 MMAyou.com got to speak with Joe “Diesel” Riggs as he gets set to face Luke Stewart at tomorrow’s Strikeforce event at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. Check out what Riggs has to say about his upcoming opponent, who he would like to face next, his thoughts on Matt Hughes, and much more.
MMAyou.com: First, how are you doing?
Riggs: Not bad, how you doing?
MMAyou.com: I’m doing good, thanks. You’re set to face Luke Stewart on Friday. Please give us your thoughts on this fight.
Riggs: It’s a tough fight. It’s a good fight, they (Joe is cut off for a second) but I’ve been training for two or three months for that fight. I was up in Big Bear training with Tito for his fight so I’m in great shape.
MMAyou.com: Joe can you hold for one sec?
Riggs: Sure.
MMAyou.com: Sorry about that Joe. So you were training with Tito in Big Bear?
Riggs: Yeah I was training with Tito in Big Bear then I was up in Vegas and now I’m down here with the Lion’s Den. They say I took the fight on short notice but I was training to fight Cyborg that’s who I thought I was fighting for the last two, two and a half months.
But yeah, I feel good for the fight man. He’s got good jits so I have to be careful there but I’m a lot bigger then he is and my stand-up’s a lot better then his is and so is my wrestling.
MMAyou.com: Do you think taking the fight on short notice kind of works in your favor as he doesn’t have as much time to adjust to your style?
Riggs: Nah, I think he had pretty much the same game plan for Shonie. I think he wasn’t gonna really stand with Shonie either. But it’s the same kind of thing but I’m just a lot better then Shonie is so I don’t think he’s too happy about getting the fight switched from Shonie to me.
MMAyou.com: You’re fighting a guy in Luke Stewart who’s main game is Jiu Jitsu. How is your Jiu Jitsu game coming along?
Riggs: It’s going good. I’m a brown belt in Jiu Jitsu. My ground game is great. I’ve been doing Jiu Jitsu for seven years. I’m fantastic off my back.
MMAyou.com: Very nice. I want to switch gears and ask you about one of your old opponents in Matt Hughes. What did you think of his last fight?
Riggs: I hate seeing guys that were so high at one time fall. It’s sad. He was a great competitor and I don’t really like him too much as a person but it’s just… I don’t like seeing anybody to lose like that. I feel bad for him but it is what it is.
MMAyou.com: I know you guys had some issues back in the past. Can I ask you about that or should I just leave that alone?
Riggs: No go ahead. He runs his mouth, this guy talks a lot of sh**. Like the first time he met my wife, he came into the room and I said “Hey Matt, this is my wife Lisa” and he’s like “Sorry for kicking your husband’s ass” being a f***ing d*ck. So I went off, started going crazy. It’s just sh** like that. He’s just an arrogant guy, a high school bully trying to pick on people.
He’s lucky I didn’t smack him in the face for saying that. It would have been on but there were little kids around so I didn’t want to be a jacka** so I just calmed down.
MMAyou.com: Is there anyone you’d like to face right now in particular?
Riggs: Um… Not really. There’s so many good guys out there. I’d like to fight Anderson Silva. I think stylistically that’s a good match-up for me. Of course everyone wants to fight him, he’s the number one guy in the world so, I’d like to fight him, I think it’d be a fun fight.
MMAyou.com: Actually you’re one of the few people who’s told me that you’d like to fight him.
Riggs: Who else told you that?
MMAyou.com: Only Cung Le is the only other one that said they would like to fight him. Everyone else seems like they would rather stay away from him.
Riggs: Oh nice.
MMAyou.com: I would personally love to see you fight Robbie Lawler. Is there any chance of that happening in the future?
Riggs: Yeah you never know. Everybody’s always wanting to see those match-ups. Like me, Lawler, and Leben. Those are match-ups that everybody always says so... Eh you never know, we’re in the same circuit, if it comes it comes. Robbie’s a really tough guy, he’s on a tear right now, he’s gonna be hard to beat but I think it’s a good fight.
MMAyou.com: Is there any chance of us seeing you back in the UFC or is Strikeforce your home now?
Riggs: No I definitely will be back in the UFC.
MMAyou.com: In closing is there anything you would like to say to our readers?
Riggs: I just hope you guys watch the fight. And just keep your eyes open for me, I’m doing good things this year.
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