Ferrid Kheder Interview

Ferrid Kheder is a 31 year old French and Tunisian Judoka currently training for his first MMA match for the XFC in Australia. Ferrid was a 73kg Judo Olympian finishing in 7th place at the Atlanta games, a multiple time national and world cup champion, and multiple time winner of arguably the world's toughest Judo tournament, the Tournoi de Paris. Ferrid used a wide variety of takedowns, throws, and groundwork to become one of the World's top Judoka in his prime. He now faces a new challenge in the form of MMA; a challenge which he will no doubt succeed and thrive in.

JudoMMA: How did you get started in Judo? and how long have you been training in Judo?

Ferrid Kheder: I started practicing judo since 1979 when I was 4. I have trained in the French Team from 1993 to 2001, and in the Tunisia Team from 2001 to 2004.

JM: What Judo dojo do you train at? Do any other notable Judoka train there?

FK: I’m training in the Dumbea Judo Club in New Caledonia, and during my career I was licenced in the Judo US Orléans where a lot of prestigious judoists were (Alexandre, Canu, Carabetta, Yandzi, Traineau, Lemaire, Khaldoun, Rodriguez, Fernandes, Despezelle, Takimoto...).

JM: What are your favorite newaza and tachiwaza techniques to use in competition?

FK: In terms of Ne Waza, I like the immobilizations, but I practice all the techniques.

In terms of Tachi Waza, my specials skills are okuri ashi harai, sumi gaeshi, ko ouchi gari, yoko tomoe nage, kata guruma and ippon seoi nage.

JM: In your competitive Judo career, what percentage of the time did you win with newaza techniques, and what percentage did you win with tachiwaza?

FK: Tachi Waza (75%), Ne Waza (25%). With the refereeing, it’s hard to do Ne waza in its whole.

JM: You had a very successful Judo career, what do you consider to be your biggest achievement in Judo?

FK: All my performances have brought me some kind of happiness. I’m proud enough concerning my 7 medals in World Cup (2 wins in the Paris tournament plus 2 bronze medals, 2 wins in the World Master in Germany, and a bronze medal in Moscow). Those events are the meetings where all the best judokas are present. I could beat some great international judoka during those events such as Makarov, Maddaloni, Braun, Biloded, Uematsu, Revazachvili, Almeida, Bentes, Kanamaru, Takamatsu, Adachi, Choi, Gagliano, Massina, Zelezni, Pereira, Camilo, Velazco, Lombard, Akbarov, Shturbabin, Fort, Bastea, Vencek, Illyes, Yagubi, Chimchury, Neto, Lepre etc...
But my title of European Junior Champion, my European Senior medal and my FISU World medal also represent great events in my life. My 7th place performance in the Olympic Games was a real disappointment.

JM: How do you think your Judo skills will help you prepare for Mixed Martial Arts?

FK: Judo is a considerable complement to consider in a career in MMA. All the notions of contact, throwing, imbalance, control, submission are already in judo. You just have to adapt them to become a good grappler.

JM: Do you think you will have any difficulties trying to adapt your Judo skills to MMA? Such as not wearing a gi?

FK: There are always difficulties to adapt to a new discipline even though there are many similarities. I have to make progress in my moving in particular, which is different in judo and in MMA, but also to see the distance of fighting again, my controls without judogi and above all, to work hard in striking. To make those problems right, I’m inspired by videos of fighting. I watch to try and find a style which can be adapted to my abilities.

JM: Are there any specific Judo throws you are going to focus on in MMA?

FK: Yes, sure. Personally, I think that Ura nage, Utsuri goshi, Ashi guruma, Te guruma, Sumi gaeshi, Ouchi gari, Ko ouchi gari, Ko soto gake, Ude garami, Hadaka jime, Juji gatame, Sankaku jime are the skills most used.

JM: Aside from Judo, what other training have you been doing to prepare for MMA?

FK: Muay Thai and Grappling.

JM: What aspect of MMA training do you like the most?

FK: I like discovering the striking world. Moreover, when I was a child, I wanted to become a boxer. The mixing of all these skills issued by different disciplines fascinates me. MMA is a very particular sport. It’s the universe of real fighters, par excellence. The truth always appears at the end of the fight. No one can deny it; it’s the stronger of the round who wins. It’s not always the case in terms of judo, where there are still some riggers.

JM: What MMA team do you train with? And what is your MMA schedule like?

FK: I belong to the FK Team (Fighting Klub) that I manage myself with the help of HOANG Jean Luc, my coach and POUILLEN Serge, a friend of mine. Now, we start with the want to train young talents. Regarding me, I keep remaining modest because I’m a new one and it’s not easy to plan the future.

Right now, I keep focusing on my first fight in the 13th of October in Brisbane. Then, I will be concentrating on the next 2 following fights which occur in the 25th of November and in the 16th of February. During the last fight, if my level allows me this, I would fight for the XFC belt with whom I have a contract for one year.

Then, if Lord, Jesus Christ wants it to be, I will go on in an international career with Justin LAWRENCE. But above all, I want to remain closer to my judoka values, I keep respecting my opponents. I don’t want to pass on a bad image of MMA. I just want to prove that the intelligence of fighting comes first not violence.

JM: What are your ultimate goals in MMA?

FK: If, in a few days, my performances and Jesus Christ’s will could fling me to the Pride rings in 73kg it will be a great satisfaction, an exciting challenge.
My dream is to beat Gomi. I like this fighter, he is concentrated when he comes in the ring, he exults his joy and he has formidable techniques.

JM: Who are some of your favorite MMA fighters to watch?

FK: Arona, Minotauro, Gomi, Shogun, Fedor, Yoshida, Mirko Cro Cop. I like the first 2 the most.

JM: And finally, Do you know of any up and coming Judoka who may decide to test the waters in MMA?

FK: I think that now MMA still remains taboo in some people’s minds. In France, free fight is not legalized. The French State thinks that MMA is too dangerous to be practiced. I think it’s a hypocritical reason, and other disciplines like judo are afraid to see the potential increasing of free fight. If the French State wants to preserve the health of the young they should start to fight for the decreasing of drugs and alcohol consumption which provoke many useless deaths.
I am the first French Olympian Judoka to do MMA, so maybe other people can follow this way and will belong to the Team Fighting Klub.

22 September 2006
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Special thanks to Justin Lawrence, Xtreme Fighting Championship, VAS.tv, and of course Ferrid Kheder for a great interview.

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