and a nutritionist that helps a lot of the fighters and body builders with their nutritional needs.


OTM: So Eric would you ever consider fighting again?

Paulson: Yes I’ve actually had some offers, well the thing is and this is thanks to Randy a lot more organizations know that 40 is the new 30. I said if I would ever get a good offer to fight that I would come out of retirement and I have gotten a few good offers. The thing is that I have been training with Josh Barnett and Ken Shamrock and other guys. Since I have been training with them I figured if I am going to take the lumps and the burses I might as well get back in shape and step up to the plate and fight again. I would like to see if I still have it in me.


OTM: Is there any particular organization that you would like to fight for?

Paulson: There are many new organizations out there now and a lot of them have some pretty decent backers, so it just depends on the offer I get. Obviously I’m interested in something that is not 5 years down the road but I’d like an offer with 3 to 5 fights with a possible commentary position for the organization right after that.


OTM: If you do make a comeback, is there anyone out there that you would like to fight?

Paulson: Anybody in general really, my biggest goal was to get back down to 205lbs. Then make sure my body was completely healthy and strong. I think I am a lot stronger now then I was when I first retired from fighting at 34 years old. Now I have a lot more experience and had time for things to set in and when you fight you have to have a driving ambition. At the end of my fight career, financially the fights got so bad it was depressing. That is why I walked away from the sport; one of my last fights was also one of my lowest paid fights ever. You would think at the highlight of your career where you have two titles and are at the top of an organization, you would get paid generally more then less but my last fight was just too low.


OTM: Seeing the sport change from the early 1990’s to know, what do you think has changed with the new breed of fighters?

Paulson: They are smarter and their ability is a lot higher, their complete understanding of the game is a lot better. Their submission and ground game are a lot better and now the guys are able to get their striking a lot better. The overall conditioning of the athletes and overall knowledge of sport as a whole has improved a lot.


OTM: The sport since going mainstream has changed a lot but 5 to 10 years from now where do you see it going?

Paulson: I see it becoming huge; I travel a lot since I have been doing seminars for about 15 years now. When the sport first came about it was very hard to find a fighter while traveling but now there is a MMA fighter in every gym. Regardless if it’s a Boxing gym, Karate, judo or Jiu-jitsu School, You will find one. Everyone wants to fight now, and I think that has a lot to do with Dana getting that Ultimate Fighter show on TV. He made it very popular and showing every normal person in every household that everyone can do it if they set their heart on it.


OTM: In the sport today we do see some fighters witch have the Jack of all trades style, but we see more of the fighters that have that one strength and then add on to it. For instance a strong wrestling back round and add the submission and striking to their game as they grow in the sport. Do you think in an another generation from now we will see guys start up from scratch and learn the sport more as a Pankratation style in that learning it all from the beginning with all the tools?

Paulson: I do believe so; a lot of guys kind of get turboed into it because they were a pretty glorified wresters. With a lot of guys if they were not going to go to the Olympics the best thing for them to do is MMA. In MMA you are able to make 6 figures a year fighting once you start to get really good. I know Greg Nelson really promotes that, he tells them Hey guys where’s your future? If you are going to coach wrestling you know there is really little money and of course you get to love your passion and that is great but the money not there. He tells them Guys are you going to go to the Olympics or try and get on a world team? No your not, then the next step would be to start fighting. A lot of guys look at it like Oh my gosh I actually get paid to fight. So when I was fighting, the thing is a lot of fighters out of the mid west were getting paid $500.00 a fight so when you built yourself up to a certain level. The Promoters would say why we would want you when we could get 10 of you for the same price. A lot of guys were taking 500 bucks and I was getting what ever I was getting paid. The thing is a lot of guys were ok with getting underpaid because they wanted to go to Japan.


OTM: The UFC is of coarse the Biggest MMA organization out there. How do you feel about them acquiring Pride and now having the capabilities to put on some Mega fights like Liddell vs. Silva?

Paulson: I think it would be wonderful, I think they have to have the money for the fighter purses though. I know they own the contracts for a lot of the pride fighters, what I don’t like to see is them shelving a lot of fighters. They bought an organization and shelft it in America and we don’t even know if they are going to have it again and maybe the bought them out just to control everybody. As far as a business stand point it is understandable but that is why there are other organizations coming up with a lot money that could have some really good shows as well. It does kind of suck for a fighter that had a pride contract and then now is unable to fight because the organization has been bought out. The thing I would like to see is the mega fights where all the best fighters from every organization would fight each other. Like we will see in Dan Henderson fighting Rampage Jackson and little by little they are crossing. I know that was Dana’s plan in trying to make a big super bowl of fighters.


OTM: Well thank you Eric for your time is there anything you would like to say to your Fans?

Paulson: Come by and check out the new gym and get the info on EricPaulson.com, also just remember the body is a submission just waiting to happen.