00:00Welcome back to Against the Cage.
00:01Scott Fontana here again with the UFC heavyweight champion, Surreal Ghan,
00:05who on Saturday will defend his crown for the first time against Josh Hokett
00:09in the UFC 334 main event at Madison Square Garden.
00:12Now, Surreal, we were here six months ago in this hotel,
00:16right before you were getting ready to fight at the White House.
00:19We were talking about fighting for the interim title.
00:22You went out, you got that.
00:23It's already been upgraded to the undisputed crown.
00:27How does it feel to be the actual undisputed champion this time?
00:30You'd already been the interim champ before.
00:33Is it any different?
00:36Nothing is big.
00:38I mean, actually, yeah, I'm a champion, but it's not finished.
00:42I mean, even if you are the interim champion or the champion,
00:46you must approve on every fight.
00:48That's my main goal, to win fight after fight.
00:51Like, this is the most important.
00:53We love talking about the statue, like, yeah, you are champion,
00:57you're not champion, you're not champion, blah, blah, blah.
00:59At the end, you must win your next fight.
01:02Is it one of those cases in your mind, too, that, you know,
01:04because some of these fighters feel this way,
01:06some champions have felt this way,
01:07you've got to defend your belt to be a real champion.
01:10Do you have that in your mind?
01:11No, no, no.
01:12Like I said, the belt is just material.
01:17Like, I mean, yeah, so I'm going to talk about the mindset.
01:20The mindset, I got it already since a long time ago.
01:23Like, I mean, I'm in the top five, top three since 2021.
01:27So I got this maturity on my mind.
01:32So I got already the mindset.
01:34And obviously, you got to do something that a lot of fighters really coveted,
01:38including your former opponent, Jon Jones, you got to fight at
01:41and win a championship at the White House.
01:43You're a Frenchman.
01:44You won it on United States soil.
01:46How did it feel to get a win for France in the U.S. capital?
01:49Yeah, actually, I'm really proud.
01:53And I hope to my people in France, also in my country,
01:56are really proud, also, like, of course.
01:59Sure, sure.
02:00Now, look, obviously, you know, the hope afterward
02:02was that you and Tom Aspinall were going to unite the belt.
02:06You guys were going to have the rematch of that fight.
02:07It didn't work out that way.
02:09He's not yet recovered from a foul.
02:10It happened in the fight.
02:11His eye is still not quite there.
02:13I mean, is that a fight you really still hope that you can have down the road?
02:17100%.
02:17Not me.
02:18Not only me.
02:19I mean, me, my coaches, my team, the people in my country
02:23and everywhere in the world.
02:25So, yeah, actually, yeah, I hope he's going to have a speed recovery for real.
02:32Now, obviously, there was the foul that kind of caused that.
02:35You've taken a lot of criticism for fouls that have happened.
02:39You've never lost a point in a fight.
02:41Do you feel like the criticism that you get toward you for, you know,
02:45fouls that may or may not be happening is warranted?
02:47I'm really happy to hear that.
02:49I'm really happy because that's the truth.
02:52That's the fact.
02:53Actually, the people like to say some stuff,
02:55but the reality is completely the opposite.
02:58So, I'm really happy to hear that.
03:01Do you think that there are enough fouls called by referees in the sport?
03:05Would you like to see them call it tighter,
03:06or do you think everything is fine the way it is?
03:09No, I got nothing to say to the referee.
03:12I got nothing to say to the UFC staff at all.
03:17Like, actually, this is the most famous league,
03:20and that means a lot.
03:22That means a lot.
03:23They are really professional,
03:25and I'm never going to say something wrong about the UFC, truly.
03:29Sure, sure.
03:31Now, obviously, your opponent,
03:32let's get to your opponent, right, this Saturday, Josh Hoke.
03:35He fought on the card with you as well in the White House.
03:38He made a lot of negative headlines
03:40for kind of the ugly things he said about our former first lady
03:43on the property she used to live at.
03:46What do you think about the way Josh Hoke conducts himself?
03:51Sometimes he is funny,
03:52but sometimes he crosses some lines,
03:55and then he's too disrespectful,
03:57but this is his character.
03:59And actually, I'm happy to have him
04:01to make some entertainment.
04:03That's okay.
04:04He's going to try to get in my head,
04:07but I think it's going to be hard to get in my head, actually.
04:12I know the real world.
04:13I know the world business,
04:14and it's okay.
04:17Now, you're a standout striker, obviously.
04:19We know that.
04:21He's not necessarily known for his striking.
04:24He is known for his wrestling.
04:26That's been an area that we've probably seen you have the most challenge there.
04:29How do you feel that you've improved over the last couple of years in particular
04:32to kind of keep the fight where you'd like it to be, I imagine,
04:35from the striking, kickboxing distance and all that?
04:39So, first of all, I'm really happy about the work we do and we did with my team.
04:46We love to prepare the fight when the whole person will be a wrestler,
04:53like we did with Thomas Pinnell in the Triple 3 MMA in Dubai.
04:58So, I improve a lot also on this sport.
05:03But, yeah, I'm going to expect him for him to do exactly what he did on his former fight.
05:08He likes to go forward, to make a pressure and stuff like that.
05:12And, you know, really my style also.
05:13I'm going to try to manage the distance and touch and never get touched.
05:18Nothing special is going to happen.
05:21What do you think of him as a striker?
05:23If you're able to keep it where you want to, at that kickboxing distance,
05:26keep it at the distance and that kind of thing,
05:28what do you think as far as the threat he presents to you up there?
05:32He did pretty well on his striking against, I remember the fight against Curtis Blade, exactly.
05:41He did well also on the wrestling game.
05:45But it always depends on your opponent, how you're going to manage your opponent,
05:49and every opponent are different.
05:52I think it's going to be harder for him to do what he likes to do on me, I think.
05:57And, obviously, he got this opportunity very quickly.
06:01Just about a year after he had his UFC debut,
06:04he's already fighting for the heavyweight championship.
06:06You got there pretty quickly yourself,
06:08but you had to work a lot more to kind of get that opportunity.
06:11How do you feel about him kind of getting here so quickly?
06:14I remember me, when I started my career,
06:16I was already on something like this, like 10-0, I don't remember exactly.
06:22And the UFC pushed me on the top.
06:25I wasn't defeated when I fought for the entering belt the first time in 2021,
06:30again, Derek Lewis.
06:32But, actually, I'm not the same guy than this time.
06:39I improved a lot.
06:41I got two lost.
06:43I improved a lot with the lost.
06:45And I got a lot of experience, a lot of maturity.
06:49And I think it's going to be an advantage for me.
06:50And it's interesting because you basically got to the interim heavyweight opportunity
06:56about four years after, I believe, you arrived at MMA Factory, right?
06:59It was just about that length of time, I think.
07:01And he's four years removed from when he kind of transitioned to MMA.
07:05So, you guys are on a similar kind of athletic path there.
07:08Do you think he's ready for this opportunity?
07:14Not necessarily for you, but even just the opportunity.
07:17No, I think...
07:23I think he's still young in this game.
07:26So, maybe he's going to be ready.
07:27Like, I don't want to say he's not ready.
07:30But, truly, in the few years, in three years, four years,
07:33he's going to be more ready than today because of their experience.
07:38Their experience is the most important thing.
07:42So, that's why I say maybe it's going to be an advantage for me.
