jose pele landi lee murray mixed martial arts fighter interview

This was the fight Lee Murray had always dreamed of. Pele was the man he wanted. He admired Pele's style, his aggression and the fact he was 'from the streets'. Murray had trained harder than ever before for this fight, and he had always, always predicted a knockout. (But then that what he predicts for all his fights - and he's usually right!)

AW: Congratulations on your fight Lee. Do you think that this has put you up a level in the eyes of the world?

Lee Murray : Its put me to the top. This is a big step for me. I know now that Pride and UFC have gotta open their eyes to me now, they gotta take me. There’s no ifs or buts now. Pele’s never been stopped. I knew that once I landed my shots on him he ain’t standing for my power, there ain’t no 185(lb) fighter in the world that can stand to my power. No-one stands to my power.

AW: Absolutely, from what I understand Pele is still a little groggy even now.

Lee Murray :If you go out there now he is probably still in the ring, probably still sleeping, goin’ like that *rolls eyes back and hangs tongue out* catchin’ flies.

AW: How do you think that the fight went up until then?

Lee Murray : He was a tough guy. I knew Pele was a tough guy anyway. I knew I was expecting a long fight. I didn’t think I was going to go in and just knock him out straight away. I knew I had to bide my time and wait for my opening. His clinch work was strong. He got me round the back of the neck, and it was tough, but I knew he was going to be tough, that’s what he likes to do, he likes to clinch, he likes the knees, but I knew that once I landed my shot he was going down. His chin ain’t gonna take the power.

AW: What do you call that kick from the back that you hit at the end of the first round?

Lee Murray : Oh yeah yeah, that’s a Pele kick! (laughs). Give him a bit of his own medicine you know?!!.

AW: Awesome kick. What’s next for you?

Lee Murray : Its gotta be Pride or UFC, either one, whatever door opens really. Pele’s rated as one of the best stand up fighters at 185 in the world, and I just knocked him the fuck out. And no-one’s ever done that.

Terry Coulter (Murray's boxing coach): And it wasn’t a lucky punch. Lee’s got good people around him. We train hard, we work hard. London Shoot, I do his boxing. We really work hard, and we really grafted for this. It was no lucky punch. UFC and Pride have got to give this guy the credit he deserves.

Lee Murray : He didn’t have the power. I was taking his punches all day, he could hit me all day and it weren’t affecting me at all. I just had to bide my time and wait until I got my punch in. That’s all I needed, one punch.

AW: Well I know that we are looking forward to seeing what the world has got to say.

Lee Murray : All them bums on the internet saying "yeah yeah yeah, it was a sucker punch, he ain’t this, he ain’t that", lets see what they have got to say about that now, yeah?

AW: I read on the an internet forum this week a guy saying Lee who? So I guess now people should be saying ‘the guy who knocked Pele the fuck out".

Lee Murray : The name's Lee Murray and any 185 fighter that gets in the ring with me, he best be prepared for a war.

AW: Well congratulations Lee. I’m sure all the guys in London will be hoping that you take it right to the top. So thanks again.

Lee Murray : Thanks

Jose 'Pele' Landi post fight interview (translated by Renzo Gracie), Extreme Force 13 July 2003

AW: Well Pele, obviously not a good end to the night for you. But I think up until that point most people thought that you were edging the fight. How did you feel? Was it just one of those nights?

Pele : The thing (punch) was so surprising that I didn’t even see. When I saw I was down. It was so easy the fight before that, then suddenly I was caught by a lucky punch.

AW: Ok, have you fought anyone before who hits that hard?

Pele : Never. Never in my whole life have I been hit like that. I’ve never been knocked out in my whole life. I thought that it would be a very easy fight, I thought that I could completely control him. I thought it would be very easy.

AW: The fight got stood up very early. What was that about?

Pele : I thought it was very fast and that there was no reason for the referee to bring us up in such a short time.

Renzo Gracie: I believe they believe that was the only chance the guy had, is his left (right) hand, so they tried to bring the fight up as often as they could so they could try to win the fight that way.

AW: So you feel that if you could keep the fight on the floor more then it would have gone your way?

Pele : Since I lost the fight I cannot even judge right now about that. But I came to win and if I could have kept the fight on the ground I could have kept my game, even standing up the way I was doing I could have won the fight easy.

AW: Really good to see you fight tonight, please come back again, muchas gracias

Pele : Thankyou

Jose Pele Landi is a MMA legend. One of the most exciting fighters on this planet. We sincerely hope he comes back to fight on this island again.

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