Quitting is not an option for Conor Heun
Photo courtesy of Esther Lin
When a fighter says they’ll leave it all in the cage, it’s so cliché that it barely merits attention. But when Conor Heun says it, he is stating a fact. Less than 2 minutes into his fight with Marlon Matias, Heun suffered a broken jaw via a knee to face. In his most recent bout, the 10th Planet jujitsu brown belt, had his elbow completely dislocated. Conor not only fought through the pain, he triumphed in spite of it, winning both bouts by unanimous decision. With less than a week before he gets back into the cage to face Ryan Couture, “Hurricane” checked in with TapOut Radio to render his thoughts going into this fight.
Strengths and weaknesses
“Ryan and I both come from a wrestling background. I wrestled in college, I don’t think he did. From what I’ve seen in his game, he likes to clinch, he tries to take the back, he likes to slip under punches with the duck under and get to the back standing and take the fight to the ground. As for striking, he seems to be real smart, staying on the outside and using his foot work, his jab. He doesn’t seem to usually get dragged into slugfests. He’s definitely a tough kid. He’s well rounded and of obviously, he’s been working hard. I’d imagine with his last name, he’s got trainers lining up to work with him. I’m sure he makes huge improvements from fight to fight. It should be an interesting time next Saturday night.”
The importance of this fight
“I don’t think that really matters to him. It’s not like he’s coming off two losses in a row like I was my last fight. Coming off of two losses in a row, you better win. Maybe not if your last name is Couture, but if your last name is Heun, I think they send you home and give you your walking papers if you pick up three in a row.”
Fighting is not a sport
“I get really upset and emotional about fighting. When I started out fighting, it wasn’t in front of fans, and it wasn’t for money. I was fighting because some kid was trying to punk me, trying to marginalize me, trying to make fun of me. I’ve been blessed with the physical attributes and mental toughness to compete in this game, or I should say in this sport, at the highest level, because that’s really what it is. A fight’s not over till I say it’s over. A fight doesn’t have judges. A fight has a winner and a loser, and the winner is the one who walks away with his pride intact. The loser is the guy lying broken on the concrete when the cops show up. I know that Ryan likes to play the game and likes to compete, but I know the sport doesn’t mean to him what it means to me. I’m going to try to drag him into a fight, and the fact that there’s people watching it and judges scoring it, that’s great. It’s awesome that I get a check instead of a ticket or a jail sentence afterwards. I’m going to go out there and try to kill him, try to put him to sleep and try to smash him. When he steps in front of me he’s disrespecting me. I’ve been training to break other men’s souls, spirits and bodies since I was five years old, and I’m not about to stop yet.”
Commercialism of MMA
“Fighting, to me, is an art. Whenever art becomes popular, people try to profit from it. There’s a business, and the business is all fun and games, and I’m grateful to be a part of it. But when I fight, I’m not thinking about judges, I’m not thinking about anything. I’m just trying to flow, and show where I’m at in my evolution. The money behind it all, the judges, to me, take away from it. I’d be happy to fight Ryan in an alley with nobody watching, no time limit, no refs, nobody to pull me off of him when he’s unconscious.”
Strikeforce’s Marketing
“I think women’s MMA needs a push. This is a great fight. Both of those girls are extremely talented. There’s a U.S. Olympic medalist fighting. I think that’s phenomenal and they deserve all the press they can get.”
Weight Cut
“I don’t really cut weight anymore. I eliminated all artificial flavors, preservatives and colors from my diet just before the KJ Noons fight. Since then, the weight has just fallen off. I walk around at about 4% body fat and 162 lbs. I wake up on the morning of the fight and put on my plastics and do an hour of yoga and I’ll be on weight.”
Worries About Health
“I don’t worry about that, perhaps I should. I’ve got a mom, a girlfriend, dad and a sh*tload of loved ones that worry about that enough for everybody. I worry about winning, putting food on the table, inflicting more damage on my opponent than he inflicts on me. Ryan Couture has never knocked anybody out and he’s not going to knock me out. A tough chin isn’t a muscle you can develop; your chin is your will. You refuse to go down.”
With a ‘go for broke’ attitude, and the talent to back it up, it’s no wonder that Conor is such a huge crowd favorite. Heun faces off against Ryan Couture this Saturday, March 3, in what is certain to be a fight for the ages. You can catch his fight on Showtime Extreme.
Follow Conor via his Twitter @ConorHeun
Listen to the audio from this interview at TapouT Radio
