Curtis after his demolition of Mark Weir.

Curtis Stout is one of the biggest American names to ever fight on British shores. Each time he comes over, he brings the dangerous striking ability that has so far put two of Britain's top middleweights onto his highlight reel; the savage left hook that knocked Sol Gilbert out cold and the destruction of Mark Weir. Back again, looking as fearsome as ever - but clearly a good bloke - Curtis took time to speak to Ironlife.com at the Cage Rage weigh-ins.

- Jimmy Boogaloo/IronLife.com: Hello Curtis, would it be alright to tell us about your Martial Arts background?

Curtis Stout: I started Boxing when I was 16 years old, I competed in boxing until I was 17, then I changed to kickboxing... when I saw the UFC I fell in love with MMA, I started training ju-jitsu and wrestling.

- What do you see as your strengths?

I believe my strength is... my hands. I've not a really good left hook, really good, solid boxing. My wrestling is coming along, if you've seen my last few fights, I utilized my wrestling, which I never did before, because I've been working so hard on it. Same with the ju-jitsu - that's coming along also. But, my strength is definitely my left hook (smiles).

- It works! What was the first time you knocked someone out?

First time may be my 3rd MMA match [against Angelo Popofski in HOOKnSHOOT ]... and after that, I fell in love with the feeling (laughs). So I just had to repeat it over and over again.

- Is it alright to tell us a bit about your training regime?

A lot of Greco-type stuff, a lot of clinch work because I think that is where most of the fight is at. The pushing/pulling aspect of it, the throws, the tie-ups and clinching from a Muay Thai perspective - you can
also use wrestling from that perspective, everything from the clinch. I think it's the hardest form of training, because some people are training stand up alone, ground alone, but that transitional period is where I spend most of my time.


Nilson de Castro, on paper, was a formidable opponent.

- What do you do when you're not training?

Rent a lot of DVDs, watch a lot of movies, play Xbox. That's pretty much it! (laughs)

- Have you been speaking with the UFC recently?

No, not recently. I really could care less about the UFC. I really want to go to Pride.

- What was your toughest fight?

Probably Trevor Prangley in the UFC because he was so much bigger than me and it taught me a big lesson about weight cutting. I used to walk around at 185lb and fighting at 185. It wasn't cutting it because I was fighting these guys that were fighting at 185, walking around at 205-210. Now I'm walking around at 205-210.

- So, you're cutting a good 20lb every time? How do you find that?

I think, I don't know, it's just my body type. I retain a lot of water I guess, but I don't have no problems cutting weight. I really don't even diet that much. On the last week, I came down here at 200lb and - 15lb - I just basically do a workout with plastics on and then Wednesday night, I'll cut some in the sauna, about 6-7lb. Thursday night, I'll do it that way and that's another 6-7lbs. You know, get back on the scale,
make my weight and when I'm done, I'll drink and rehydrate.

- What do you know about Nilson de Castro?

I know he's from a tough camp. I've never seen him fight, but from what people say he's a typical Chute-Boxer, comes forward, you know, real real aggressive. You know, that will probably play into my strengths because I think I'm going to have more problems with an Anderson Silva type fighter who's very technical, extremely technical, but a fighter like Nilson...I mean, any fight you can get caught, you know, tomorrow I could get caught and that would be it, but I think with my boxing skills and defense, as well as speed and power... he comes forward, I'm just going to stand my ground and we'll trade. My defense is really good.


Curtis looking ripped on the scales.

- What in your opinion separates a really good fighter from a decent one?

Passion, dedication, I mean, talent is one thing, but I always think of fighters like Jeremy Horn, who's not the most physically imposing guy... it's just his work ethic, he trained hard, put his time in. To me, Jeremy Horn is one of the best fighters out there. Hard working, that's why I hope he beats Chuck [Liddell in the UFC].

- You seem to have a habit of knocking out UK middleweights... what do you reckon of Lee Murray?

Well, for some reason, I don't think Lee wants to fight me right now. Maybe my name isn't big enough, you know, if I'm successful tomorrow, I'll call him out. I've told him before I wanted to fight him, he said he wanted to fight Lindland and then he wanted to fight this guy [Kyosuke Sasaki], so, you know, from his perspective, I don't know if he has anything to gain from fighting me. If I'm impressive tomorrow, he's going
to have to fight me eventually.

- ...that would be 3 in a row...

Exactly, exactly!

- What victory are you most proud of?

Probably my last fight with Mark Weir because he's my biggest name, what I would consider my first A level guy... I basically ran over him.

- I've seen your nickname listed as 'Red Nose' and 'Bang 'em out' - where did you get these names?

Red Nose came from when I competed in TKO. I don't know where they got it from, they just said Red Nose, Red Nose pitbull. 'Bang 'em out' - some guy here, the announcer I guess, made it up - I like that better (smiles).

- Thanks very much for the interview, Curtis, good luck tomorrow.

Don't blink

His final words were, as it turns out, as prophetic as any I've heard... Curtis came out and destroyed Nilson, KO-ing him within seconds with that left hook, leaving the Brazilian unconscious in a pool of blood. Thank God, he was OK, but I doubt he will ever be asking for a rematch. Congratulations to Curtis and all the very best in the future.