"The Beast" is Gunning for the Belt
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Article By Phil Lanides
Every sport has its legends, athletes whose names are synonymous with their chosen competition. In baseball, players like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Willie Mays come to mind. Basketball has Michael Jordan, and hockey has Wayne Gretzky. In the pro football, the picture is a little more muddled, but there are stars that come to mind when you think of tossing around the ol’ pigskin. MMA is no different.
Dan “The Beast” Severn is an early pioneer of mixed martial arts, beginning back when the sport was referred to as “NHB” (no holds barred). His career in athletic competitions has spanned decades, and he has made a name for himself in the ranks of amateur wrestling, pro wrestling, judo, Sambo, and MMA. I recently spoke with “The Beast” regarding his return to Gladiator Challenge, where he will be taking on their heavyweight champion, EliteXC veteran Dave Huckaba on August 22nd for the title. The conversation was controversial, engaging, and interesting.
Phil Lanides: Can you give us a quick update on what Dan “The Beast” Severn is up to?
Dan Severn: I’m still saying really busy with a lot of different things. I feel like I have more energy than a lot of people, even at my age. I still have my pro wrestling and MMA careers going, and I’ve been doing some military, border patrol, and corrections training. In that, I get to use my combat training skills to help our law enforcement and military, and I like that. I don’t see a lot of good that comes from just pure fighting for fighting’s sake, but being able to help makes me feel good. As a ground specialist, specifically, if an altercation ends up on the ground, I am able to train them to handle themselves. A lot of training programs focus on what happens on the feet, which I touch on, too, but the expertise really involves ground fighting.
PL: You recently fought for GC, beating Steve Eakins at “The Beast” in June; how does it feel to be fighting for them again?
DS: It’s great. GC has been around for a very long time, which says a lot about the organization and the ownership. They know how to keep up with the times, they’ve evolved. One of the greatest accomplishments for an athlete is the test of time, and that applies to GC, too. Me being a part of the promotion for so long shows that they’ve stood that test.
PL: What are your thoughts on your opponent in August, GC Heavyweight Champion Dave Huckaba?
DS: From what I know of him, he’s strong in the stand-up game. My strength is clinch and the ground, so it’s really no secret what the game plan is: he’s going to stand, and I’m going to bring him to my world.
PL: Huckaba says that the fight will probably be for the GC title. What does that belt mean to you?
DS: When I first started in NHB, MMA, whatever you want to call it, the world record was 7 title belts, and I’ve eclipsed that: I have 18. My goal is to get 20, and this one will bring me one closer. If I don’t reach 20, it won’t break my heart, though. Father Time is winning, no question, I feel like I’m missing more of a step, a little delayed, and I know that I’ll be out of the fight game within a couple years or less. It’s hard for me to simply walk away, but I’m putting together my retirement tour, including a few fights that I want to put together before I’m done.
PL: Including the 18 title belts, you’ve accomplished so much in your career already. What’s left for “The Beast?”
DS: If you think I’m impressive for what I’ve done in MMA in the last decade, you should have seen me in my prime. I didn’t start my MMA career until I was 36, almost 37 years old. Most guys would not try to do that. But that’s when the opportunity presented itself. Kickboxing, Muay Thai, and other combat sports would not have been a fit for me. MMA allowed me to use my wrestling. I always tell people that between 1984 and 1986, I ruled the world. And if everything I had worked for had come to fruition, I would have retired. I wanted to be the gold medalist in ‘84, but I ended up being an alternate due to politics played a part in keeping me down. In fact, I’ve written a chapter called “Hate” in my new book.
PL: What’s the name of the book?
DS: It’s tentatively titled “The Man They Call the Beast.” The chapter I mentioned is about me not allowing hate to eat me up. I had a lot of hate in me after all that; I was vengeful. I was going to retire, but my hate brought me to the fight game, actually. I channeled it. The plan was only to do one UFC event, because I didn’t know how I would do. I like to think that I’ve been a thorn in the UFC’s side of the years because they weren’t able to get rid of me due to contracts. People that know me know that I’m very easy-going, that I’m non-confrontational, so people are shocked that this is what I do for a living.
PL: How did you get your nickname?
DS: I have to give credit to [NFL great and early UFC commentator] Jim Brown for that. Brown was talking about me at UFC 4 and UFC 5, and he said I was just a wrestler when I first started, but now, I had developed my game. Now I was a beast. And the name just stuck.
PL: Talk about your future goals within GC.
DS: Of course, I want to go out there and win this match in front of me, and add another title to my accolades. If I win the title, I will defend the title as it fits my retirement schedule. Maybe sit down with [Gladiator Challenge owner] Tedd [Williams] and see if one of the fights I want makes sense. I’ve had a few conversations with Ken Shamrock’s people, Mark Coleman’s people. Shamrock beat me, I beat him, and I think we have a rubber match that needs to happen. I don’t have that many losses in relation to the amount of fights I have, but there are a few that I want to get back. I’ve always wondered what would have happened if I had trained specifically for my opponents; would the results have been different? For my first MMA fight, I trained for 5 days. No strikes, no submissions, and I did just fine. There’s no one that could have trained 5 days, 1 ½ hours a day, and walked into my world and did what I did. I’ve only had two true training camps since 1994. And I’m lifetime chemical-free. I’m a big believer in vitamins and proteins, of course, don’t get me wrong. But that is something that I pride myself on; I’ve had the success rate that I’ve had is due to my ability, not because of chemicals.
PL: You’ve been known to be somewhat controversial, and your views have been criticized in the past. What are your thoughts on that?
DS: I am just too blunt, I guess. In America, the sad thing is that we have to vote for the politician that we feel is lying to us the least. And I don’t fit that mold. One of the fortunate things that I can say about myself is that I’ve traveled the world and the U.S., I would not want to live anywhere else. But as I see our rights get trampled on, it gets me frustrated. We need judges, and politicians that will step up and have backbone. Military policies are written by civilian politicians that have no idea what’s going on in the real world. I am a little out there, I guess some people would say. No one would want to be in my prison for sure. I’m getting myself riled up just talking about it. I see so much stupidity and wastefulness in our country. I don’t want to live anywhere else, but it makes me wonder.
PL: Talk about your school.
DS: I do have a ten thousand square-foot training facility right on my property, we teach adult classes, kid’s classes. Most of the time, parents are easy to deal with. Very few times have we had a problem with parents. When we do, I talk very frankly with the parent, explain to them that they are handicapping their child, and that they can pick up their kid, they can leave them, or they can take off. I don’t run a democracy; it’s my little country. But the parents appreciate my frankness. Michigan Sports Camps [http://www.the-beast.com/] is the name of it, and we can teach anything combat sports-related, as long as have a good instructor
PL: Where does Dan Severn fit into the history of combat sports?
DS: I’m in my own category; I don’t want to be put in a category with others. When I say I’ve been terrorizing athletes for decades, I mean it. I’ve etched my name in the annals of judo, Sambo, freestyle wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling, and mixed martial arts. I like to refer to myself as a physical engineer. I can teach the physical mechanics better than just about anyone. I feel like I will always be involved in MMA in one way, shape or form, be it commentating, promoting, being a goodwill ambassador, or whatever. I will never worry about having something to do. Some may remember me from MMA, pro wrestling, amateur wrestling, but there are other things that I want to do. There are still a few chapters left to write in my book. I still have a few things to do in pro wrestling, too. My life has been about setting and breaking records. I don’t plan on stopping that anytime soon. |
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