· Ferrid Kheder ~ No Time To Waste
Chicago-based Bellator Fighting Championships recently announced the signing of lightweight competitor Ferrid "The Hurricane" Kheder, an Olympic-level judoka who began competing in MMA in 2006. Boasting an impressive 16-5 record, with all losses coming by way of decision, this French-born fighter is looking to make a splash in the 155 pound tournament set to being April 8. MMA Spot's Joe Gullo recently sat down with Kheder to talk about his judo background, his transition to MMA and his thoughts on his new promotion.
Kheder began his judo training at the age of four. "I started competing right away; I liked the competition more than I liked the sport. Since I was a kid I just loved to compete, so I started with martial arts and judo and I went to the Olympic games in 2000, so I never stopped." Kheder fought for France in those games in judo, where he placed seventh overall.
Initially, Kheder started training MMA out of curiosity. "I didn't know what I needed because, you know, in France it is illegal so we couldn't watch it on TV. Some times I would read an article in a magazine like FightSport, or when I was traveling to Japan to train I could meet some people who were talking about MMA, or I could watch some DVDs but I didn't know what MMA was. One day I decided to go to a gym and ask 'What is MMA? What do you do to train to be an MMA fighter?'"
Having come from judo, Kheder was initially advised to focus on his stand-up. In contrast to judo where one grips the opponent closely, Kheder had to come to terms with understanding the distance between opponents. "I understood right away that I couldn't practice MMA properly if I didn't practice a lot of boxing, so I spent most of my time focused on that. I did a lot of Muay Thai to start, then I switched to boxing and then I put it all together for MMA."
Kheder's training led him to develop a devastating low kick that consistently knocks his opponents off their feet. "I learned that from a Muay Thai fighter in Australia. Nobody does a low kick like that. in 80 percent of my fights I can take down the guy with my low kick. It's very efficient and the result of a lot of work on my feet."
In addition to his impressive striking and judo, Kheder currently holds a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. "I realized judo wasn't enough because it is really incomplete. I decided to really train a lot in jiu-jitsu. I started training with Vinny Magalhães, I worked with him at Team Quest in California and with Dan Henderson. Then I started to work with Robert Drysdale in Las Vegas, and now I am at the TapouT center with Shawn Tompkins. I can work with Vinny again because he's here also. I'm very lucky to work with all these really great guys, every day I train a little bit in jiu-jitsu."
Having trained extensively in multiple disciplines, Kheder does not favor any one martial art over another and respects them all equally. "When I started [in jiu-jitsu] I was very humble because many guys want to say judo is better or jiu-jitsu is better. They are just different sports and we just need to learn what we don't know. And that's what I did. It was a reality check. I could see that jiu-jitsu on the ground was better than judo for MMA, but with the rules of MMA we need to be complete. I work a lot and accelerate everything because I am 34 years old and have no time to waste."
Since coming to MMA, Kheder has only lost five times, all of which were by decision, and has finished 13 of his 16 victories. "I want to finish the fight. Going to a decision doesn't make any sense in MMA. If you are going to fight, you have to finish the fight. Right now my record is 16-5, but you know, if you really ask me, I am gonna tell you 13-0 because I finished 13 of my fights and have never been finished."
Of his losses, the one he would most like to avenge happened in July of 2008 against Paulo Thiago. "They gave me that fight 10 days before it happened. They asked me to come, didn't tell me the real name [of my opponent], they didn't give me the real record and when I show up, it was Paulo Thiago. I didn't care, I'll fight anybody. It was a close fight. At the end, when the fight was finished, they just add 5 wins to his record and then sign him to the UFC, which is not fair. I had five or six professional fights and they made me think I was gonna fight a guy with the same record. I accepted it and it wasn't the truth, but if they would have told me the truth, I probably would have taken the fight, but I didn't like the way they used to make this show happen."
Since the Thiago fight Kheder has kept very busy, amassing a 11-2 record leading up to his contract with Bellator. When asked what he thinks of Bellator's format, the fighter had nothing but praise. "I like the way they made the show. It's like basketball; we see them so everybody knows when the season is gonna start and you need to be ready. It was a bit that way in judo; you start in September and stop in June. We have time to rest and some time to train hard to be ready for the competition. I like what they do, and I think they try to pick up the best guys that have not signed a contract with the UFC or Strikeforce. We have a lot of good guys in MMA that nobody knows." Kheder also prefers the tournament format, as opposed to having a matchmaker determine the fights. "The best are gonna beat the best, no match making. You win your three fights, you get the tournament and the title shot. That's fair. That's the way it should be. I like that."
Kheder has nothing but praise for incumbent Bellator Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez. "He's a good fighter, he has really great skills on his feet. He's really good on the ground. For the first season, he was really the best fighter in the tournament. He was the favorite and just did his job. It's never easy even when you're the favorite to win and he did just what he had to do. It's gonna be tough to beat him, even for the new winner of the tournament it will be a challenge because he's a really good fighter."
Last season Bellator produced the extremely high profile inverted triangle submission by Toby Imada over Jorge Masvidal which was selected as the World MMA Awards "Submission of the Year." When asked about this fight, Kheder replied, "I really like the way that guy did the technique because he was losing the fight and he did not give up. It was a really incredible submission because nobody was expecting the end. I like that because the fight is never finished and you just need to respect your opponent until the last second of the fight."
Kheder would like to thank his sponsor, J & L Irrigation. "The owner is Mrs. Lulu Dwyer. I think without this sponsor, I couldn’t be where I am right now. The company just supports me every day. I could train everyday, stay focused on my training and get the contract. I would also like to thank Jesus for the power he gives to me everyday. Jesus is my best sponsor."
For more information check out http://www.ferridkheder.com
