• Name: Brendan Seguin
• Nick name: "The Caucasian Devastation" (Goes without saying. Ha, ha)
• Age: 28 & 5/6ths
• Height: 6'0"
• Weight: 200 lbs. training / 185 lbs. fight weight
• Types of Training: I'm a Hybrid fighter. My style is aggressive and I have a background in Boxing (6 yrs.), Thai Boxing (4 yrs.), Sub Grappling ( 8 yrs.) & Wrestling (15 yrs.)
• Occupation: I am a road construction worker by day and a serial pummeler by night.
• Fighter Licenses: I am licensed in Mass., Ohio & Texas. I am fighting in England on June 25th, so if they require licensing, I will be licensed there as well.
• Website: In the works.

- Sachet/Team IronLife.com: Hiya Brendan! I know you've been rather busy, so I appreciate you taking the time out to do this. Could you give us a peek into your private life.. place of birth, what it was like growing up, important people in your life..

Brendan Seguin: I was born in Madison Hts., MI and lived in Highland Park, MI for the first year or two of my life. We then moved to Hazel Park, MI where I was schooled and raised. Hazel Park was a pretty rough place. It is a suburb of Detroit, you know, 8 mile. I lived a mile from there, where Eminem was doin' his thing. I wasn't much of a fighter when I was a kid, my mom was against it and pretty much still is, God bless her. I spent a lot of time runnin' my ass off from highschool kids when I was just a grade schooler, since I was pretty small and nonaggressive. I didn't hit my growth spurt til 10th grade and by then I was already into wrestling and on my way to where I am now, I guess. I was always very athletic and excelled at everything I did, including school. I was a standout in baseball, football and wrestling, however I didn't nearly have the drive to succeed like I do now. In the present day I am a father of my 4 year old son Brendan, Jr. It was his mother, my girlfriend Nicole's, idea to name him after me. I'm not that conceited, ha, ha. She and I live in Clinton Twp., MI, which is very close to my MMA school about 10 miles from our residence. I am very tight with my family, my mother Kathy, sister Jenny and my pops Ross (who is also my photographer for all my fight pictures. He's the sh*t with a camera.) I also have a badass nephew little Zach and another little punk on the way. My sis is ready to burst. I am also very close to my grandparents and aunts and uncles. Without family you have nothing.

- Aside from the fact that you lived in such a rough place, it sounds like you had a great childhood and had alot of pride in what you took on. Your current family life seems very rewarding too.. it's great to see a guy who appreciates what's truly important in life. Who or what was the motivation behind you becoming interested in MAs?

As I said before I was already a wrestler through highschool until graduation. After that I attended a couple of different local colleges, but wasn't very active in sports for a couple of years. Finally, I got sick of the same old sh*t day in and out, and began training Jiujitsu (with a gi) and Judo. I became addicted and from there I picked up on Sub Grappling (without gi), then boxing/kickboxing and before I knew it I was in a square cage getting punched and elbowed in the head. It became my love. From there on out I spent every minute of my spare time (besides with my boy) learning the intricacies of the sport of MMA.

- Which MA fighters do you look up to?

I have respect for all MMA fighters, but who do I look up to? I suppose the one I look up to is the one I would least want to fight. Actually there are two. Wanderlei is the first and the second (who I admire just for the fact that he takes little spot light but is a bad mofo) is Jeremy Horn. Actually, I had a chance to take a fight against Horn recently, but it was too close to another fight and I would need more time than I had to prepare for a fight with him.

- It's great that you have people wanting to fight you on a regular basis when there's so many fighters who can't even seem to get noticed. Which MMA fighter is your favorite to watch?

Again, Wand. Rampage, Randy and I don't care what people say about him, Tito is exciting to watch and he was a very charismatic champion.

- You probably have alot of your own favorite fights that you've competed in, but which would you say is your all time favorite fight?

My favorite fight that I won would have to be against Marty Armanderez, because I had been out of the cage for about a year before he and I fought and I ended up knocking him out with like 10 seconds left in the fight. It was a nice way to reintroduce myself.
My favorite fight that I lost was with Dean Lister for the KOTC middleweight title in 2002. He and I battled for 3 rounds back and forth relentlessly until he caught me in a triangle choke with 23 seconds left in the last round. It was also one of my least favorite fights.

- Okay, now I'm REALLY intrigued.. please do a synopsis of your past pro fights. Would you name your opponents, the outcome of the fight and what was the turning point that determined the outcome of the fight?

I'll give you my last three just to save a year of our lives.

1. July 10, 2004: vs. Jay Jack. Everyone saw that horrible picture of him kneebarring me on Ironlife. After that it was complete annihalation. I ground and pounded him until I started actually feeling sorry for the guy and by then the ref had stopped it in round two @ 2:38 in a 3 round fight for the USKBA Cruiserweight championship. Seguin by TKO.
2. Feb. 10, 2005: vs. Joey Villasenor for the KOTC Middleweight championship. What can I say. He caught me with a solid shot that landed just right and dropped me. I tried to get up, but my body was like F you man I'm not movin'. Joey wins by TKO rd.1 @ 2:39.
3. April 15, 2005: vs. Jarred Rollins (Team Rampage/Oyama) in the Main Event in the first ever Texas MMA sanctioned show. What can I say. I lit him up with numerous shots to the head before dropping him and dropping a few more bombs. He was a tough kid though, no disrespect to him. Seguin by TKO rd. 1 @ 2:19.

- I hafta tell ya, that's pretty wild to read.. even though I hate fighting! Out of all the fights you've had to date, which opponent stands out the most in your mind for the person you have the most respect for as a fighter and competitor?

I would have to say Dean Lister. He has accomplished so much as a fighter and grappler in such a short amount of time. He is very impressive. A lot of people shoot him down for his standup game, but you have to understand that he is still competing with some of the best fighters in the world and doing well.

- Who do you like having in your corner at fights?

I like to have my manager and cornerman James Lee, my cutman Brandon Gallo and my corner Vance Swerdan. We have all been together for so long , we have a flow when it comes to fight time. That's not taught, it's learned.

- Just recently you went to Kentucky to the KFC to stand in the corner of Marie Colangelo, one of the female pro fighters who represents team MASH from the EastSide Combat Club and trains with you. I was reading along in the Pro Fighter's forum on Ironlife that Marie's opponent showed for the weigh ins, but was a no show for the fight. The promoter lined another female up, but she backed out within a half hour. A total of six females were asked to fight, but all said no after seeing Marie. Something seriously has to change since this happens all too frequently.

If it were up to you, how would you correct this problem so it REALLY discourages anyone from backing out of a fight and wasting their opponent's time & energy preparing for the fight?
Pro Forum http://www.ironlife.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=72

Funny you should ask. Marie and I were actually talking about this after the fights and we thought it would be a good idea for amateur fighters to put down a deposit before weigh-ins that would be fully refunded after the fights. This way at least the fighters have some incentive to show up. And if they don't then the other fighter should get the no-show's deposit in addition to their own. You generally don't have this type of problem with pro fighters because we get paid to fight. And if one guy doesn't show up, another will.

- Do you go through any special rituals in that last half hour before walking out to the ring?

I usually spend about an hour getting ready for my fights. I used to get all fired up and sociopath and sh*t, but now being more of a veteran I just do some light shadowbox, stretch and the rest is all mental preparation. I just get my mind right and the rest is all cream cheese.

- Speaking of cream cheese *lol* how important is nutrition to you? Do you follow a strict diet? What would be an example of your food intake for a day?

I'll be very honest with you. I am a food freak! I love to eat. I look forward to eating on a daily basis, after training, after fights, anytime of the day I am thinking about food. Even while I'm eating sometimes I am already thinking about my next meal. I do, however, follow a strict diet while I am training for a fight, which is practically all of the time. While I'm training, a typical day would look something like this:

• 8:00 AM - 6 egg whites (1 yolk. You gotta have a least one.), 2 pieces of wheat toast or oatmeal & a big glass of OJ.
• 10:00 AM - Banana, Cranberry juice (preworkout)
• Postworkout - Protein shake (generally 46g whey, 16g casein) w/ juice (for carbs),1 or 2 chicken breasts and some V-8
• 2:00 PM - Salad (mostly leafy greens), Water or Juice and a banana
• 6:00 PM - Chicken or red meat, vegetables of some sort and potatoes or rice (preworkout believe it or not)
• 10:00 PM (postworkout) - Protein shake (same as above) and cereal

- Do you use dietary suppliments? If so, what do you use?

Yes, I use supplements. All I really use now is just Whey protein, fish oil (for my omega-3s), a multivitamin, glucosamine chodroitin (sometimes), vitamin C & liver pills (on occasion).

- What's your training schedule for the week look like? I need to see how you obtain those killa abs!

Goes a lil somethin' like this:

• Monday - AM: Weight training and light conditioning/ PM: Grappling
• Tuesday - AM: Conditioning/ PM: MMA training
• Wednesday - AM: Weight training and light conditioning/ PM: Boxing/Muay Thai
• Thursday - Off sometimes/ other times Conditioning
• Friday - AM: Weight training and light conditioning/ PM: Wrestling/MMA
• Saturday - AM: Sometimes aquatic conditioning / PM: Thai Boxing
• Sunday - PM: MMA training

- Well, that certainly will keep you in shape. You're the proud father of a son.. does he do any MA training yet?

Yeah. He actually comes with me during a lot of my training. Morning sessions and my weight training/conditioning he is there either playing around somewhere or watching. He's a bad little mofo already though. He's only 37 lbs. but he throws a hard straight right and he can snap a jab like nobody's business. He also knows a couple of subs and a little Muay Thai.

- What advantage does a child who has MA training have over a child who doesn't.. other than protection?

Mental toughness and discipline, as well as, being in touch with his/her limitations and knowing how to exceed them are definite advantages of knowing Martial Arts. A sense of confidence and security are also benefits of the MA's.

- How do you like being a co-owner of the EastSide Combat Club? How did that all come about?

I enjoy running the gym with my partners Vance and Brandon. It's fun to teach new fighters all the things that I had to learn myself and from others. Actually, we started the Eastside Combat Club, Inc. because our original and still existing fight Team - MASH - kept moving further and further west from were we are. It got to be too far to drive out there to train as much as I am required to train for fights. So we started the school on the eastside (hence the name Eastside Combat Club, Inc.) and got our own crew separate from MASH. I do, however, still represent MASH when I fight.

- What type of facility is it & what does it have to offer?

We are actually inside another gym (Tracy's Kenpo) and it is very accomodating. It has a full 20' boxing ring, heavy bags, core bags, ample matted space and most of all ME. Ha, ha.

- Most of all YOU?! *lol* Just bustin' ya.. actually, you are quite charming and it's been a real pleasure doing this interview as I got to see what a cool guy you really are on the inside. It's great that you've found a good balance in your life where you take your responsibilities seriously, provide for your family first and still find time to do what you love to do. Your parents must be very proud of the man you've become. One last question.. is your website finished? What will we find when we visit?

No. Website not finished. Still rounding up the essentials. What you can expect is one badass website. We plan on having clips of my past fights, pictures, recent news, bio, my own little thoughts and opinions, all of the Eastside crew, Detroit Brawlers Cage Gear, and more.

- Sounds great, I'll be sure to watch for it!
Thanks for doing this interview Brendan~