When New Jersey native Kurt Pellegrino first came into the UFC in 2006, he amassed a respectable if unspectacular 3-3 record against top flight competition. Shortly after losing to TUF 5 winner Nate Diaz in 2008, Pellegrino moved back home to New Jersey, opened up his own gym, and began training in earnest to make a run toward the title. The results have been astounding, as he has reeled off three straight victories over respected lightweights Thiago Tavares, Rob Emerson, and Josh Neer respectively. While he was forced out of a scheduled bout with top contender Frankie Edgar in December, Pellegrino will take on talented and aggressive Brazilian Fabricio Camoes on the preliminary card of UFC 111: St-Pierre vs. Hardy, which kicks off this Saturday night, March 27 from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Pellegrino recently spoke with Tapology’s Steven Kelliher in order to detail his recent winning streak, fight-by-fight, as well as to make a bold statement to the lightweight division. “Come in better shape than me,” Pellegrino said. “If you want to beat me, then come in better shape than me, because if you don’t, I can go for 30 minutes straight … I’ve never felt so good.”
Tapology: You had to pull out of a scheduled December fight with Frankie Edgar due to a back injury. How is your back feeling at this point?
Pellegrino: I’m actually on my way to Active Release Therapy for my back. I hurt my back at the end of training for Josh Neer, but when I was training for Frankie I was wrestling a lot, and that’s the one thing I really added into my game. I was wrestling with a lot of Division I wrestlers and my back just took a beating. Now it’s completely fine. I’m sleeping, I get a massage once a week, and I go to Active Release once a week.
Tapology: What does the Active Release do for your back?
Pellegrino: It’s like acupuncture, but with their thumbs. I have to tell you, when I leave there it’s almost as if I have no injury, so it’s probably one of the best things I’ve ever done. I never really believed in that stuff and the first time I went, I’ve never felt better.
Tapology: Given the fact that Edgar is now the top contender to Penn’s belt, is it disappointing that your fight with him fell through as a result of that injury?
Pellegrino: I wouldn’t say I’m disappointed. I would have been disappointed if I fought Frankie and ended up losing when my back was bad. Whenever I fight I want to be 100%. That was the first time in my career that I’ve ever pulled out of a fight. I’m so glad that Matt Veach stepped up to fight him, and I’m glad that a kid from New Jersey, who lives 15 minutes from my house, is fighting for the championship of the world and I wish him the best of luck. I hope he wins. That would be fantastic for New Jersey.
Tapology: What is your honest opinion of his chances in that fight?
Pellegrino: I don’t think Frankie is the best fighter in the world at 155lbs. I don’t think I am and I don’t think Frankie could beat me in a fight. I really do think he could pull it off and beat B.J. with a great game plan, but don’t think he will beat B.J. nine times out of ten. You have to have such a game plan, or you have to have no game plan to beat him. What are you going to do, take him down? You can’t do that. I’m a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu and I don’t think I could do it.
I think Frankie’s game plan is to stand up and use the game plan he used against Sean Sherk. B.J. beat Sherk up very badly with his hands and Frankie went all three rounds with him, so it’s two different animals. The person that can stand up and fight with B.J. is the person that can beat him.
Tapology: You did well when you first came into the UFC, but now you seem to have hit your stride and you’ve won three in a row over top competition. Is there anything specific in training that prompted this turnaround?
Pellegrino: I always said the best Kurt Pellegrino was the guy who lived in New Jersey. Unfortunately I had some bad sparring partners back in the day—they were just bad people—and I ended up having to move away from them and I went to Florida and found a new home with The Armory, but I was the cream of the crop there. The only person I really had to train with was Hermes Franca, and he was very good, but he wasn’t a very good wrestler and I like to train really hard and I didn’t have the same training I had in New Jersey.
When I fought Nate Diaz and lost, that was the end of it. I was kind of arrogant, like I was going to walk all over Nate. When I lost to Nate I told my wife that either my fighting career was done, or we could put our house for sale in Florida and drive back up to New Jersey the next week, and she said, ‘let’s go.’ I opened my gym, asked my agent for another fight and asked him who I shouldn’t fight and he said Thiago Tavares, so I asked for Thiago because I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it.
Tapology: Talk about your wins over Tavares, Rob Emerson, and Josh Neer and why you think you came out on top over those guys.
Pellegrino: When I fought Thiago I trained like a maniac. For him I was scared, I cried, but in my heart I had to fight someone like that. When I beat him they wanted me to fight Rob Emerson, and he had never been finished. I asked Kenny Florian, my coach, how he wanted me to fight Emerson, and he said to stand up with him. When I fought Emerson I concentrated on my stand-up, Kenny said to finish him, so I took him down and submitted him.
For Neer, I think I respected Josh too much. If Josh wanted to I would fight him again because I think I owe it to him. I was in great cardio shape, I boxed and wrestled, and I didn’t respect his Jiu-Jitsu, his hands, or his wrestling, and then when I went in there I told my coach that I didn’t have it, that my body was shot. He told me to wrestle Josh and we made a game plan twenty minutes before the fight. I was planning on standing up and when I went out there I had nothing left. I wish I could have given him what he wanted so that’s my one apology to Josh.
Tapology: Did you tone down your training for this Fabricio Camoes fight to avoid over-training?
Pellegrino: Yes. I learned that I did way too much for Josh Neer. Someone like Josh, who trains like that all of the time, is used to that, but I’m not. For this fight I only sparred once or twice a week. I hooked up with Jonathan Chaimberg and he has given me the best workouts I have had. I have to tell you I have never felt so good in my life. My training partners are tired of hearing me say that I feel great. Everyone, including my wife, is tired of hearing about it. All I can say is that I pray to God that I feel like this the night of the fight, because if I do, everyone who watches the fight has never seen me like I am right now.
Tapology: Aside from great training, what are your main advantages over Camoes and do you think you have more to lose than you do to win in this fight?
Pellegrino: A lot of people are saying that and I understand why because he only fought once in the UFC, but he fought Caol Uno and had a draw with him and he hasn’t lost in five years. I asked Joe Silva to get me someone great for my next fight, and I honestly think that I have to watch my butt with this kid. He is very slick on the floor and he is going to try to finish you when he puts you on the floor. I have to be on my A-game because nobody knows this but he’s a very good striker, so he’s a dangerous kid and he doesn’t quit on everything he does. I took this kid more seriously than I took Josh Neer or Thiago Tavares.
When it comes to my game plan, I don’t mind telling people. Come in better shape than me. If you want to beat me, then come in better shape than me, because if you don’t, I can go 30 minutes with no break as hard as possible. It would be a shame for me to knock him out in the first round, because I want to see how great I can become on March 27. I want to go fifteen minutes because I’ve never felt so good.
Tapology: If you come out with the victory in this fight, you’ll have won four fights in a row over four very good lightweights. Where do you think that will put you in the division?
Pellegrino: When I first started fighting my goal was to be in the UFC. Now, if I win this fight, I want to fight for the number one contender’s spot. I want to try to become the UFC Lightweight Champion of the world. I would like to see if I could beat B.J. Penn. Even if it’s somebody that nobody else wants to fight, like Gray Maynard, let me do it. I’ll fight him.
Tapology: Thanks for the time and good luck on Saturday night.
Pellegrino: Thank you.
