Getting to Know: Chris Brennan

August 2nd, 2005 at 8:56 AM

I have had the pleasure of meeting Chris "The Westside Strangler" Brennan two times. Once in Indiana at the revolution show, and again in Japan at another all-women event. Chris has a great personalty, and it is easy to see why he has many students and a succcessful gym. Chris is truly a pioneer of the MMA game; he is a 3X King of the Cage Middleweight World Champion, a 2X UFC vet fighting in the finals of the first ever Lightweight UFC Tournament, the Extreme Challenge Superfight Champion, Gladiator Challenge Superfight Champion, Reality Superfights Champion, and the newly crowned Adrenaline Fighting Championships Lightweight World Champion. I caught up with Mr. Brennan and asked him for an e-mail interview, and here it is:

Lockflow.com: First of all Chris, thank you for your time, we appreciate your time in speaking with Lockflow and congrats on your last win in Hawaii over Mark Moreno(8-6-2). I read that you were injured for this fight, is that true?
Chris Brennan:Yes it is defiantly true. I had 2 separated ribs from my match in ADCC against Marcello Garcia. I didn't get to train one time for this fight. I had never been more nervous because I knew if I didn't finish fast my rib was either going to kill me or I was going to gas with both ending in a KO or something horrible like that.

Chris vs. Gomi

LF: Chris, you have been in this sport a long time, you have been the King of the Cage Champion, you have fought in the UFC, You have fought in Shooto, PRIDE and all over the world. Did you expect to go this far when you started ?
CB: Well honestly I first thought I would go further. It was the early 90's and it looked easy because I had been in so many street fights and like many others Royce looked very beatable to me. Well to say the least I was wrong. Once I really got in to the sport I just had some goals and I pretty much have filled all of them. I wanted to fight in the UFC and win and I did that. I then wanted to fight in Pride and win and I did that. I wanted a world title of some sort and won the KOTC Middleweight World Title 3 times and I wanted to compete in ADCC and win a match. Marcello Garcia being my first round pick kinda screwed that up for me. I did however compete against no question the best pound for pound grappler in the world today so that was a great experience.

LF: I have read in a previous interview that you started your training because of the early UFC's and started your training with Royce Gracie, what was it like back in the day training with him?
CB: That is the reason I started. I was bouncing with a few other future UFC fighters at a club and UFC 1 was on PPV and we were watching it. All 3 of us were like "Oh my god I want to do that". Well two UFC's later one of us was in and sure enough he was fighting Royce. It was Kimo. Next was Todd Medina in UFC 5 and because of the lack of weight classes I didn't get in until UFC 16. Training with Royce was great back then because I personally got to roll with him on a daily basis.

Chris Brennan vs. Steve Berger

LF: you have won 2 MMA fights by Kimura, and you have won 8 fights by armbar, 3 rear chokes, 1 front choke, 1 triangle, 1 KO and a couple of Decisions. Do you purposely look for the submission over strikes?
CB: Well I have one decision win but it was one of the best wins in my career. It was against Steve Berger but it was so one sided from the beginning that it's too bad it went the distance. I ALWAYS look to finish my opponents by submission. I have told myself before a few fights that if I got a good position I was just going to throw bombs but sure enough I get there and something pops up and I take it. I guess it is 12 years of Jiu-Jitsu taking over.

LF: Tell us about your fight team,who is a current member and Who is the next Next Generation Star?
CB: Well fighting actively right now I have Adam Lynn, Josh Smith, Josh Hinger, Lonnie Wright, Fernando Gonzales, and Mike Corey. Adam Lynn is the stand out fighter right now but I have a lot of great young up and comers.

Chris Brennan vs. Pat Miletech

LF:How do you balance your training and fights, your students training and fights, Your gyms, your family and events ?
CB: Well this is the hard part in my life. I train while training my fighters to kill two birds with one stone. I teach class 4 days a week to my regular students and I spend as much time at home as possible with my family. I am only running one gym now so that makes thing a little easier. I also run a lot of seminars so I travel a lot as well.

Chris vs. Moreno

LF: You have some great wins over fighters like Steve Berger(16-12-2), Thomas Denny(19-12), Antonio McKee(14-3-2) and some great wars with Pat Miletech(28-6-2). of all your fights, what is your favorite fight?
CB: Well one was a win and one was a loss. One of my favorite fights was against Steve Berger because I was a huge underdog going in to this fight. He was fresh out of the UFC and he was coming to KOTC to take my title. It was a 3 round domination so it couldn't be called a fluke at all. The second was against Gomi. Gomi and I had a back and forth battle where we both had some high points in the fight. I felt in my heart that I won that night but after watching the fight it would have been hard for anyone to judge. There was a ton of position changes and submission attempts and striking as well in that fight. Pat and I had some great early days fights. 20 minutes, 30 minutes, and then 9 in the UFC.

LF:Do you like fighting in a ring or cage more?
CB:I guess it doesn't really matter to me but the ring is nice. I guess I like the cage if I'm on top and the ring if I'm on bottom. Is that fair :)

LF:What is the perfect fight for you?
CB: A perfect fight is one that I get out of uninjured. One where I get the takedown because I feel like I can beat ANYONE if I can get the top position. I know I have spent most of the time on my back in my fights but feel if I would have been a better wrestler I wouldn't have many losses at all.

LF:What is the funniest moment you have had in your Martial Arts experience?
CB: Funniest moment...I have had so many with my team over the years it is hard to say. I guess one would have to be riding on the bus at Pride 15 while Bas Rutten and

Dean Lister (both heavily intoxicated) do impressions on the microphone while trying to stand up. it was pretty hilarious and I happened to catch most of it on home video...Should I release it? :)

LF: As a coach, if you have a student who is basically a recreational student who is interested in becoming a fighter, what advise would you give them?
CB: Well first off don't quit your day job. It's tough to make it right off the bat in this sport. I would ask them to come join a few of my Team Training Sessions to see if they were still really interested in doing it after that. If they were I would begin to give them some extra time to help them pursue their goals.

LF:You started a company called Nogi, How did your company come to be and what your business philosophy?
CB: Well I wanted to start a clothing company and my friend said hey why don't you call it NOGI since everyone is always talking about me training nogi. Well we began making the gear and the rest is history. My business philosophy is to just put out the best quality gear we possibly can, run an HONEST company, and give great service. We are also branching outside of MMA and I think that is where we will begin to make some money and that is always nice too.

LF:You are a BJJ Black Belt and obviously very able with a Gi, are you making a statement with the name 'Nogi'?
CB: Well I am a BJJ Black Belt that hasn't put a gi on in over 6 years. I think that was making a statement more than the name of the company but I'm sure people look at it both ways. I didn't want anyone to know I was the owner of the company in the beginning because I didn't want people not buying or buying because it was mine. It is just another clothing company owned by a couple guys and not by Chris Brennan the fighter. I didn't want someone to not want to wear it because of any good or bad feelings they had toward me. I guess now we have realized it doesn't really make a difference because we are selling to EVERYONE.

LF:What goals do you want to achieve before your done fighting?
CB: Well I am at 28 fights and I would like to have 20 wins so I would like 3 more fights and all to be wins :) Think I can do it?

LF: Anything you would like to add?
CB: I would like to thank all my sponsors,
Bloodshot Inc
AtomicX Energy Drink
Deluge Spring Water
Go Cookie.com
Etnies Shoes
Utopia Optics
NOGI Industries Inc.
Bite Me Mouth Guards
Al & Eds Autosound in Orange, CA.
Hitman Fight Gear for always supporting me from day 1
My family and team for always standing by me during wins and losses
and all my students at the Next Generation Fighting Academy
Rick Johnson, Sebastien Tortelli, and Brian Deegan for also helping me out when I needed it.
And last but not least all my fans for your support

LF: Thanks Chris!!!!
CB: Thank you very much.

For More Information on Chris Brennan, Log onto his site at ChrisBrennan.com