Andre Harrison captured the Titan FC featherweight title on July 18th when he defeated Kurt Holobaugh by unanimous decision at Titan FC 34. Harrison (10-0) caught up with MMAOddsBreaker following his championship victory on Episode 116 of The Parting Shot Podcast and discussed a variety of topics Being the new Titan FC featherweight champion “I guess it just hasn’t hit me yet that another goal has been reached. I’m just taking everything in. I’m heading to the gym tomorrow. I re watched the fight with me and [Kurt Holobaugh] a few times and I’m sure I’ll break it down and go over some things and get back to work.” Assessment of his victory over Kurt Holobaugh PHOTO COURTESY: JEFF VULGAMORE / COMBAT PRESS “During the actual fight, obviously we’re in an arena and it’s hot so you’re sweating. You’re a little slippery. But me and Kurt got into a bit of a scramble in the first round and he got cut. There was blood mixed in with the sweat. I didn’t realize how much more slippery it could be. That was one of the issues, like a lot of times I would have it in my brain to take my back and I couldn’t do it. I’m pretty sure Kurt probably had the same thing happen with him, where he would want to hold onto position and can’t do it because it was so slippery in there. I mean there were a few times where my legs are straight and I had no movement going when I was on my feet, I was just throwing from a straight a standstill which is a complete no no. You should know not to do things that. A few of those things I’m not really too happy with. I do think I mixed up striking with the take downs [well] I kept him guessing, he didn’t know when I was coming and when I wasn’t. I knew he was a tough guy, I knew he was come to fight. You’re not just going to put that dude away.” Post Fight Celebrations “I wanted to go out and really tear the town up, but I couldn’t because we had to leave our hotel at 4:30am. So I wasn’t able to do anything really, by the time we got back to the hotel it was midnight, 1am. I did go to a little pizza bar and I stuffed my face.” Positive feedback on social media following his victory “After pretty decent wins the only people that would give me any kind of credit were people in my circle, team-mates, coaches, family, and things of that nature. As far as outsiders, they wouldn’t give me much credit. This time around I’m getting a lot people that were saying that was a great job, amazing fight, you’re showing improvement every single bout. It was definitely good getting that kind of love from the fans and people that took the time out to watch it. ” Desmond Green earning the next title shot over Freddy Assuncao “I don’t ever think about whoever deserves the next shot, that’s not my call. I mean they’re both really good fighters, they both deserve a shot. What do you do there? Draw their name out of a hat? I got [Desmond Green] next. They say if you put two wrestlers together you get a stand-up fight. We’ll see how that works out. Either way I’m going to be in shape, ready to go. Whenever that fight is dated for or wherever it’s at. Just like I say every single time just expect a better Andre Harrison then you saw in the previous fight.” Ready for the UFC “I definitely [feel I’m ready for the UFC]. I mean if you think about it. My training partners are Dennis Bermudez, he’s a Top 10 guy at my weight class right now in the UFC. You have Levan Makashvili who just went to a very close split decision with Hacran Dias, at my weight class in the UFC. Again Hacran Dias, is ranked Top 13 or Top 14 in the UFC right now. These are all guys in my weight class in the UFC and they’re all doing well. These are all guys I train with on the daily basis. I believe I’m more then UFC capable, I think when I get it I will make a lot of good noise when I get there.” Contact with the UFC following his win “They didn’t call me. I hope they do, but they haven’t called me yet. Some people I feel like they take the easy road, like they take fights that they know are winnable fights. I don’t feel like that’s something I did in my career. Kurt Holobaugh is by no means an easy fight for anybody. Cody Bollinger is not an easy fight. My last three opponents none of these are easy fights. I’ve never taken an easy fight, I’ve always tried to get the toughest opponent I can I get. If you workout as hard as you say you do, you have to challenge yourself.” Matching up with the UFC featherweight division “I think I’d do well. I mean when Conor McGregor fought Chad Mendes they put up on the screen, the top guys in the division. I’m just looking at my skill set as it plays off to other guy’s skill set. People may not necessarily like the way wrestlers compete but if you look at all the UFC champions, a good portion of them came from wrestling backgrounds. So it is the most dominant discipline you can have coming into the sport. My stand-up, I work on it constantly, I work on my ground game constantly. I’m still working, I’m trying to evolve. I think fair very well with other featherweights. I don’t think by any means anybody is going to have an easy fight with me.” Returning to training and his team “Thank god I didn’t really suffer any terrible injuries in the fight, my right shin is a little sore, my right hand is a little sore. I’ll be back in training in the next few days. When my [coach] says I’m ready, I’ll be right back in there. Maybe I’m a sick individual, but I actually like training, I like learning new techniques, I like fixing things that I did wrong. That would be a pastime of mine. I’m kind of excited to get back in the gym. We got a lot of amateurs that got fights coming, I definitely want to be there to help and support them. Our gym has such a great aura and atmosphere. Both at Bellemore Kickboxing Academy and Joe Scarola Gracie Barra jiu-jitsu. You want to be there, it makes you feel go there working out. It’s just a great place to be.” Best message he received following his Titan FC 34 victory “Without getting too personal, prior to the fight I was going through a lot of things that mentally would put most people in a different position. When you going fight somebody like Kurt Holobaugh you have to be focussed, you have to have his picture in the bathroom mirror so you see his face every time. You have to have that type of mindset. I was getting hit from all angles, it wasn’t a pleasant time. The only time that I had to kind of get like an escape from reality was when I was at the gym. So my highschool wrestling coach, who was like a father to me growing up my entire life. He [told] me ‘You know Andre you’re a very talented person, you’re gifted enough to beat 80-85% of all the opponents you’re going against. You proved that no matter what the variables were, you got the job done again. You don’t make excuses; you give it 110% percent. For that, I’m proud of you and everybody that watched the fight were proud of you as well.” That just really lit me up.” You can follow Andre on Twitter @Drethebull and Instagram @DreTheBullMMA145. He would like to thank Next Level Auto Body, Bellmore Kickboxing Academy, Joe Scarola Gracie Barra jiu-jitsu, Dr. Michael Kemp and Tony Richie. You can listen to the full audio version of this interview on Episode 116 of The Parting Shot Podcast this Sunday August 2nd.
