Jules Bruchez interview
When are you looking to fight again?
June 20th for sure. I’ve gotten so much support from Louisiana and Lafayette. I decided to fight in Lafayette in June. I’m not sure who the opponent is. We are also in negotiations to fight for the XFC in Tampa and also another group in Canada.
XFC is a good organization they’ve had some good shows.
When I got on the show I had to turn pro for the show. Win or lose we knew there was a possibility I would be released from the UFC because I had no experience and that’s exactly what happened. If you don’t win that doesn’t help either. When I get back in May we are going to try to fight every six weeks and go on a 4 or 5 fight win streak. We want to go after the 5-0, 6-0 title holders that have belts in other organizations and knock them off. Then we want to try to make our way back into the UFC.
Are you staying at Light Heavyweight?
No, right now that’s the biggest change. I’m going to 185. I walk around at 203. When we were getting ready for the fight in Vegas I wanted to pick up my conditioning because as every fighter knows that once you lose your breath, no matter how good you are, you’ll fall apart in the ring. Upon doing that we chopped myself down. When I first started I was 230, then I went to 225, then 220. At 215 or so I was on the show. After the show I got to 205. When we got there I know 185 is my category for now. We talked to other guys in the UFC and they agree it’s a good weight class for me. A lot of those guys are 220 plus in the Light Heavyweight division.
What are your thoughts on the fight with Eliot?
I trained really hard. We planned on having a standup fight with him. Everyone knows he’s very good on the ground and we didn’t want to have a jiu jitsu match. I can accept a loss but the fact that it wasn’t a war before I got the loss was disappointing. I came home from the show and worked with Tim Credeur and worked on my hands and to not be able to showcase what I have and present myself as the fighter that I am was the most hurtful thing about the situation. No one wants to lose but to lose in that fashion was horrible.
When he threw that right we saw it coming I saw it coming I just didn’t expect for it to hit me that hard. He was too far away and I underestimated his reach. When he hit me the one thing I didn’t realize was until I saw the replay. I thought he threw a combo. When he hit me he stepped back and watched me. I didn’t know it but I was out on my feet. When he hit me with the hook I was out on my feet that’s why I grabbed onto him. The first thing I thought was “What round am in?” Then I remember it was the first round but was it the beginning or the end? That’s when I thought quit thinking and do something then I threw the knee and the ref warned me. We went down to the ground and he got his rear naked choke. I didn’t tap the first time because I’ll pass out before I tap. But the second time it wasn’t choking me but it was strapped across my jaw and I heard it starting to pop so I figured it’s better to tap then have a broken jaw.
Do you feel you were edited to be the guy who was a good striker but very little ground game?
Yes and no. My ground game is better than people think but the way I fought on the show I didn’t have an opportunity to show it and the only one to blame is myself. But if you want to compare me to guys who have been in hundreds of jiu jitsu matches and won tournaments like Eliot and Vinny then no I don’t have a great ground compared to guys like that.
I am reminded of that when I’m doing good then I roll with Tim Credeur and no matter what I do I get tapped out.
Frank Mir and I laughed in the back but the way it was edited. Frank said, “Everything I said positive about Jules isn’t put on TV. The only thing they put on there is if Jules taps out Vinny I’ll quit coaching.” It’s fair to say that I shouldn’t tap Vinny out. He’s the man. He’s won a lot of tournaments.
A lot of it’s editing. They asked me to talk and run my mouth because Vinny isn’t the kind of guy to talk so I ran my mouth and talked about how I was going to punch him in the face and this and that. It’s awkward. They portrayed me as a striker but I won my first fight with a submission. I was just thankful to be there.
After that win over Eric Magee you looked pretty sharp and went crazy after the win.
The thing about that fight it I woke up that day and I felt dehydrated. They looked at me like I was crazy so I thought ok, here we go. I knew if I was still dehydrayed I would have to run through him and push the pace because there would be no way I could keep up in the second round. The nerves were out of control. Everyone would tell you one thing but you knew it was the biggest fight of your career.
In my career Noguiera was coaching me before we picked teams. Stankie would tell me (in a Stankie voice) “Son, it’s ok. Don’t worry it’s just another fight”. Then five minutes later he came back and said “This is it, this is your chance the whole world is on your shoulders. If you screw up it’s all over.” It’s such an up and down situation. I was afraid I wasn’t ready. Mentally I was but skillwise I didn’t think I was.
I only trained one month before the show. I had barely any sparring. I had a bad concussion a year before and it was worse than doctors thought. I went back into practice after a few months off and I reaggrivated it and had to take a few more months off. I got really heavy and out of shape. When I got back into practice I only hit mitts and worked on the ground game. I didn’t spar much because I didn’t want to reaggrivate it. I cut my weight as much as possible and tried to get in shape. If I had to reaggrivate it I rather aggrivate it in the ring than practice.
When I went in there my nerves where rattled. I knew it was great opportunity and at the same time I hadn’t done shit to get ready.
The first thing I threw a kick and he took me down. One thing led to another and I was suprised he let me take his back as quick as I did. I was actually able to start choking because when I went to secure my back position I grabbed his shoulder and his chin was up. I was able to start choking him without even clasping my other hand. I knew I had him. I squeezed with everything I had. When they stopped it…I’m getting goosebumps just talking about it. I can’t tell you the feeling, that all the work you did was worth it. I made it. Regardless if I don’t win another fight I was on that show. My foot is in the door. I know a lot of guys who have great records that didn’t have that opportunity. I was so fired up I didn’t know what was coming out of my mouth.
Where are you training now?
I’m at Gladiators Academy in Lafayette. I train with Tim Credeur. I was with a small school and they teamed up with Tim and opened up Gladiators. From there I started taking gi classes for jiu jitsu. I had never worn a gi except when I took karate as a kid. I started seperating my classes. I’ve been taking muay thai classes and I’ve got a boxing instructor now. I can’t wait to get my hands on someone and show everyone what I’ve got now.
Are you training full-time?
I’m self employed. I’ve been a personal trainer and I’m a juice plus distributor. When work calls and I need the money I work. But I schedule all my clients out of my classes. Everything works out pretty smoothly for me. I’m not depending on fighting to pay the bills.
At the weigh-ins we never got any direction. If you are under 2 or 3 pounds they frown upon it. The day of the weigh-ins I was 201. I was light. While everyone was cutting weight I was drinking a gallon of water. I drank whole gallon within forty minutes. I had to fight to hold it in and not pee (laughs.)
When did you find out you were going to fight Eliot?
I don’t remember but I remember what I was doing.I couldn’t say anything because Eliot was still in the competition. I couldn’t say anything because he was still competing for the contract on TV. If I said I was fighting him I would give away the results of the show. Kyle fought Tom Lawlor and he could talk about it because everyone knew Tom got put out in the first fight.
I went back to a church bizarre for my old elementary school. Joe Silva called and I went outside and talked to him. I went back inside I was fighting. It was exciting. Little kids came up and asked me for autographs.
I missed his first call. He called me on a Saturday night. I didn’t have my phone on me and I thought it was a debt collector because I was in a battle with a promoter over my concussion. He wasn’t paying my bills. I thought it was a debt collector so I didn’t think much of it. I checked the message and Joe Silva said this is Joe Silva and I was wondering if you would be interested in fighting for the UFC. I ran downstairs and told my wife Joe Silva called and she said “Who is that?”. I had to explain to her he was the matchmaker for the UFC. I had tears of joy and at the same time I didn’t know what to do. My heart was racing. I had been preparing for this moment if he called but I still freaked out anyway. I was so nervous and didn’t know what to do. I called him back and then layed in bed for 5 or 6 hours. It was the greatest phone call I ever got.
Do your clients know who you are?
I get calls from MMA fighters bu they don’t have any money. Most of my clients are women and they don’t pay a lot of attention to the UFC.
Anything else you want to say to the fans?
I want to thank my coaches. Without them I wouldn’t be the fighter I am. Tim Credeur has taken me under his wing. My boxing coach has helped me a lot. My hands are so much different than they are now. I’m a standup fighter. I’m a ground and pound kind of guy.
I have to think the whole state of Louisiana. The fans have supported me and it’s another reason why I’m going back and do smaller shows. I want to give back to them.
Tim Credeur has been working a lot on his standup. He picks on himself too much. He says don’t fight like me standing up or you’ll get knocked down. But he’s working on getting the notion out of peoples heads that he’s strictly a ground fighter. At our camp if you’re a good wrestler you aren’t allowed to do a lot of wrestling. We want our guys to be a complete fighter. If we are sparring and you are getting killed in your weak area you keep on because we want the weak points to eventually be your strongest.
Tim told me when the tryouts where going on. If I need him he’s there. He was there in a time when I was lost. When I was in Vegas he was in North Carolina for his fight. The day I was fighting he was flying back for a seminat in our gym. Even though he was flying he stopped and took time to call me and see if I was alright. It made a big difference. We’ve been fighting in these small shows for so long that when you get to the big shows your nerves get to you. He does a good job of calming down and he’s taken me under his wing.
