Joe Doerksen Talks Upcoming Hector Lombard Bout and Reflects on Career

Although Joe Doerksen is no longer in the UFC, the man they call “El Dirte” is getting ready for arguably his toughest challenge to date—a March 25^th bout against Hector Lombard in Sydney, Australia.

Doubtless one of Canada’s most experienced and respected mixed martial artists throughout the course of his over 12-year professional career, Doerksen has competed in the majority of the sport’s most respected organizations and holds a resume that boasts nearly 50 professional victories—including notable wins over Lee Murray, Denis Kang, Chris Leben, Patrick Cote, and Tom Lawlor. 

Interestingly enough, now that Doerksen is out of the UFC and slated to take on Lombard in the Australian-based Cage Fighting Championships organization, it appears that the New Bothwell, Manitoba-born mixed martial artist may be facing one of the biggest obstacles of his career.

The reigning middleweight champion of both Bellator FC and Cage Fighting Championships, Lombard, a former Olympic judoka, hasn’t lost a bout since late 2006 and is regarded by many as one of the sport’s most dangerous 185 pound competitors.

Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with Doerksen before he left for Sydney, Australia.

How are you feeling going into your bout against Hector Lombard?

Good. It’s an exciting opportunity, and I’m looking forward to getting out there and doing my best. I’m excited to be fighting again.

What problems does Hector pose to you?

He brings a lot of things to the table; he’s fast, he’s strong, he’s aggressive, he’s got good hands, good grappling—all around he’s a tough opponent. All kinds of things can happen in a fight, you never really know what you’re getting into, but I’ve had 60 fights—I know a little bit about how the game is played. I’ve got myself in pretty good shape and I’m just going to go out there and see what happens and try to do some damage and try to win the fight.

Do you have a prediction for your upcoming bout?

Not really, no. It’s hard to say—there are so many things that can happen. I think that either one of us could get knocked-out or either one of us could be submitted or it could go to a decision. My biggest concern is: I don’t want to have a fight that’s boring to watch; I want it to be exciting. My goal is to stay active throughout the fight and just keep it going until it’s over and not sit still for any amount of time and I don’t think that’s going to be a problem; he’s an aggressive fighter and I think the fight is going to be action-packed no matter what.

What would a win over Hector mean to your career?

It would put me right back at the top with all of the other top fighters. I was fighting in the UFC last year and I had two fights that didn’t go my way, and I got cut by the UFC—that was a little bit disappointing—but I think a win over someone like Lombard would put me right back in the game.

Is it safe to say that the UFC is your goal as a mixed martial artist?

I suppose so. To me it doesn’t really matter where I’m fighting as long as I’m fighting tough guys and making a living and having a good time. Any time the UFC offers a fight, I’m willing to take it—as long as I’m available. Either way, whether it’s the UFC or somewhere else, if this fight goes really well then there’s going to be big opportunities coming up ahead.

What are you expecting out of the Australian fight-fans?

It’s really hard to say because I’ve never fought there before. I know that he’s their local guy so I think it’s a pretty safe bet that he’s going to be the local-favourite and they’re going to be rooting for him, so that’s something to be prepared for, but at the end of the day it doesn’t change my job at all; you go there and you fight and that’s it.

If you win, do you plan on going back to Australia to defend your championship?

To be honest with you, I’m not even aware if it’s a title-fight or not. I know we agreed to fight at 190 because it was short-notice and I wasn’t sure if I could make 185 on short-notice so we agreed to fight at 190 pounds, so I don’t think it’s going to be a title-fight. I could be wrong but I really don’t know. All I know is that I’m fighting Hector Lombard in a couple days—I don’t have any other details [laughs].

How is the weight-cut going?

Everything’s fine—everything’s right on schedule. Later on this week we’ll start cutting the food down a little bit and start bringing the weight down, but everything is going according to how it should. It would’ve been really tough to make 185—especially with that long flight. Had I been given more time then I would’ve been fine, but when the fight was offered I made it clear to my manager that I wouldn’t be able to make it to 185, so everyone agreed to 190 and we went from there.

What have you got planned for after your fight?

I’m going to stay there for a few days, look around, drink some beer and come back home and see what happens next.

Do you feel that Hector, because he’s only fought a few times in North America, is underrated or underestimated by fans of the sport?

I don’t really know too much about him. Until I took this fight I didn’t really know too much about him. He’s definitely talented and he’s looked really good against a lot of his opponents. It’s really hard to say—I’m not going to say he’s under or over-rated. I don’t know too much about him, but I guess I’m about to find out. Ask me again after the fight [laughs].

You recently travelled to Milwaukee. Could you tell me a bit about your experience there?

I’ve been out there a few times over the last few years training with [Jeff] “Duke” Rofous and his team and I really like the atmosphere there; there’s a lot of good fighters, good strikers, good grapplers—a good mix of people in the room and it’s a nice change of pace from back home. There are a lot of new partners that I’m not used to training with, so it keeps me sharp, keeps me motivated. I spent a week in Milwaukee while my coach was on vacation and I think it went really well; I had a good week, training went really well, and now I’m back home and then we’re off to Australia in a few days.

Why do you fight?

It’s something that I’ve always had an interest in as an adult. I started out just to see how I would handle a situation like that and it turns out I have a talent for it. Fighting is very similar to someone that plays hockey or football; you like you’re sport, you like to play the game, and you like to test yourself against other people—that’s what I like to do. Fighting is not something I do a lot of outside the gym—I look at it as more of a sport than anything else. I really enjoy doing it and if I wasn’t getting paid to do it, I’d probably have a full-time job and just fight on the side for fun. Fortunately I’m one of those people that get to make a living doing what they love to do. I feel like I’m in a really good situation.

What do you think you would be doing if you weren’t involved in the sport?

I really don’t know. I’ve never really thought about doing anything besides this. You have ideas here and there, but I never really chose to fight for a living—I fought just for fun the first couple times—and over the years my income started going up slowly and I got to the point that I didn’t have to work for a living; I could just fight. I still treat it like a job; I train hard every day. It’s something that’s been a big part of my life since I was really young, so if I wasn’t doing this, I really don’t know. I could be in law-enforcement, I could be a criminal—I really couldn’t tell you.

In the beginning stages of your career, did you ever think that you would be this successful in the sport?

I hoped that I would be one day, but I didn’t really know how far it was going to take me. I’m definitely pleased with the way things have gone and I think that I’ve got a couple more good years left. I want to keep pushing and see how far I can go in the next four or five years before I move on to something else. I’ve had a good career—I’ve had a lot of good experiences with a lot of different people and I’ve travelled to some places that have been pretty interesting, so overall it’s been a pretty interesting experience.

Is there any one experience that you’ve had in your career that stands out above everything else?

Probably more than one, but fighting in the UFC is probably one of the more memorable things. Obviously winning there is a pretty good feeling—you’re in the biggest show in the world and you’re the one with your arms raised is a pretty interesting feeling. That’s the first one that pops into my head, but fighting in Japan was a pretty good experience; going so far away from home and seeing a culture so different from my own was a very interesting experience and I really enjoyed that, as well.

What is going through your mind in the weeks leading up to a bout?

I mostly just try to relax. I go to the gym and get my workouts in. While you’re in the gym, you work hard and you do everything you have to do and then when you’re done you just relax. There’s really no point in getting stressed out about it. When the fight comes, we go take care of business and then life goes on—win or lose, life goes on. You go back home, you have to do laundry and wash dishes—go back to your daily routine. When I’m not in the gym, I just basically try to relax. I think as a younger fighter I tended to over-think the fight too much and I’d stress out about it too much, but now I try to stay more relaxed and I’m more confident—as you get older, you get more confidence in yourself. You just train hard and then on fight-day you just go out and give it your best.

How does it feel when you step into the Octagon?

Every time it gets easier, but there’s always a little part of you that’s wondering if this is really happening.

How do you deal with that surreal feeling?

After the first or second time you get punched in the face, that goes away [laughs].

Is there any feeling that compares to competing on the big-stage like that?

Well for myself, that’s one of the more intense experiences that I’ve had in my life. There’s really nothing that is quite like that.

What inspired you to get involved with the sport to begin with?

As a younger person I wasn’t really exposed to violence—I didn’t really fight as a kid—and I think mixed martial arts, for me, was just a way to test that. I decided to try mixed martial arts just for fun—not necessarily just for fun, but as an experiment to see how I would react and then I ended up doing very well early on and tried it one more time and one more time and the next thing you know, you’ve been doing it for over 10 years.

How important has the sport been to your life?

Well, obviously really important; it’s my income and I spend more time doing this than anything else. Even when I’m not training for a fight, I’m still training and always trying to constantly improve and become a better fighter. It’s the biggest thing in my life, I suppose—other than my family.

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

I had an interest in law-enforcement when I was really young, but that kind of went away as I got older. I don’t suppose that that option is gone forever, you know? When I’m 40 years I could still be into it, but I’m not sure that that’s the direction that I want to go in my life. I’ve been coaching a bit lately at the gym and I’ve really enjoyed that, but I want to keep that to a minimum until I’m done competing. I really do enjoy that, so that’s a possibility for when I’m done fighting. I never really made any plans to be a fighter; it just kind of happened slowly but surely and it seems to be going well, so I’m going to do it for a couple more years.

A lot of guys, as they get older, have had a tough time walking away from the sport. When it’s your time to retire, do you think it will be difficult to hang ‘em up?

I hope not; my goal is to give it my best until it’s time to retire, my goal is to do the best that I can as long as I’m still healthy and interested. If my body starts to let me down or if I lose interest than I’ll know it’s time to stop. I hope that when that time comes I’ll be able to see it and recognize it. I don’t want to be one of those fighters that hangs around longer than they should. Right now, I feel like I’m in the prime of my career; I feel that I’m the best I’ve ever been, so I think that, right now, these are going to be the best fights of my career. Hopefully this part of my life lasts a few years and then we’ll see when I’m at, but I basically take it one fight at a time and see how I feel afterwards. So far, I still get that itch. A month or two after a fight, you start getting that feeling that it’s time again; you want to get back up on stage and go out there. As long as I’m motivated to do the work and I’m healthy enough to fight, then I’m going to keep on going.

Do you still have the motivation?

Absolutely.

Do you still have fun when you go to the gym?

Yeah, I enjoy it. I’m still learning and I feel that there’s a lot more that I can do, I still feel like I’m becoming a better fighter, so it keeps me interested. Training with other camps every once in a while keeps me interested and keeps me sharp. I feel good in the gym and I feel good when I fight, so I’m going to keep going for a little bit longer.

Do you have any other goals as a mixed martial artist?

Like I said before, I just want to be the best fighter I can be and wherever that takes me is fine with me. I just want to go out there and be the best I can.

How far do you think you can go?

You know, just last year I had three fights in the UFC—all against tough guys—and I won one of them, I lost one by submission, and the last one was a close fight and I lost a split-decision, but that’s not like I got beat up and kicked out of the UFC, I mean I got cut, but I lost a split-decision to a guy that I think I beat and I still feel like I’m able to compete at that level. So, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think that I’ll be back in the UFC at some point in my career—hopefully within the next year or two, I’d like to take another crack at it and if it doesn’t go well, then maybe we’ll leave it alone, but I definitely feel that I’m able to go back and compete with those people that are fighting there and do well, so I would like to try it one more time.

Were you surprised when the UFC released you?

A little bit. I felt that I did enough in that fight—and I personally felt like I won. It was really close, so I guess it is what it is; that’s the way the sport goes, I guess. There are going to be people that disagree and that’s fine; I felt like I put up a really good fight and made it as exciting as I could. Obviously with the UFC and the WEC merging, the UFC had a lot more fighters than they can handle—they’ve been cutting a lot of people. Once I realized what was going on, it didn’t surprise me so much anymore. It’s just part of the business. I was disappointed, but I didn’t take it personally; it was just a business thing and they had to do it and that’s the way it goes. I’ve been in and out of the UFC through my whole career, so there’s a pretty good chance that I’ll be back in.

Were you surprised when Zuffa announced that they had acquired Strikeforce?

That was surprising to me; there weren’t any rumours about that—as far as I was aware. I mean, I don’t keep to close an eye on the sport, but it was surprising and interesting. It will be interesting to see what happens now. I’m not sure if it will affect me too much; my job hasn’t changed—I’ve still got to get in shape and punch people in the head. It’s interesting, but it’s too early to say how much it’s going to change the sport.

You don’t pay attention to the happenings of mixed martial arts?

Not really. You know, I watch fights that I think are going to be interesting, but I don’t really keep up to date on that stuff; I live my life and work out and train and try to be a better fighter and when it’s time for me to fight, I will fight, but I don’t really keep up on every little detail.

What accomplishment are you most proud of?

I’d say that there would be a lot of them; I’ve fought some really great fighters. I’ve had some good days and bad days, but the thing that I’m really proud of is; I’ve been through some experiences—some ups and downs—and a lot of fighters in my position may have given up, but I’ve been able to come back from a few two, three fight losing-streaks here and there, and I’ve come back a better fighter and put together some win-streaks. That’s something that I’m proud of; that I was able to keep going when other people might have quit.

During those times—the losing streaks, were you ever tempted to retire?

Of course. You know, you have moments where you’re discouraged and moments of doubt, but you look at it and you say, “Okay, I want to try it one more time,” and you work hard and you get back in there and you try it again and then things get better. Of course, I think everyone would feel moments of doubt here and there when you get discouraged, but I was able to make it through it, improve, and make a comeback, so I think that’s just part of life.

What has encouraged you to keep going—now 60 bouts into your career?

I just feel like I’m still improving my skills as a fighter; I’m improving my wrestling, I’m improving my striking, I’m improving my submissions—I feel that I’m still getting better as a fighter and that’s what keeps me going. If I felt that I’m the best fighter that I’m ever going to be and that tomorrow I’m going to be a bit worse or I’m not going to improve, then it’s time to quit, but I still feel that I’m a different person today than I was yesterday and I want to go test myself out again.

Do you have any regrets regarding your career?

I don’t. I’ve taken pretty much every fight that was ever offered to me, I’ve never said “no” to an opportunity. I’ve always done what I thought was right, and whether it was right or wrong, I did what I thought was right. Obviously I wish I’ve never lost a fight, but that’s not something that’s always under your control. But, no—I’ve had great experiences as a fighter and hopefully I can have a few more before it’s time to call it quits and I’m just enjoying it one day at a time.

How would you like to be remembered when it’s all said and done?

I just want people to say, “That guy was fun to watch.” If people enjoyed watching me fight then that means that I did my job.

Do you feel that you’ve done your job—in that respect?

I think so. I’ve had some fights that are better than others, but I think overall my fights tend to be entertaining and I think so far I’ve done a good job of keeping the fans interested. I’m not going to be everyone’s favourite fighter, but there are a lot of fans out there that like to watch me fight and that means I’m doing my job.

What does the future hold for you?

Hopefully a couple big wins. I’d like to go back to the UFC and put a couple wins together there, but we’ll see. I’m taking it one fight at a time. Right now my immediate problem is Hector Lombard and we’ll see what happens after that.

Is there anything that you’d like to say to your fans while you have this opportunity?

Yeah, thanks for watching and I hope you enjoy my next fight. As long as I’m healthy, I’ll keep working hard to be as entertaining as I can.