20 QUESTIONS FOR GOZE

1. When and how did you get involved in writing your random thoughts and about Mixed Martial Arts?

Goze: It all started off as a joke to be honest. I’m the type of guy who becomes irritated by the small things in life such as comb-overs or girls who shave their eyebrows off and pencil them in. Anyway, my friends would always crack up when I would go on these rants, so one day one of them suggested I write my thoughts down. People came across my page and started leaving me supportive comments which only made the clown in me want to blog more and more.

As far as the MMA aspect of my writing goes…as some of you may already know, I’m friends with a few well known mixed martial artists, some of which get a very bad rap from the press. In hanging out with them, I’ve discovered that they are no different from you or I. They have families, jobs, and they mostly all have a great sense of humor. I wanted people to get to know that aspect of the fighters’ lives. The side that we never get to see on TV or in interviews. That’s why I decided to interview these guys. At first it was a little tough, but as I became more popular, fighters began to come to me.

2. What do you love most about writing and MMA? What do you love most about writing about MMA?

Goze: I love the fact that I can express myself through MySpace and not get punched in the liver. I chose writing, because it gives fighters the opportunity to respond to me on their own time when it fits into their schedules. These guys are busy now and if you call them and ask them 20 questions, they may not give you the best answers because they are rushing to get home for dinner or to the gym for a training session. If they have the info in an e-mail or message, they will give you better answers because they have time to think about their responses…unlike what I am demonstrating in this interview :).

3. How did you come up with the principles of Gozejitsu?

Goze: Not everyone is 6’2″ and 220 pounds of muscle. Gozejitsu is more for the guy who resembles Chunk from the movie “The Goonies.” Gozejitsu incorporates the lost arts, such as running and hiding. By your third class, you will already know how to pay bigger guys to do your fighting for you. It’s these techniques that enable me to draw on the courage it takes to tell Sean Sherk he has a shorter neck than R2D2.

4. Who is your favorite fighter? Who gave you the best interview so far?

GOZE: My favorite fighter would have to be Sakuraba. The guy always puts it all out on the line and he’s funny as balls, too.

Best interview goes to Yves Edwards. From the moment we met, we clicked like fake tits and red swimsuits…sorry, I’m watching Baywatch.

5. You are such a popular guy on MySpace, but I noticed your profile says you only have a little over 1,000 friends. Shouldn’t you have way more than that?

Goze: I’m very selective about my friend requests. I only want to talk to the people who have something to say. I’m not a big fan of negative people (go figure). Plus I saw this movie once where this guy met this crazy lesbian in a chat room and she cut his fireman off with a rusty knife…not trying to go that route.

6. How did you get to know so many MMA fighters?

Goze: I stalk with the best of them my friend! OK, seriously, living in SoCal, I’m only one hour away from Vegas by plane so I’m able to get to a lot of events. Of course now there are more events in Cali, too. Anyhoo, these guys would get used to seeing my mug and little by little we became friends.

Another big part of all that was that I was friends with the late Ryan Bennett, and he introduced me to Trigg and a lot of other people.

7. Where do you get your quick wit from?

GOZE: I grew up in a house with an older brother and father who tortured me mentally every day. I was also always the class clown, so when you are in the principal’s office every other day, you learn to think quick on your feet. For instance, some of the quotes I have on my mental speed dial are:

1. “He did it, he did it!”
2. “You can’t feel it because the rubber is on tight.”
3. “Hey, Sherlock, you gonna spend the night figuring out who really cut the cheese, or am I gonna have to share that secret with everyone else?”
4. “How could I have banged that stripper if I was at church all night?”
5. “No speaker de english meester.”

These always help me out of a jam.

8. Who is your favorite person to hang out with? If it’s not a fighter, who is your favorite fighter to hang out with?

GOZE: My favorite person to hang out with is probably Trigg. He’s a crack up. It’s always exciting to be around him, because you never know what he’s up to. For instance, you could be in your hotel room, and all of a sudden he’ll call you and say, “Hey, Jackass, be downstairs in five minutes. We’re going to lunch.” You get in the car and fucking Wanderlei Silva and Shogun are just chilling in there.You never know what he’s up to, and that makes for an exciting time.

9. What don’t we know about some of the fighters you know personally and won’t kick your ass if you tell us?

GOZE: Sorry, most of it will get me executed.

Let’s see, Hermes Franca is a really nice guy with a really dirty mouth. He calls me cocksucker, but with his accent it sounds more like “cowgsucca.”

10. Does your MySpace fame help you get a lot of tail?

Goze: “No speaker de english meester.” Told you.

11. What is the funniest thing that ever happened to you?

15. Where did you learn to write?

GOZE: In first grade. I really have no formal training.

GOZE: Fuck no! Wait ’till you hear the write up we did on our trip to Vegas. We got into some real shit over there.

18. Can you explain your belt ranking system to us? We feel cool having a yellow belt in Gozejitsu and all, but for all we know it’s three grades below beginner.

GOZE: My system works a little different. The colors aren’t your traditional rankings, because, well, I’m not your traditional instructor. Right now there are only a few people with higher-ranking belts. These are people who have been with me since the beginning. I pretty much watch everyone. If you re-post my bulletins and leave blog comments, you eventually move up. If you land me a big interview, you move up a belt. Pretty simple.

19. Where do you see yourself in five years?

GOZE: Probably still in mirrors and pictures. Just messing, I see myself having graduated. Graduation = Dr. Goze.

A house, kids, some wives, a couple of dogs. Maybe write a book… a cook book. If I’m gonna be a fat bastard, might as well make some money, right?

20. Can you tell us one thing that not many people really know about you?

Goze: I’m a sports nut, and I love to travel. I just recently came back from Europe where I went to support the stars and bars in the World Cup.

Let’s see, I’m not very computer savvy. I secretly hate Bryant Gumble’s afro and am considering starting a petition for him to cut it.

If you really want to hear something big about me, stay tuned Monday when I drop a huge Goze’s Blog bomb.