Exclusive | Part 2: Ian McCall on Chuck Liddell and more

By Evan Stoumbelis (@MMAEvan)

Here is part 2 of my exclusive BJPENN.com interview with Ian “Uncle Creepy” McCall, as always Ian’s response is italicized.

ES: If you could go back and change anything would you?

“I’d change a lot, everyone says that you know ‘I wouldn’t change a thing’, fuck yeah I would, I screwed up so much, I dropped the ball so much, I could be world class if I had put my head to it, I think I could be a lot better.”

ES: I know you’ve denied it but I have to ask, Jade Bryce, is there anything there between you two?

” *laughs* ahhh I don’t know man, I don’t know…we hang out, she’s a really cool person not gonna lie. I’m a piece of shit, I’m a shithead, I don’t know how people think I’m a great person, she’s a genuinely great person! You never know, we’ll see, we’re just friends as of now. I live with Shane Del Rosario, he’s my heterosexual life partner *laughs* he’s helped me raise my kid.”

ES: I know a lot of kids that grow up with their parents seriously involved in a sport get involved in them as they get older, would you ever want your daughter to be in WMMA?

“No, she’s growing up in the gym, she’ll know it you know, Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai all that, but I don’t care what she does, I want her to be happy. She can do what she wants as long as she’s happy. She comes from good stock, me and her mom are athletic, maybe she just wants to be smart and go to school. Maybe she’ll be a doctor and take care of me when I’m older. *laughs* “

ES: You said there are a lot of athletes in the family, anybody big?

“Well my brother was in MMA, he actually beat the crap out of Nam Phan, but got caught in a guillotine. My dad’s a surfer, my ex-wife she was scouted for volleyball and tennis. Her dad and mom were athletes, everyone is good looking and athletic so my daughter will probably be athletic, as long as she’s smart though.”

“ES: You said your brother was in MMA, was he the one that got you into that?

“Well we got into it together, but there was no money in it back then, we were just good at fighting. All of my friends, we were beach kids, we went to the beach to surf, fight, and pick up chicks. Out of like 20 people I grew up with, 10 got pro fights and all of them have MMA training regardless of what kind it is.”

ES: How did you start in martial arts?

“Well I’ve always had martial arts, I pride myself on martial arts, I have a black belt in Kung Fu, and I was into hand to hand or weapons stuff and it kind of evolved. I realized I was good at fighting, when I left for college I was friends with Antonio Banuelos and he was friends with Chuck Liddell and I was like the little brother of the group. Chuck was becoming the champ and Antonio was the WEC champ so it was a good time, they really showed me why I wanted to become a fighter.”

ES: That’s pretty cool with that sort of web of connections.

“Yeah I was training with Chuck and Antonio, and me being a protege of his we were just playing up with what’s already there. My mom is taking my daughter for a few weeks so I can train hard and focus, it’s not that she’s a distraction, but I take training very serious, when I do take it serious. I either half ass it or go overboard, but my mom loves her granddaughter too and wants to see her more so I’m going up there to see Antonio and train. My ex-wife wouldn’t let me go out there, and I haven’t been able to train with him for a year and a half or so. It’s a college town and my wife knew I was promiscuous, and understood it was a college town. I’m thinking I’ll go to Reno for next weekend to see my mom and then the next weekend go up there for 3 or 4 days. That’s my happy place, it was just voted like the happiest place in the US and like the 2nd for the second year in a row and like 4th in the world. It’s just real pretty, real beautiful, I love where I live now in Costa Mesa, I’m getting a scene here, lots of people are starting to know me because I go to the same places a lot, so I get free stuff and take pictures with people, it makes you feel cool, the local cool guy thing. There are so many women around here it’s ridiculous…wealthy people and good looking women, the values are skewed but you can’t find a relationship here, I tried it once and it went pretty shitty, ending up by myself and having a junkie ex-wife that’s in and out of jail. I keep telling myself my next one will be from a different country, something exotic like Brazil or Spain, she’ll just be yelling at you in a foreign language and you’re just laughing. Like Sofia Vergara is an amazing women, she’s on TV now and just…ughh *laughs* “

” You know I’m blessed, and I feel lucky to get to live the life I do, it’s awesome! I get to hang out with cool people, beautiful women, do cool shit and people think I’m awesome for some reason and I don’t know why.”

ES: Maybe it’s the mustache

“I think I’m a douchebag…maybe it is the mustache, I have my good side. BJ was actually here the other, one of the matchmakers for Strikeforce passed out in the man cave and BJ woke me up and I was like what the fuck is this a dream?”

ES: *laughs* sounds like it’s a pretty nice place to live.

“It is, it’s an artist town, lots of hipsters, theres Roca and Hurley. There are artist centers, it’s a fun town, it’s just really cool everyones into something, it’s a cool culture. I can’t complain.”

ES: Again, that whole family vibe thing sounds real cool.

“Yeah man, a good amount of gyms have it, they’re like my family and they help me raise my kid, it’s a group effort you know, it really does take a village to raise a kid. Rich and Shane Del Rosario help a lot, and the women do cardio and watch her while I train, it’s one big family, that vibe is huge!”

ES: I’m sure that is a big help before a fight.

“Yeah! It’s a huge family support system, I love these people, when you train with someone, bleed, sweat and work with them, they see every side of it. I was a drug addict and so fucked up I thought about moving to get away from it all, but my team is the reason I stayed.”

“They called me on my shit, which is what everyone should do anyway, I can’t have a bunch of yes men letting me be a dumbass or letting me train like shit.”

ES: Amen to that man, that’s about all I got, I really appreciate you taking the time to do this interview, and I wish you success in the future.