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Robert LaLonde is a Canadian Judoka with an MMA record of 3-2, winning all of his fights via submission. Robert has been in the ring with MMA great Vladymir Matyushenko and is a veteran of the International Fighting Championships. Robert was in essence a pure Judoka fighting in MMA, which makes his accomplishments all the more impressive. JudoMMA: How did you get started in Judo? and how long have you been training in Judo? Robert LaLonde: I must have started Judo at 4 or 5, my dad made a living teaching Judo, so I guess I have been practicing for about 37 years, but serious training started more around 17. JM: What Dojo do you train at? Do any other notable Judoka train there? RL: First my dad's club, Academy de Judo et Karate Rene LaLonde. Then at 18 I went to the Shidokan, the national training centre at that time. Every top guy from Canada has trained there, and most top guys from the U.S. too. I guess the best guy that trains there is Nicolas Gill; plus Jason Morris and Mark Berger, all guys with Olympic medals. Most teams visiting from Europe have come to train with us too, even guys from the wrestling national team used to come and visit. JM: What are your favorite newaza and tachiwaza techniques? RL: I have good armlocks, ude garami, and hiza gatami that I start from the standing position. Standing I do o-soto gari, sumi gaeshi, and ashi-garuma. JM: Do you have any experience in other martial arts? RL: I wrestled for about 7 years from 7 to 14, and Karate. JM: You have fought MMA matches, how did your Judo skills help you prepare for these fights? RL: All I did was regular Judo class, I didnt prepare specifically at all. So much more I should have done, but it was still enough to do well. I was very hard to take down, actually nobody did, and I got everybody down with the exception of Vlad (Matyushenko). JM: Coming from an opposite viewpoint, Did you face any difficulties trying to adapt your Judo skills to MMA? RL: Yes, I should have fought for hold downs first, armlock second. I took too many hits in the guard, especially from (Wes) Gassaway in the finals, and my attack should have been more free flowing, not wasting too much energy on any attacks, but moving from one to the other without being too static since my opponent didn't have a gi. JM: Have you landed any Judo throws in MMA? and if so, what ones? RL: O-soto gari, ouchi-gari and kosoto-gake. JM: Aside from Judo, what other training did you do to prepare for MMA? RL: None. Big mistake. Lactic acid training is what I should have done. Hill sprints and boxing since I wasn't used to getting hit. It took me out of my game plan and made me more tense, and because of that I got more tired. JM: Its been almost a decade since you last fought MMA, do you plan on trying it again in the future? RL: I am actually at my best now. I am thinking about it, I'll see. JM: And finally, Do you know of any up and coming Judoka who may decide to test the waters in MMA? RL: Nick (Gill) has been approached, but I dont think he will do it for what they are paying. Maybe somebody will make it interesting for him. March 2006 |