Five Minutes With Jeremy Horn Josh Davis May 23, 2011 UFC 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