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and had his own gym, and he was having a lot of success with his boxers, they were winning Golden Gloves titles and national titles and so on. So we talked about me coming out here and training. I did train a couple of times at his gym, but my purpose then was really to visit Enson briefly. I ended up leaving New York and moving to Vegas at the end of 2008. And I decided to come and train with Leonard for a week to give myself the opportunity to see how the training would go, and I realized this guy was vital to my training. He was a huge asset, and he's been making a big impact on my boxing ability and my striking ability because he's such a great coach. When I was living in Vegas, the whole time I'd fly up to Washington every four to six weeks to train with him for a week or sometimes two weeks. It was a regular thing, I was flying up to Washington to train with Leonard, then I'd fly back to Vegas to train for 2-3 weeks, then go to LA and train with Eddie Bravo in jiu-jitsu, and I repeated this cycle the whole time I was in Vegas. I just got tired of it. I really got sick of the travelling, and I thought to give myself the best opportunity for training with Leonard, I might as well go to Washington and train with him year-round to get the most benefit rather than trying to cram it in a week at a time. And I thought if I'm training with him year-round the benefits will be ten-fold.
FiveKnuckles.com: You have also been training recently with Eddie Bravo at 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu in Los Angeles. What has that experience been like for you, and what is Eddie like as a coach?
Sotiropoulos: I started training with Eddie right at the end of 2008, at the same time I started training with Leonard. The experience with Eddie Bravo has been awesome. He's a phenomenal teacher. I think he's the most influential and successful American Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. He's created his own style, he understands the game of jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts very well. He has a very analytical mind. He's created a style that's very, very good for mixed martial arts, and I think it's going to be the way of the future for ground fighting in mixed martial arts.
FiveKnuckles.com:Your former coach Matt Serra will be facing Frank Trigg at UFC 109 on February 6. What are your thoughts on that fight?
Sotiropoulos: Matt Serra is a very high-caliber BJJ black belt. He has a submission grappling background. Frank Trigg, he's a wrestler with a ground-and-pound background. So it's going to be a submission grappler versus a ground-and-pound fighter. If it goes to the ground, we're going to see Frank Trigg trying to grind out a victory, and Matt Serra maybe working off his back trying to fend off the ground-and-pound and looking for a submission. But if it stays standing Matt's going to be looking to land that big overhand right, which he used against St. Pierre, which he used against Hughes. Those are the strengths of those fighters. You can expect a big right hand from Matt, and some technical jiu-jitsu on the ground, and some ground and pound from Frank Trigg. Who's going to win... I really don't know.
FiveKnuckles.com: The next lightweight title fight will be between BJ Penn and Frankie Edgar. How would you...
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