***Gurdarshan "Saint Lion" Mangat SHERDOG Q&A***

[OneGloveGracie]

I wouldn't say it had anything to do with camps, Tristar is amazing! and i still have ties with them, whenever I go visit Montreal, Coach Firas has always had an open door policy for myself and I'm very grateful of that. It was more so the financial situation for myself and being able to focus on training wen there was so much else going on outside the gym. In Montreal , I had no family , i didn't speak French fluent , so to even get a job of any kind was tough . I was there for one reason and that was to train with the best but fights kept falling through and financial resources went dry and there was decisions I had to make . In Vancouver, I can train and work at the sometime so it gives me more of a peace of mind to excel at my craft than always thinking where the next meal is coming from or how i will pay my rent. I do plan on making trips there, my fiancee is from Montreal and so i will be making short trips down there in the future.

ok cool. hope you get signed by the UFC soon and get financially secure. and your fiancée is very beautiful you're a lucky guy.

 

[Gurdarshan Mangat]

Welcome to Sherdog @Gurdarshan Mangat and thank you for taking the time to answer our questions.

How did you get your nickname Saint Lion?

i started MMA in 2008, before that i had moved to vancouver to pursuit a career in accounting. I never saw myself as a fighter but i went to a Sikh Youth Camp where these weapons martial artist were there, last of true great warriors and they were setting up sparring matches with bamboo sticks between the campers for a competition . And they actually were a lot to tag each other so it could get painful , i was just spectator and wanted no part in it. I was the shy , quiet one who refrained from much risk. They had an odd number of competitiors and tossed me in , wen it came my turn it seemed like i always had this skill somewhere in my dna and took out all of them , from that the martial artist said always remain saint like behaviour outside of harm but wen put in conflict you become a lion. So wen i found mma after that camp , they reminded me of that name and its always been a reminder of how i wanna balance this warrior lifestyle and was i want it to symbolize in the end to my ppl.

 

[blokeybloke]

Hi Gurdashan,

Best late night takeaway food after a good night out on the lash, chicken tikka or poutine?

 

[Dr J]

hahahaha thats awesome. Not many leaders out there that have that as a background so impressive definitely. Trudeau is a great man and I'm sure this questions might be coming from the opposition lol. I know the secret service gotta protect those good looks of his so doubt they let me have something clean. since I'm south paw, slap lead hook and a 2 right down the middle should do the trick with a livershot before I exit hahaha then Id shake his hand and we donate all proceeds to charity.

And the women of Canada would have their newest sex symbol, imo. <cheer>

Now that you're an official pro fighter on Sherdog, any interest in joining the legends such as Enson Ioue, who was treated like royalty by our members and reciprocated in kind?

One of the most well-known and beloved posters on these forums, and a true hardcore mma fan, has recently dropped over 80 lbs in an effort to get his life on track. The only thing missing from his hard work and dedication is a bit of bad ass cred to help him with the ladies. Would you consider adding @Tules to your entourage for your next fight, in a Bieber to Mayweather kind of way?

 

[Lethal]

Thanks for stopping by.

What would say was the fight that first got you into MMA?

 

[Inverse]

I take what I see and those necks always expose themselves, and wen I do my arm finds its way around it and its good night from there. I see opportunities, they give me openings and I just take them but I been working a lot on my jits game with 10th planet black belt Nabil Salaemh and bibiano so theres a lot of tricks I have but I'm there to get the job done and use the quick tools i got

Of course man, and you're doing a fantastic job at using your tools!

 

[Gurdarshan Mangat]

Alright, man.... I gotta know.... When & who's your next fight? UFC debut?? Come on!

I spoke to the president of Brave Combat today , I am still signed with them and very happy with them. All a fighter can ask for is respect for his work and Brave does that . Plus a platform to evolve. My next will be in April!! can't say all the details..... and it will be a fight where I may debut in a new weightless that i have never fought before and it will be onetime thing most likely , i will be the smaller man and there will be many factors against me but I'm on a pursuit first of all to prove i am the best indian fighter in the world, and have told Brave I would be open to most weight classes whether up or down to go prove that and seems like this next fight might be 2 weight classes above and possibly the biggest MMA fight to take place on India Soil...but stay tuned!

 

[Gary The Busey]

how often do you hang with Russell peters?

 

[Drake]

I spoke to the president of Brave Combat today , I am still signed with them and very happy with them. All a fighter can ask for is respect for his work and Brave does that . Plus a platform to evolve. My next will be in April!! can't say all the details..... and it will be a fight where I may debut in a new weightless that i have never fought before and it will be onetime thing most likely , i will be the smaller man and there will be many factors against me but I'm on a pursuit first of all to prove i am the best indian fighter in the world, and have told Brave I would be open to most weight classes whether up or down to go prove that and seems like this next fight might be 2 weight classes above and possibly the biggest MMA fight to take place on India Soil...but stay tuned!

Sounds awesome!! <cheer>
Will keep an eye out for the news & details
Best of luck.

 

[Chules]

Hi Gurdashan,

I have to be honest I wasn't aware of your career so far, but thanks to this forum/Mr @Drake I have gotten to follow you on instagram and noticed you training at Tristar. I'm also a upcoming fighter, I'm 185lbs (I've been slacking lately in all honesty, so probably 188), and near 6ft (ok 5'9) but I'm based in England. I'm wondering if you'd reccommend Tri Star and do you see yourself opening a MMA gym in India one day?

 

[Arkridge]

Welcome! Thanks for stopping by.

The bantamweight division is always in need of new talent, at 9-1 I'm sure the UFC could come calling with a couple more wins my man. Do you feel you're ready for that kind of leap? How many more fights would you like to have before taking the next step?

 

[Gurdarshan Mangat]

Thanks for stopping by.

What would say was the fight that first got you into MMA?

The day I ever questioned that I could possibly give this a go was wen Anderson Silva vs Rich Franklin was happening. They said that Rich Franklin was a high school teacher and that amazed me. I had grown up watching Blood Sport, Karate Kid etc and had this belief that from birth you were trained to go down this path , and you were taken into the mountains and doing squats with boulders lol so wen i realized that there was high school teacher in the cage I asked myself why can't an accounted pursue it. I was met with laughter and ridicule from my friends but some sort of flame definitely set off inside of me .

 

[Gurdarshan Mangat]

Hi Gurdashan,

I have to be honest I wasn't aware of your career so far, but thanks to this forum/Mr @Drake I have gotten to follow you on instagram and noticed you training at Tristar. I'm also a upcoming fighter, I'm 185lbs (I've been slacking lately in all honesty, so probably 188), and near 6ft (ok 5'9) but I'm based in England. I'm wondering if you'd reccommend Tri Star and do you see yourself opening a MMA gym in India one day?

Of course I would recommend Tristar! Coach Firas is amazing teacher/mentor/ encyclopedia of knowledge about mma and life. I love listening to his philosophy . And to be surrounded by some of the best guys in the world, its definitely recommended if you can. Be ready to be a student and absorb, observe knowledge. I want to make my presence strong first in India, I want to make sure there is no debate that i am the best indian mma fighter before i would open a gym. Opening a gym would prolly be one of the last things on my list of things cause i have so much more i want to do with mma. I want to be an ambassador of the sport, grow the knowledge of it, go on tours of motivational speaking to spread the knowledge of what i have learnt thru this journey to general public to pursue any goal they believe in. become one of the best indian commentators in a big organization. many thing

 

[Concrete]

Are there any aspects of being a fighter that you dislike? For example, how do you find weight cutting, I know some fighters hate it and really struggle with it.

 

[blokeybloke]

i started MMA in 2008, before that i had moved to vancouver to pursuit a career in accounting. I never saw myself as a fighter but i went to a Sikh Youth Camp where these weapons martial artist were there, last of true great warriors and they were setting up sparring matches with bamboo sticks between the campers for a competition . And they actually were a lot to tag each other so it could get painful , i was just spectator and wanted no part in it. I was the shy , quiet one who refrained from much risk. They had an odd number of competitiors and tossed me in , wen it came my turn it seemed like i always had this skill somewhere in my dna and took out all of them , from that the martial artist said always remain saint like behaviour outside of harm but wen put in conflict you become a lion. So wen i found mma after that camp , they reminded me of that name and its always been a reminder of how i wanna balance this warrior lifestyle and was i want it to symbolize in the end to my ppl.

That is a great story & a fantastic nickname!!

 

[Arkridge]

Also, looking at your fight finder page it says you also train at 10th planet jiu jitsu. I've always found the 10th planet system very interesting. Do you still train there often? What are the advantages to 10th planet's system in addition to traditional bjj that will help you in grappling exchanges in your future fights?

 

[Chules]

Of course I would recommend Tristar! Coach Firas is amazing teacher/mentor/ encyclopedia of knowledge about mma and life. I love listening to his philosophy . And to be surrounded by some of the best guys in the world, its definitely recommended if you can. Be ready to be a student and absorb, observe knowledge. I want to make my presence strong first in India, I want to make sure there is no debate that i am the best indian mma fighter before i would open a gym. Opening a gym would prolly be one of the last things on my list of things cause i have so much more i want to do with mma. I want to be an ambassador of the sport, grow the knowledge of it, go on tours of motivational speaking to spread the knowledge of what i have learnt thru this journey to general public to pursue any goal they believe in. become one of the best indian commentators in a big organization. many thing

Thanks for the insight. I will look into getting myself there as soon as I can

We can spar if you want too if you're there over the Summer? I'll go easy on you!

I wish you the best and will follow your career from now on. All the best

 

[Gurdarshan Mangat]

Welcome! Thanks for stopping by.

The bantamweight division is always in need of new talent, at 9-1 I'm sure the UFC could come calling with a couple more wins my man. Do you feel you're ready for that kind of leap? How many more fights would you like to have before taking the next step?

I am ready! Most likely I may drop to Flyweight . I don't walk around too heavy , 145 off season , so the bantamweights are huge nowadays but if they banned weight cutting then id move up to 135 . For myself personally , i am at a point where UFC isn't the only option i look at anymore. First lesson of business is that risk but equal the reward. If i am fighting the best guys the world i want to be paid the best money in the world. Think a lot of fighters cut themselves short and don't see their own potential and thats how i think organizations take advantage. Its also why i am happy where I am right now. I would love to fight in the UFC and def feel I'm ready but i am also older now and dreams of family , and such have to make sense for the bread i bring home. we break ourselves in these camps and go out and put on shows that can have devastating effects on our bodies, minds and ppl close to us, least we need is good compensation for this especially if we are called professional athletes .

 

[Jackonfire]

i started MMA in 2008, before that i had moved to vancouver to pursuit a career in accounting. I never saw myself as a fighter but i went to a Sikh Youth Camp where these weapons martial artist were there, last of true great warriors and they were setting up sparring matches with bamboo sticks between the campers for a competition . And they actually were a lot to tag each other so it could get painful , i was just spectator and wanted no part in it. I was the shy , quiet one who refrained from much risk. They had an odd number of competitiors and tossed me in , wen it came my turn it seemed like i always had this skill somewhere in my dna and took out all of them , from that the martial artist said always remain saint like behaviour outside of harm but wen put in conflict you become a lion. So wen i found mma after that camp , they reminded me of that name and its always been a reminder of how i wanna balance this warrior lifestyle and was i want it to symbolize in the end to my ppl.

Thank you for your response and what a great story!

Do you think you will return to accounting when your fighting days are over or will you pursue a different interest?

 

[Drake]

I am ready! Most likely I may drop to Flyweight . I don't walk around too heavy , 145 off season , so the bantamweights are huge nowadays but if they banned weight cutting then id move up to 135 . For myself personally , i am at a point where UFC isn't the only option i look at anymore. First lesson of business is that risk but equal the reward. If i am fighting the best guys the world i want to be paid the best money in the world. Think a lot of fighters cut themselves short and don't see their own potential and thats how i think organizations take advantage. Its also why i am happy where I am right now. I would love to fight in the UFC and def feel I'm ready but i am also older now and dreams of family , and such have to make sense for the bread i bring home. we break ourselves in these camps and go out and put on shows that can have devastating effects on our bodies, minds and ppl close to us, least we need is good compensation for this especially if we are called professional athletes .

So kind of to springboard off this... There was a video you posted awhile back...around UFC 196, I think it was. Where you were hanging out with Dana & he was saying he wants you in the UFC, etc.

So the question is have they made you offers before they just weren't to your liking?