SFUK
: Les it's has been mentioned that you were the winner of British All shoot Association
Champion in 1994 - can you tell us a bit about the UK MMA scene back then? What
& who started it it?
Les
Allen : Yeah, back
then there was talk about Rickson vs Yamamoto.....Lee (Hasdell) was talking to
Akira Maeda about RINGS, we were trying to find out all we could about submission
and grappling . I dont really know who started it I think Lee was the main driving
force back then he had some good ideas and a love for the martial arts. He's a
nice guy.
SFUK
: How did you get involved and who were the other major UK competitors back then?
Les
Allen :
I heard about a no rules
style event in Milton Keynes so I thought I would give it a try. My main background
had always been striking but at that time i was very aware of how dangerous the
ground game could be. So I knew that to be effective I would have to eventually
have to perfect this skill to be complete.
I cant remember many names from
back then there was Rob, a nice guy he had been practising BJJ a tall lad called
Dave ,Gene and a couple of other lads all nice guys ..all wanting to be the best.
Back then the only comparisons in England were maybe catch as catch can wrestling
and a bit of sombo. The level at that time was very low.
SFUK
: You've mentioned
that Bob Shamrock is like a father to you. Can you elaborate about your relationship
with the Shamrocks? And why you chose to join Shamrock 2000 rather than go with
Ken or Frank?
Les
Allen : Bob
...Wow I love that man ....well to give you an idea of the situatuation and various
smilaraties .My father died when I was 11 years old and for the next 7 years i
would constantly get bullied for being different.I was dyslexic ,well I guess
I still am. At school, bullied after school bullied ...just bullied you get the
picture.. Well it took a long time to let go of my father and through my pursuit
of answers I took up the martial arts loving the idea of controlling ones own
fate and not being controlled by any other human being.
The reason I wanted
to train at the Lionsden was because I saw a unit of great camaraderie and Ken
had gone through a similar childhood and so had Frank. I had originally joined
the Lionsden and back then they were all together so after the tryout and a couple
of months of training I went upto canada to hit the powder and do some snowboarding.
When I phoned Ken ..MONTHS later (what can I say I love to snowboard), things
had changed dramatically. The film that Ken was doing at the time I was at the
Lionsden (No offence Ken but its bloody awful...Dont beat me up) had been released
and he was having dinner with CHINA, the ROCK ,Bob and Mickey were there too.....
Funny story Mickey was sitting next to China at dinner and he left ...when I asked
him why he left he said "I'm scared of that woman", man it was so funny....and
as we all know Mickey is by no means a pushover and still in my opinion the best
lightweight competitor the UFC has seen.
He's the one that took me for my
VT round at the tryout. He cheated. I got him in a heel hook and he was gonna
tap until Ken told him to roll off the mat. Then we stood back up and he caressed
every contour of my face with his knuckles.
Anyhow. Frank had fallen out with Bob,Bob had fallen out with Frank, Frank had
fallen out with Ken and the Lionsden was not what it once was Vernon and Jerry
werent happy with what was going on at the Lionsden .Kens wife had been overseeing
the training for the guys and the Lionsden did suffer.
So Bob created Shamrock 2000. Steve heath, Val Ignatrov (very good friend of mine...Where
r u Val? ), Oli & Dave at the Animal house gym. Some great fighters but just
not the experience. Val ....a fantastic leg lock exponant. No-one in the world
that I have ever trained with has leg locks like Val. Thanks to him I could spar
with all the japs and when they were tapping out they started to talk to me. The
only problem with Val - and with all due respect, he did not like getting hit....of
course no one likes getting hit but he had no knowledge of boxing or kicking which
gave rise to fear that caused him alot of problems in the UFC against Evan Tanner
and Matt Hughes ....To be honest though Evan Tanner and Matt Hughes? Phenomenal
fighters. A bit of a miss match I would say. Super nice guy though.
Back to Bob however I stayed with Bob at his house in Lodi and we used to talk
alot and he would tell me stories about Ken when he was younger I confided in
him and he confided in me also.....he went through a tough time when they all
fell out and we became close ...he looked after me, so yeah, he was like a father
to me like he has been for so many hundreds of children including Ken and Frank.
SFUK
: How did you get the Pancrase fight and how did that fight go?
Les
Allen :
PANCRASE ahh! My pro debut
...Wow, was I nervous. It's different fighting in Japan. Subliminally you have
to deal with the shear experience of the fighters I trained at Pancrase Lab in
Tokyo under Funaki and Takahashi's guidance my GOD they are strong ...
Funny incident it was my first day training with them ...I just was not powerful
enough to make an impact so I changed my game a little at the end of my session
I went at it with Takahashi (remember the one who bounced Wallid off his fists
for 20 mins?)
Well I tried to take him down and he just kept sprawlling and
popping me off so I shot in one last time then changed my position into the guard
he stood up so I had I had a high guard at this time I was wishing I had not have
done this because my vision was slowly disapearing thanks to my eyes closing up.
I was not going to tap and I was not going to be knocked out so I though "OK
Les - time it right", - his left hand came down towards my face for the150th
time ...this time however Icaught it (thank Buddha).
I put him into the most
vengeful arm bar for pounding my face....he screamed which I asumed was the tap
and let go nursing his arm he looked at Funaki . Funaki looked at me in disbelief
and motioned to Takahashi did he get you? Takahashi smiled and noded and gave
me a hug.
Mr
Ozaki (the head of Pancrase and MD was watching and soon after my second fight
against Kubota offered me a contract and the chance to fight Minowa in the January
RICKSON vs FUNAKI fight.
I'm Kinda sorry to say I didnt make it people always
ask me ....WHY Les ? Then I show them a picture of my fiancee and soon to be wife,
then they understand.
Back to the first fight ...I had the advantage i was pulling out great movement
for my ability at the time and then we got into a funny position I looked at the
crowd and froze Daisuke then put me in an arm bar ...I was disappointed in me
but never mind aye.
The
next fight was fun it was against Kosei Kubota of Yokohama Pancrase one of the
more popular fighters Minowa's friend. My mental attitude was fine and I had been
tyraining with Kaouro , Kikuta, Sasake and Gono ...Rumina and Sakurai hadnt been
seen for a while they were partying all the time which explains why Kaouro put
him in a choke for the Shooto belt after I had left.
Kubota did not want to
stand up at all he kept going for my legs and pushing me to the ropes this pissed
me off a bit so i just kept sprawling on him. I was close to finishing him I a
toe hold whicch given 10 more seconds I could have solidified then the bell went
OOOH! I couldnt sfukin' believe it.
Anyway I had fun. Kubota himself could
believe that he got the descision he went back into the lockers screaming his
head off all upset it made me giggle a bit. Think thats why Minowa wanted a piece
of me ....must admit I'd like to fight Minowa the thought of it makes me smile.....He's
good.
SFUK
: What did the Japanese fans and the Pancrase organisation think of you?
Les
Allen :
The
Japanes fans liked me alot because of my buddhist background and bushido understanding
I was not that much of a foreigner. I mean, to say that they liked my upbringing
for my belief system but of course they liked the British accent ....Bond James
Bond at the end of the day - I am still British isn't that right?
SFUK
: How long did you train in Japan?
Les
Allen :
At the time I was fighting
in Pancrase I was there for 3 months. I trained with Pancrase twice in all that
time .I think they were a bit pissed with me for that but I hid it well. I spent
most of my time training with AKIHIRO GONO a phenomenal and I mean phenomenal
fighter and martial artist ....he likes the women too! Runs through Karaoke bars
butt naked just to get a reaction - we're very alike .....Good job there are no
Karaoke bars in England I would have been arrested by now.
SFUK
: How did the training differ from Shamrocks'?
Les
Allen :The
training at PANCRASE and the LIONSDEN is very similar . With us guys from Shooto
and Sudoh Genki, another fighter from Pancrase but hails from Beverly Hills Jjiu
Jitsu club with Bas . We had fun yeah. Sure, we trained hard, but because of the
fact that there was no edge it made the learning curve so much quicker for us
all.
SFUK
: Which fighters impressed you most and why?
Les
Allen :
You will find that the best
fighters are the ones who do not take the training to seriously. The training
that we endure is day to day life for us thats the time to be serious. When you
train however, if one concentrates on winning they forget what they are doing.
When you let things happen naturally and just move with them,.....things happen
by themselves.
SFUK
: What lasting impressions has it left on your training/lifestyle?
Les
Allen :
Thanks
to the philosophies of Japan and America I have been able to take the competitive
edge out of my self and all thats left is Jiu JItsu .....My jiu jitsu....the real
jiu jitsu. I hope you can understand this.
SFUK
: Were there any other Brits training out there at the time?
Les
Allen :
There were no Brits that i know of fighting there at the time but I wouldnt know
where to find out I was so busy....Tokyo is so busy.
SFUK
: What do you think of the current UK MMA scene? - in terms of events (quantity
and quality), the clubs (ditto) and the competitors (ditto again).
Les
Allen :
I cant really say much
about the UK MMA scene. I dont know that much about it. I do have a look at the
pictures from time to time and what I do notice is that the competitors when putting
on submissions - I dont think they've been taught these submissions correctly
- I'm sure this may upset a few people .......
Well if I didn't let you know
this you would make no effort to improve thoses submissions you won't get frustrated
with yourselves and the fights that that are not finishing quick enough I was
told "If a submission is not put on 100 percent correct they will escape.
In alot of ways the competitors resemble the competitors when I first started
with Lee Hasdell . On the flip side there are some people out there with a good
head on there shoulders and convey a well disciplined fighting style and have
taken Frank's philosophy of good cardio....My problem with that is that if you
get two equaly matched fighters its the one with the technical edge that be victorious
as you will find out when the British fighters start to fight overseas.
....These
are the mistakes I made in my early days ...It will be interesting to see if anyone
takes my advice .
SFUK
: Would you ever consider promoting your own events?
Les
Allen :
I
dont have the intelligence to organise my own events it really does sound like
to much hard work for me. It is easy to teach and to breed good fighters that
is my talent. I'll leave the organising to intelligent people like SFUK.
SFUK
: Cool. How long have you been teaching in the UK?
Les
Allen :
I
have been teaching in the UK on and off for the last 3 or 4 years.
SFUK
: Are there any particular students of your that we should look out for a future
UK MMA stars?
Les
Allen :
Glyn
Tolley, Andy Cooper, Darren Ward, Saif Khan are some people with good potential.
SFUK
: Which events have your students competed in and how did they do?
Les
Allen :
I trained Glyn a while ago
and he followed me to the U.S where I put him into the Sacramento Showdown tournament
he guillontined a wrestler from the fire and ice camp then they got there own
back with Scott Adams (UFC veteran) putting him into an Achilles then Caesar Gracies'
student Dave Turell won the tournament beating Vernon White.That was a good night
I got drunk .....
SFUK : Future fights - you've mentioned the possibility of fighting for three
major world events - Pancrase - UFC - and Pride v Rumina Sato!!!
Les
Allen :
I am thinking about fighting next year there are a couple of people I would like
to feel the Force with. Rumina Sato ,Minowa. I like Fabiano Iha too. I would enjoy
fighting them it would be exciting for me .....more than any thing it would be
Rumina.
I am getting
married on March 30th with the only person I think can beat me up and until we
have settled down a bit I will be only teaching .She loves what I do and who I
am. I think with that kind of support I can only get better. When I do fight it
will be my last and the training that I have done will be for this last fight
and you can bet if I get to fight next year you will all smile and think of England.
SFUK
: Would you ever fight in the UK?
Les
Allen :
I
guess i would probably fight in England but only Rumina ,Minowa ,or Iha .I am
sorry if this seems selfish but everybody's fight is different and mine is with
myself and these are the only people left that I can learn from fighting.
SFUK
: Thanks a million Les, great interview!
Les
Allen :
Thankyou.
