Paul Herrera: No-Holds- Barred Era | MMA History Podcast

Join the MMA Detective Mike Davis and co-host Joey Venti for an exclusive deep dive with Paul “The Hitman” Herrera — Division I All-American wrestler (Nebraska, 142 lbs), Tito Ortiz’s high school wrestling coach, and core member of the legendary Tank Abbott crew in Huntington Beach.In this raw, no-holds-barred conversation, Herrera recounts the Wild West days of MMA: his Olympic Trials run, training with Mark Schultz at BYU, the infamous UFC 6 elevator incident with Pat Smith, dojo-storming Alan Gomez alongside Tank Abbott and Eddie Ruiz, cornering Tito Ortiz’s UFC 13 debut, his own UFC 8 fight against Gary Goodridge, and his bout with Kazushi Sakuraba in Japan. He also details promoting the underground Hitman Fight Series and his current coaching at Huntington Beach Ultimate Training Center.The MMA History Podcast is the only show 100% dedicated to preserving mixed martial arts history through first-hand interviews with the men who lived it.0:00 MMA history podcast intro 0:32 Joey Venti’s guest introduction0:51 interview start 0:54 plugs/ promotions1:33 recruited to California for wrestling4:02 early UFC matchmaking 5:17 Olympic training center for wrestling7:18 taking 2nd place at the Olympic open10:07 scarce info online for Paul Herrera11:16 coaching Tito Ortiz in high school13:38 meeting Tank Abbott for the first time18:25 relationship with Kimo Leopoldo20:29 Kimo Leopoldo’s reputation 22:02 interactions with Joe Son22:40 Randy Ziegler 23:10 relationship with Tito Ortiz 25:13 Dojo storming Allan Góes gym30:46 animosity towards Tank Abbott at UFC 634:08 Tank Abbott vs John Matua34:49 impression on Dave Thomas 35:50 Tank Abbott vs Paul Varelans 36:46 Oleg Taktarov vs Anthony Macias fixed fight38:45 Tank Abbott vs Oleg Taktarov39:22 Pat Smith backstage incident 43:43 running into Pat Smith in elevator 48:00 accused of stealing from Bob Meyrowitz 49:17 putting on Hitman fight events 51:09 relationship with Mark Schultz 54:45 training with Mark Schultz 56:27 Rickson Gracie meeting with Mark Schultz58:20 invited to fight at UFC 859:27 Paul Herrera vs Gary Goodridge1:00:24 training tape leaked to Gary Goodridge 1:02:17 using substances before Gary Goodridge fight 1:06:43 Refusing hospital treatment after UFC event 1:09:36 Tank Abbott and Allan Góes incident 1:11:24 UFC 9 attendance 1:12:07 preparing Tito Ortiz for UFC debut 1:13:40 Tito Ortiz vs Guy Mezger1:17:45 Tito Ortiz first MMA fight1:18:27 Tank Abbott fallout with John McCarthy1:21:46 Tito Ortiz paid under the table for UFC debut 1:24:53 issues with the Brazilians at UFC after party 1:28:01 Paul Herrera vs Kazushi Sakuraba1:35:18 the beginning of Japanese hijinks in MMA1:37:21 Yakuza involvement in fights 1:39:10 John Lober vs Ryushi Yanagisawa1:39:59 experience with John Lober1:41:10 Aaron Brink 1:42:24 hosting underground MMA events1:44:33 first impression of Aaron Brink1:45:54 choosing to get sober 1:47:07 career highlights1:48:07 experience with Sean Strickland1:51:29 interview wrap up1:53:26 outro/ closing thoughts Subscribe for more. Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mmahistorypodcast?igsh=aHVweHdncXQycHBy&utm_source=qrSpotify https://open.spotify.com/show/3q8KsfqrSQSjkdPLkdtNWb?si=aL3D5Y3aTDi-PQZdweWL8gApple Podcast MMA History PodcastYouTube https://youtube.com/@MMAHistoryPodcast?si=bj1RBXTZ2X82tv_JOutro song: Power - https://tunetank.com/t/2gji/1458-powerMike - The MMA Detective - @mikedavis632 Cash App - $mikedavis1231Venmo - Mike-Davis-63ZELLE: [email protected] / ph#: 773-491-5052 #MMA #UFC #NHB #MixedMartialArts #MMADetective #MikeDavis #MMAHistory #OldSchoolMMA #MMAPodcast #fightpodcast Thank You for your support