8CN: Sean, How are you doing? Are you recovered from the minor surgery you had?
SS: Doing great man. Oh yeah, just some really minor surgery on my knee. It was a nagging injury that I wanted to take care of. I'm 100%.
8CN: So this was an old injury?
SS: Yeah, I actually hurt it about two weeks prior to the Hermes Franca fight. It's all good though. It was good timing with the holidays to take care of that.
8CN: You came back strong with the big win over Tyson Griffin and won Fight of the Night honors, how did that feel?
SS: I'm feeling great. I don't feel like the loss to BJ really set me back too much. I was able to fight Tyson right after the loss. The fight was lined up quickly. I feel like I'm at a place where I can fight the guys at the top of this division and that's who I want. Tyson is one of those guys.
8CN: It looks like the LW division is stalled a little as Kenny Florian waits on the BJ Penn/Georges St. Pierre fight before he's matched up with BJ. Any idea on what you'll do as you wait out these guys…surely you'll fight in the meantime?
SS: You know I asked initially to get the winner of the Stevenson/Florian fight, which of course is Kenny Florian. They don't want that fight to happen.
8CN: So, you're saying, you may be waiting a while for another title shot or fight?
SS: Well, who knows? If BJ were to win his fight with St. Pierre, he may decide to stay at 170 for a while. There's been talk that he wants a fight with Anderson Silva at 185. Who knows what BJ will do? I kind of wish that they would put on an interim championship, so at least the fans would have something to watch in the meantime. The 155 division is one of the best in the world and it kind of sucks there is no champion defending the belt right now. Kenny deserves a shot. He's won 6 or 7 in a row. I think I could fight for another title shot after beating Tyson. But, what can we do? We just sit on the sidelines and wait.
8CN: So what can you tell me about your next fight?
SS: I cannot tell you the details of who and when yet. I will tell you it could be really big and something fans would be very pleased with. It's not a for sure. So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed and we'll see what happens.
8CN: Tell me about Round5 and your experience with them? They've made you into an action figure as a part of their MMA figure line. That had to be a different experience for you huh?
SS: I was very excited about the opportunity. I met the owners about a year ago and they brought up the idea to me. From the start, I was excited. We've been through the whole process that it takes to get a figure ready from start to finish. It's taken about a year now, but we have a product and it's pretty cool. It's been a great process and I have had a lot of fun so far. I'm really pleased with the result. It doesn't seem like reality until you have the action figure in your hand and then you see your kids playing with it.
8CN: That's great…so have your kids been playing with their "Dad's" action figure?
SS: Yeah, they're young at three and four, but they've been playing it. They're into Power Rangers and so my action figure has had his butt kicked by every Power Ranger out there, but that's cool. A funny story about that…When I first brought it home, I put the figure on the floor and my oldest started doing something he was not supposed to be doing. So, I got on to him. I told him to stop what he was doing. So he got mad at me. He picks up my action figure and throws him against the wall and says, "I don't like the Muscle Shark." It was pretty hilarious….it's like I have my own Voodoo doll now.
8CN: Tell us about the process of having the toy made? What did Round5 ask of you? Do you have a lot of freedom with the look and pose of the figure?
SS: Yeah, I was given lots of freedom. Everything from the pose, to the shorts I would wear, to the sponsors on the shorts. That was really cool that they allowed me to be apart of all that.
8CN: The UFC is working on a release of their own toy line…was that conflicts of interest for you…are you exclusively with Round5?
SS: No, there was not conflict with the UFC. They asked me to be apart of what they are doing with their own toy line. But, I had started the negotiations with Round5 six or seven months prior to the UFC even announcing that they were going to release their own line of figures. So, I'm working exclusively with Round5.
8CN: I'm guessing that the deal with Round5 is more lucrative than what could have been done with the UFC and Jakks considering you can put your sponsors on your shorts with Round5?
SS: Well, I don't' know, because I never got into the deal with the UFC, but what I have with Round5 is great. The product is phenomenal and I'm excited to see what takes place with it.
8CN: Sean, last question, your training regimen is known to be notoriously tough in the MMA world. There are videos all over YouTube documenting their rigorous nature. Does training that hard for fights shorten or lengthen the life of a fighter?
SS: I would probably say both. The way I train is pretty brutal. I would say negatively it makes me suspect to more injury during training occasionally because I push it so hard. On the positive side, I legitimately approach training like I am fighting. Every training session is like a fight. If I can survive a training session physically and mentally than I know I can survive a fight. I believe in it though and it works for me.
8CN: Sean, thanks so much for your time and I promise not the throw my Muscle Shark figure against the wall.
SS: You better not…ha. No problem, thank you.
