Exclusive interview with Doomsday Howard

If you’re not familiar with Doomsday, here is a brief synopsis that can only be told from a guy that has absolutely no social life. In 1992 Doomsday killed Superman. To be fair, both combatants died. Out of nowhere, four Supermans appeared and one of them was Shaquille O’neil. The other was a Superman/Cyborg hybrid which strapped Doomsday to an asteroid and shot him into space at a trajectory that would never intersect any other planet. Some mercenaries found him and tried to make a quick buck off Doomsday. Instead, Doomsday killed everyone on the ship and kept flying to Apokolips, home of Superman’s other arch-nemesis, ‘Darkseid’. Normally, you would think an entire planet could stop one dude. Doomsday not only defeated Darkseid, but just started causing ruckus on Apokolips. After Superman was somehow magically resurrected, he tried to bang against Doomsday again. He knew that he couldn’t defeat him so he used a time-warping device to send Doomsday to the end of time. Yeah, the only thing that could stop Doomsday was entropy. That’s deep.

On December 5th 2009, Joe Silva constructed the perfect fight for DC comic geeks. John ‘Doomsday’ Howard was scheduled to go to war with Dennis ‘Superman’ Hallman at The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale. Everything played out like the comic. Cars were flipped over, buildings smashed and Doomsday seemed to be on his last life until he pulled off the stunning knockout with only five-seconds left in the final round. Some people call it the greatest comeback in MMA history and you will never be able to see it. Actually, if you search on the internet long enough, you will eventually be able to find a video of the fight. We just like to make everything dramatic and use and make things bold just to freak you out. Check out our exclusive interview with Doomsday Howard done by D**k Grayson, only at MiddleEasy.com – Because MMA is Everything.

So you were raised in a rough area, what kind of kid were you? Man I was a good kid but in my area, when you’re a good kid you’re always tested. I had to defend myself a lot more than others, but that’s just where I come from.

When you’re partying, what type of person are you? Laid back chill, just relaxed…watching TV, have fun man.

What do you do when you’re not training? Play videogames.

No way!? Yeah man, Call of Duty all the way. Modern Warfare 2.

What platform? PS3 man.

That just increases the interview points. Nice.

All of your opponents were listed taller than you, how do you deal with that? Well all of my fights in my fight career, everybody has been taller than me so I’m kind of used to it now. All of my training partners are basically taller than me so it’s not a big deal to me now.

In your TUF 10 fight you got the KO in the last 5 seconds, any thoughts? People were absolutely right man, if I didn’t get the knock-out it could have gone the other way. People have to understand, Dennis Hallman is a legend. This is the same guy who beat Matt Hughes twice. He’s really good. People were giving me crap about it but this guy is legit, he’s the real deal. Do your history man, he was up there. He was winning the fight and he should have been, he has experience over me. With 10 seconds left in the fight I went for it and got the knock-out.

Would ever move to lightweight? Nah, there’s no way man. I’m short, but I’m thick. Right now I’m 200lbs. There’s no way I can be 155 man, it’s killing me. Making 170 isn’t easy, people think it’s easy for me but it’s not. I just get it done.

Well what about moving up to 185? I don’t think so man. Most of my fights have been at 185 and I did pretty good, but that’s just too big of a weight class for me right now. I can handle my own but there’s a lot of guys that are bigger and stronger than me and have cut a lot more weight than I did. It’s not worth it. 170 is a perfect weight class for me right now.

What do you think is going to go down with Brandon Vera vs. Bones Jones? Ah man, that’s going to be a good fight. Let me tell you something, Jones is on a roll. He’s on fire. I think he’s going to shock the world. He’s the new style, he’s the new breed. He’s going to shock the world, I know he is.

Name one fighter that impresses you…besides Bones. Anderson Silva, man.

If you were cornering Dan Hardy in his upcoming fight, what would you tell him? You gotta throw your hands like crazy man! You better use that striking in the first round! Once he gets a hold of you, that fight is over. He can’t out wrestle him, he can’t out jiu-jitsu him. I think he can stand with him but as soon as you come out and tap hands, get position and knock his ass out.

Name one other camp you would like to train with other than your own? Probably ATT [American Top Team].

Any particular reason? Actually it’s the jiu-jitsu, the jiu-jitsu is sick man. I’m a real student of jiu-jitsu, I love the style. I want to get my black-belt one day so I would have to go with them man.

Right now, who’s tightening up your jiu-jitsu game? Right now I have a guy named Alex, he’s a Gracie Baja black-belt. I also have David and John.

Do you think American MMA should change it’s scoring system? Yeah I think they should. They should be more educated about MMA. They use the same scoring system as boxing but you can’t really do that with MMA. They have to be really educated about wrestling, jiu-jitsu…everything. It needs to be changed man, big time.

Do you have any recommendations? Just educated them [the judges], educate them on what MMA is and the whole goal of MMA, of position control, techniques, takedowns, getting up, submission defense and attempts.

So you think that should be more incorporated into the decision? Big time.

Should the heavyweight division be split in two? Yeah I think there needs to be. It has to be man. When you’re 220 and fighting a guy that’s 265, that’s a big weight difference. That’s a little crazy. I think there should definitely be a cruiserweight division.

What’s your medical insurance like? I just pay it out of pocket basically. I really don’t have any insurance so it sucks for me.

What do you think about Coenen vs. Cyborg? Yeah, Cyborg is a beast. Ain’t no one as tough as Cyborg.

What do you think women’s MMA needs to do to continue progressing? Not a lot. If you’re a real true MMA fan, you want to see a fight. Women go as good as the men, sometimes better than the men. If I’m watching women fight, especially if they’re hot or something it’s good. They don’t have to be hot but if they’re an athlete and performing, it’s good. Like Cyborg, she comes out to fight. You want to see her fight, I don’t care what anyone says. She comes out to fight man, she’ll probably fight a guy. It’s just as entertaining as anything else man.

Do you think women should fight five-minute rounds or three-minute rounds? I think if they want to be considered a true MMA athlete, they should fight five-minute rounds too. There should be no separation. Same thing. We shouldn’t say ‘Oh, they’re women, give them different rounds’. No. They’re MMA fighters, they’re mixed martial artists just like us. Same rules.

Do you have another talent other than fighting? Not really, the only thing I used to do before fighting was being an electrician.

An electrician? Yeah I was an electrician before I started fighting.

Do you use what you learned from being an electrician to fighting? Discipline and some serious patience sometimes. When you’re running wires and things aren’t going right and you have to redo it, you need some serious patient. Believe me.

Well what’s the nerdiest thing you’re into? I want to say…videogames. If I could I would stay home all day and play videogames. I don’t go to the clubs really, I don’t really go partying. I’m satisfied with my Playstation and I would stay at home 16 hours a day and play games man.

Name the last five games you played. Street Fight IV, Call of Duty, Tekken 6, Soul Caliber…that’s four?

Yeah one more. King of Fighters XII.

What game are you excited for in 2010? Wow…God of War. Yeah man, that’s the game right there. God of War, I can’t wait till that comes out man.

Do you watch G4’s ‘X-Play’? Yep.

Did you watch the videogame awards on Spike TV? Nah I missed it.

Now your nickname is Doomsday… Correct.

So you know that was the guy that killed Superman in the comic book? Oh yeah.

Was that the reason you picked that name? Yep that’s strictly the reason because he killed Superman.

Our photographer actually noticed it but Dennis Hallman’s nickname is Superman. Yep.

So you made that comic book come true? Ah man, bro…you don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to fight someone named Superman. To have a Doomsday vs. Superman…that’s probably going to be the best fight of my life. I’m always going to remember it. You know why? Because it kind of played out like the comic book. Superman was dominating, he was superior but Doomsday kept coming back and won. In the comic book they killed each other but in the UFC, Doomsday won. I’m so glad for that fight man. I’m so happy that fight happened. That was the best fight Joe Silva could ever pick. I think Joe Silva planned it, he said it was coincidence but I think he hooked it up.

That’s the best answer we’ve ever heard in any of our interviews. Good.

Word on the street is your kryptonite is Sprite and Reese’s Pieces. Haha, yeah it’s true. I can’t lie man. It is Sprite and Reese’s Pieces. Wow, who dogged me out?

One of your trainer partners requested we ask that question. Yeah man, it’s true. Bro, this is the weirdest part. We’re going to the club. Everyone was drinking alcohol, I requested a whole 2 litter of Sprite. All I drink is Sprite, I have a real bad Sprite addiction. It’s like having an alcohol addiction except it’s Sprite. I have ten bottles of Sprite in my fridge right now, swear to God.

That’s the most ballerish thing we’ve ever heard. Haha, nice.

Doomsday’s powers are strength, stamina and healing. Pick one for yourself. Stamina.

Any particular reason?I feel like if you keep going, that’s the key man.

F/Marry/Kill: Laura Croft, The Princess and Chun-Li. Wow, that’s hard. Alright, Chun Li I’m definitely smashing.

Are you smashing on the long-term for just a fling? That’s a long-time affair right there bro. Definitely. She’s built like a brick house, definitely. I got to get with her. Princess I’m throwing off a cliff and what was the last one?

Lara Croft from Tomb Raider Lara Croft for a fling, definitely.

Why did you choose a PS3 over a 360? The only reason I picked a PS3 of a 360 is Tekken 6. At first it was only supposed to be coming out on Playstation 3 but when I go buy the game, I find out it’s on the Xbox and I was so pissed because I would have got an Xbox. I’m a Tekken fan, I have all the Tekkens. I’m a Tekken fan to the heart man. Tekken just used to be on Playstation, but when it came out on the Xbox I was so pissed off.

Roxanne Modaferri is a big Tekken fan too, she loves it. Word, that’s what’s up. That’s good stuff man.

You have the sickest haircut in MMA, what can we expect from you next time? You never know man, I have no plans. This is what happens, I go to the town that I fight in and I find the best guy who cuts hair. I go to him and say ‘Look, I’m fighting in the UFC. You can do anything you want‘. Next time I may come in with three different hair colors. You can always guarantee when I fight, I’m going to have some crazy hairstyles man.

Any shout-outs? Yeah I just wanted to thank one of my sponsors, my biggest sponsor ‘Barebone’. Thank Y-crew, my trainers, the Lauzon brothers and yo…here comes the Doom.
Published on December 21, 2009 at 7:49 am
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