After the first day of the expo had concluded, I was sitting with Dan ‘The Beast’ Severn. Dan was kind enough to invite me to his hotel room after the day’s activities had ended. I did not quite know what to expect meeting him in person, but I was pleasantly surprised.

When I went up to interview Dan, I found him relaxed on a chair watching lacrosse. I asked him how he thought the day went.

“It was decent,” he remarked, “But the turnout was not anywhere near the numbers I was told.” I was surprised.

“What were you expecting?” I asked.

“A lot more,” he replied. When I had first approached him, at the end of the first day of the expo, he was packing up his title belts and the contents of his booth. “In case I decide to cut my losses and just drive home tonight,” he explained. Fortunately, at least for the expo-goers, he decided to stay.

“What did you think of the expo itself?” I asked.

“Busting boards, breaking blocks of ice and swinging nunchucks won’t help you on the streets. If you walk around carrying a pair, I think it might attract just a wee bit of attention from law enforcement,” he said.

Life sometimes works out funny, I guess. I was not expecting Dan Severn to give me an interview – I figured the guy would be too tired from being asked the same questions all day long. In fact, I did not even have a list of questions to ask him on hand. So I decided to bring up a controversial subject – a subject named Ken Shamrock.

Although I did not get a chance to talk to Dan until much later, he spent most of the first day answering questions about Ken Shamrock. I’m not sure why, but Dan gave me the impression that he is constantly asked about his experiences and opinions of ‘The World’s Most Dangerous Man’.

“Well, put it this way,” he said, leaning in. “I have always been a drug-free athlete. I’ve never needed to stick needles in my behind to get bigger.”



“I’ve wondered about that; he said he only used steroids in his early wrestling days,” I said. Dan shook his head.

“No. Take a guy like Ken Shamrock… without drugs, he would probably only weigh around 175, 185 pounds. At one point, he was up to 245. A guy like that… I don’t think he even deserved to compete against me in the Superfights,” Dan said. I asked him why he thought this.

“He never won a UFC!” Dan said emphatically. “The whole organization… I didn’t like it.”

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“Most people don’t know this, but the UFC was originally co-owned by the Gracie family. It was intended as a way of promoting Gracie Jiu-jitsu internationally. So they pretty much did whatever they wanted,” Dan said, looking rather disgusted.

I asked him what he thought of Ken Shamrock’s book, Inside the Lion’s Den. He laughed.

“Ken’s book wasn’t about Ken. It should have been called the ‘Ken Shamrock vs. Dan Severn book’,” he said. “Ken talks a lot about beating me. I have 95 or 96 titles, what does he have?”

I nodded. “The UFC does check for steroids though. I know of several fighters, such as Tim Sylvia, who were stripped of their titles after failing steroid tests,” I said.

“They pick and choose who they test,” Dan said.

“Yeah, a lot of the wrestlers I see are obviously using pretty heavy cycles. Like Mark Coleman, for instance, and the evidence of his growth hormone use,” I said.

“It’s true. There are a lot of problems with the UFC. I prefer fighting in smaller promotions these days… on my way driving down here [to Toronto], I got a call from a promoter asking if I would be interested in doing a fight,” Dan said. He put his feet up and seemed quite relaxed.

“What do you think of Mark Kerr?” I asked him. The question came to mind, as I had watched The Smashing Machine documentary a few nights before.

“Mark Kerr smoked, popped and injected a lot [of controlled substances]. I saw his little HBO documentary,” Dan said. I noticed that whenever the issue of steroids came up, Dan seemed very disdainful. He has little respect for those who use steroids. So I asked him his opinion of them in general.

“Steroids have their uses. If someone has cancer, for instance, and they’re having chemotherapy… it takes a lot out of them, so people like that need them. Other than that, you could get guys like Greg Valentino, who seem to have fried their brains from the inside out. How big are his arms? 27 inches or so? It’s ridiculous,” Dan said, chuckling.

One of the most interesting things I learned talking to Dan Severn was gaining insight on his training. He’s an imposing figure, at 6’2”, 250 pounds of largely muscle. He’s not thin, but you would be hard-pressed to find a 47 year old in better shape than Dan.

“How do you train, Dan? You look like you do a lot of heavy compounds. Do you squat?” I asked him, pointing at his trunk-like quadriceps.

“No,” he said, simply.

“No?”

“No.”

“Wait a second,” I said. “Let me get this straight… do you even train with weights?”

“No. The last time I trained with weights was probably in training for the Olympic team in 1988,” he said.

“So how do you stay in the shape you do?” I asked. “How do you train?”

“I don’t specifically train for fights. I just do basic calisthenics – push-ups, sit-ups, that sort of thing. But I have a training facility in Michigan. I get there at 7:30 in the morning, and I don’t leave until around 9:00 in the evening. A lot of the young guys can’t keep up with an old timer like me!” he says, smiling.

“I don’t tell my family when I fight either,” Dan continues. “I just tell them I’m a salesman – I’m going to sell the sport,” he says. I was not sure if it was an inside joke or not.

“What about diet?” I asked.

“I’m on a seafood diet. I see food, I eat it. Of course, closer to a fight, I’ll eat a little cleaner, but generally I eat what I want,” he said.

“What are your plans for the future?” I asked.

“I still plan to compete for at least a few more years. I would ideally like to continue competition until I have at least a hundred titles. But even when I stop MMA, I will go back to wrestling.”

“Dan, tell me a bit about yourself. What makes The Beast tick?” I asked.

“My greatest attribute is my mind. Most athletes train a body, but champions have to train their minds too. I have a positive attitude – the BEAST principle (the acronym explanation can be found on Dan’s site). I have had a lot of success. But I also believe in the importance of an education, because the mind is the greatest tool.”

Overall, I was surprised by Dan’s candour and honesty. He is a straight-up guy, and he is not afraid to speak his mind. One of the biggest impressions he made on me though was his commitment to drug-free training. Although obviously genetically blessed, he is an example of how successful a lifelong drug-free athlete can be.

Dan Severn offers training and motivational speaking services. His website is www.dansevern.com .