eliteperformancegym.com