Matt Horwich inteview w/Northwestfightscene
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Former IFL Middleweight Champion, Matt "Suave" Horwich, took on Black House MMA fighter and BJJ Black Belt, Thales Leites, on August 14th in Irvine, CA for the PWP Middleweight Championship. Horwich walked away from the fight with the title after submitting Leites via a rear naked choke in the 4th round, the first time Leites had ever been submitted in a fight. A couple weeks after the bout, NW Fightscene's Spaniard had an opportunity to speak with the Horwich about winning the PWP belt and about his move to Legend's MMA in Hollywood, California...
NW Fightscene: Here with Matt Horwich, former IFL Champ and now the new PWP champ. Matt, you're coming off an awesome win over Thales Leites. Tell us about how you're doing after the win and what's been going on for you.
Matt Horwich: I'm doing awesome. I think its the biggest win of my career. Him and Benji Radach. It feels great to have the belt again and be the champ. Its a beautiful universe and thank god for good friends and good victories.
NWFS: This was a long fight, ending in the 4th round with a submission. A lot of people were thinking if there were a submission it would come from Thales but it came from you. Talk about the submission and what you went through to get it.
Horwich: I lost the first round, won the 2nd round, and then I threw a lot more aggressive extend up in the third round, but lost the third round from the close side choke. I felt he was getting tired, so in the fourth round when I was able to get the takedown and get the choke, it was on his chin at first and then it sunk in. I've been figuring out how to make my rear chokes higher percentage because I lost the one on Dan Miller and the one when I fought in England [against] Tom Watson. So I've been doing my squeezing exercises and practicing choking my leg. Then it sunk in and I was stoked. Its awesome when you work so hard for something and you're blessed enough to just reach out and grab it. It's like an infinitely accelerating current of positivity, keeping the positive momentum going, and good training and good diet...
NWFS: When you were fighting him, did you feel him slow or getting less strong?
Horwich: Yeah, it felt like after the 3rd round when he put a lot into the side choke and we were going a high pace the whole time, I thought he was pretty tired.
NWFS: You were formerly with Team Quest in Gresham and now your in Southern California with Legends MMA and Eddie Bravo. Talk about the training leading up to the fight and the new gym.
Horwich: Its a huge blessing to have Eddie Bravo work jiu-jitsu and Chris to work stand up and Peter Nylund. All the good talent here. Training with Adriano who's been really helpful. Frankie Liles, the ex WBA Super Middleweight Boxing Champion. So quite a lot of good coaches and good advisement. I'll be glad when I've been here for like another year to really soak up all the information and adapt it into my game. Its all about the journey to evolve mentally and spiritually and physically, the journey of MMA and competing in the ring. Everybody has a big dream to follow whether its inspiring people in music or poetry or fighting in the ring, or doing stories and holy work that are going to inspire people. There's all kinds of great things to do and I'm thankful to be blessed enough to do what I like doing, and train hard on cardio, and train the mind and body and spirit. And compete against other phenomenal athletes.
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NWFS: Obviously a bit of a weather change from Oregon to Southern California..
Horwich: Yeah, the weathers beautiful, there's lots of beaches. Its really hot right now. I like the country and nature a lot and the energy, but Hollywood's my favorite city because there's such a creative vibe here with all the movies and musicians and the creative style of jiu-jitsu with Eddie Bravo and everyone. So its got a really artistic vibe about it where most cities there's like the drinking and gambling more so. But Hollywood's awesome. Its been great coming from Oregon to here. I've had a chance to hang out with Wilmer Valderrama, Michael Jai White, all these people that I've watched on TV. So its been really cool experience.
NWFS: Talk about Coach Eddie Bravo and his jiu-jitsu style & the creativity there.
Horwich: Eddie Bravo's a genius in his philosophy and his jiu-jitsu. Him and Joe Rogan are awesome. They're always entertaining. And all the people at 10th Planet. There's so many awesome characters that contribute to everything. Eddie Bravo is just amazing, all the stuff that he's thought of with rubber guard and half guard, and his effective way of teaching it. So its a huge blessing to have so many good guys to train with and good positive energy. I'm just really thankful for everything and the experience.
NWFS: Now that you've won the PWP title, what's next for you?
Horwich: Well, there's some other opportunities that are opening up. I'm not supposed to talk about them yet because they want to announce it from what I understand. But there's going to be some fights happening soon. It's awesome.
I'll be well prepared and training hard.
NWFS: Anyone you'd like to thank?
Horwich: I'd like to thank my sponsors at X-Pole and all the guy's at Legends. I'm thankful its such a great team and good energy to train with. And thank all the fans and everyone. It's a beautiful universe and a beautiful multi-verse and its awesome to be part of it and everyday is a new day of adventure and limitless possibilities.
NWFS would like to thank Matt for taking the time to speak with us. He currently trains at Legends MMA located in Hollywood and online at legendsmma.com.
