way to learn was from somebody who beat me, so I called Frank Shamrock and asked him if I could come up and train with him. He said sure.
I trained with him for a couple of weeks and I got to see what it took to be a top contender. He taught me a lot about cardio and the importance of rest and recovery time. I watched tapes of his fights and saw that he could be super dangerous.
Around that time I received a phone call from some people in the United Arab Emirates who were putting on something called the World Submissions Championships in Abu Dhabi. It was a competition in which no strikes were involved, just wrestling submissions. I was a big enough name that they invited me to compete, but they figured I wouldnât do well because this match was just about wrestling and not about striking. What they didnât realize was that I was good at submissions.
I also realized that there would be a time difference to overcome, so I changed my training schedule before I went overseas. Normally my workouts would start early, like around four in the morning. But before I went to Abu Dhabi I did all my training around midnight, which would allow me to adjust to the time change when I was there.
I went and took third in my weight and took fourth in the absolutes, which was all the weights combined. It was a confidence builder. I won four of my five fights against some really good fighters and I showed a lot of people that I could beat world-class fighters with submission holds rather than just going to the ground and pounding. None of this counted on my professional record, but I did end up making $16,000 in cash.
I had never been out of the country before, so being in the Middle East was a surreal experience for me. The people, the cultureâI had never experienced anything like that in my life.
While I was in the Middle East I ran into this UFC matchmaker named Joe Silva, who had come over to check out fighters. He told me that the UFC wanted me to fight this guy named Wanderlei Silva.
I knew who Silva was, and he was a badass. He had this intimidating stare. The story going around was that a lot of guys didnât want to fight him because they were afraid of him. He fought with the Pride organization in Japan, and he was from Brazil. Joe Silva told me that he thought I could beat him. He also said that this fight was for Shamrockâs vacant title and that if I wanted the fight, it was mine.
I had to think about it for a minute. For some reason, I wasnât really sure if I wanted the fight. Then I said, âFuck it, Iâll do it.â I signed for the fight and started training again.
I trained for four solid months, and this time I took it seriously. There were no drugs. I brought a lot of guys in to train with me, people like Chuck Liddell and John Lewis.
It was during this training period that Team Punishment was formed. It wasnât really that big a deal. Chuck Liddell and I had been training together for a while, and we just decided one day that we needed a name for our team. One of my brothers suggested âTeam Punishment,â and we got Ricco Rodriguez, John Lewis, and Rampage to join us.
Over the years, different people trained under the team name. They would be introduced as being from Team Punishment when they fought, but it has always been for training and social purposes more than anything else. Itâs kind of like being in a gang without the bad stuffâ¦except when Team Punishment members get in the Octagon.
But it was not as simple as all that. Trouble was right around the corner.
At that point that whole mess with that old fight warrant caught up with me.
Somebody at the UFC suggested that I go to Las Vegas for a couple of months and hide out. He said that I could use the excuse that I was going to Vegas to do some promotion for a UFC-Pride fight. But the reality was that there was a warrant out for my arrest. If I had stayed in Los Angeles and got pulled over for something
I trained with him for a couple of weeks and I got to see what it took to be a top contender. He taught me a lot about cardio and the importance of rest and recovery time. I watched tapes of his fights and saw that he could be super dangerous.
Around that time I received a phone call from some people in the United Arab Emirates who were putting on something called the World Submissions Championships in Abu Dhabi. It was a competition in which no strikes were involved, just wrestling submissions. I was a big enough name that they invited me to compete, but they figured I wouldnât do well because this match was just about wrestling and not about striking. What they didnât realize was that I was good at submissions.
I also realized that there would be a time difference to overcome, so I changed my training schedule before I went overseas. Normally my workouts would start early, like around four in the morning. But before I went to Abu Dhabi I did all my training around midnight, which would allow me to adjust to the time change when I was there.
I went and took third in my weight and took fourth in the absolutes, which was all the weights combined. It was a confidence builder. I won four of my five fights against some really good fighters and I showed a lot of people that I could beat world-class fighters with submission holds rather than just going to the ground and pounding. None of this counted on my professional record, but I did end up making $16,000 in cash.
I had never been out of the country before, so being in the Middle East was a surreal experience for me. The people, the cultureâI had never experienced anything like that in my life.
While I was in the Middle East I ran into this UFC matchmaker named Joe Silva, who had come over to check out fighters. He told me that the UFC wanted me to fight this guy named Wanderlei Silva.
I knew who Silva was, and he was a badass. He had this intimidating stare. The story going around was that a lot of guys didnât want to fight him because they were afraid of him. He fought with the Pride organization in Japan, and he was from Brazil. Joe Silva told me that he thought I could beat him. He also said that this fight was for Shamrockâs vacant title and that if I wanted the fight, it was mine.
I had to think about it for a minute. For some reason, I wasnât really sure if I wanted the fight. Then I said, âFuck it, Iâll do it.â I signed for the fight and started training again.
I trained for four solid months, and this time I took it seriously. There were no drugs. I brought a lot of guys in to train with me, people like Chuck Liddell and John Lewis.
It was during this training period that Team Punishment was formed. It wasnât really that big a deal. Chuck Liddell and I had been training together for a while, and we just decided one day that we needed a name for our team. One of my brothers suggested âTeam Punishment,â and we got Ricco Rodriguez, John Lewis, and Rampage to join us.
Over the years, different people trained under the team name. They would be introduced as being from Team Punishment when they fought, but it has always been for training and social purposes more than anything else. Itâs kind of like being in a gang without the bad stuffâ¦except when Team Punishment members get in the Octagon.
But it was not as simple as all that. Trouble was right around the corner.
At that point that whole mess with that old fight warrant caught up with me.
Somebody at the UFC suggested that I go to Las Vegas for a couple of months and hide out. He said that I could use the excuse that I was going to Vegas to do some promotion for a UFC-Pride fight. But the reality was that there was a warrant out for my arrest. If I had stayed in Los Angeles and got pulled over for something
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