Exclusive: Catching Up With “The Game” by The Coffee Boy
If you had not heard of Arnaud “The Game” Lepont before ONE FC 4, I’m pretty sure you’ll remember him after his exciting performance against Evolve MMA’s Brian Choi. From his bizarre entrance with the mask and chains, to his late come-from-behind comeback rear-naked choke victory, and then calling out one of MMA’s greatest lightweights ever in Shinya Aoki.
He’s loud, he’s talented, and he holds nothing back both in the cage and out. Love him or hate him, if you’re watching MMA on this side of the world, you can’t help but watch him and follow him closely. So what’s next for ONE FC’s French martial artist?
I finally got a chance to catch up with him and find out what’s going on, what’s his next move? And, he was more than ready to let loose and get the ball rolling.
After ONE FC 4, he didn’t take too much of a break, and was already traveling, training, and setting up his next fight.
“I have been a little everywhere! I spent some time with my son and family, visiting my friends in Bangkok, enjoying the food and drinks, and letting my body recover and heal,” he reflects, as if this was years ago. “It was a good time, a short time. I am already back in the gym, back at MuayFit. No time to rest — my job is to be ready to fight, already building a new version of The Game.”
If you know Arnaud like I do, you know he can’t spend too much time away from martial arts, and the opportunity to make a living so his son can have a good life. Even when he is injured, he pushes through. Take for example the weeks leading up to his ONE FC debut against Brian Choi:
“I tore my knee two weeks before my fight at ONE FC 4 and doctors asked me to pull out from the card and take a couple of weeks to let my body recover,” Lepont explains, “Pulling out from the ONE FC fight card would mean no pay check, and I need this money to offer my son a better life than mine.”
We hear it all the time – a fighter will come up with a reason for bad performances and such, but it’s easy to understand where Lepont is coming from. He also received a yellow card before the fight began and it left many people confused.
He explains that it was “…impossible for me to fight without the tape on my knee due to the injury. I told Victor Cui (head of ONE FC) and Matt Hume (Referee) about it. So, I was a little surprised on the day of the fight when the referee (Yuji Shimada) asked me to un-tape my knee, and gave me a yellow card before the fight even started.”
Despite the odd start to his fight, it woke him up and made him more alert and pumped up to win the fight. Right at the beginning it started off as a slug-fest, both men throwing caution to the wind, with Lepont having an edge over Choi. He was then taken down, which set the tone for the rest of the fight until his comeback submission in the third round. When I asked him about his performance, he naturally had a lot to say:
“There is good and there is bad. The most important thing of all, is that even in victory you find a way to improve yourself as a fighter. I was looking to put on a show and get the bonus, but surprisingly, they were no bonuses for ONE FC4. I honestly think myself and Brian earned the fight of the night. I was really looking for the knock out, but as I was not able to train cardio for almost two weeks before the fight, I was a little short.
“After hearing Brian claiming in the trailer for the bout that, “only a black belt world champion in BJJ could submit him”…I was hoping to get a submission. He is a real wrestler and keeps very low position on the ground, it’s tough to be able to work on the ground. But whatever people say, I think I was winning the fight. I was more aggressive, I was winning on the stand up, and I was more active on the ground. Having two takedowns and laying and praying doesn’t make you win fights. But honestly, Brian is a tough mother f***er and I have a lot of respect for him.”
Soon after ONE FC 4, Lepont told me he was going to be in Bangkok for a little bit, and when I asked him about it at that time, all he had to say was “Game On, Mut*&er F&^ker.”
Now, if you’re familiar with that phrase, you know that has DARE written all over it. And sure enough, Arnaud was back in Bangkok with the boys at DARE setting up his next fight.
“I have couple of fights in my contract with ONE FC and DARE FC, so I am lucky I can decide between the two best organizations in Asia,” he explains gleefully.
He is still part of DARE’s “million dollar” tournament, and his next fight with the promotion will likely be a continuation of the tournament. This did surprise me, however, as I was under the impression he might be heading to Manila for ONE FC 5, going down in August. So I had to ask about the possibility of a fight with his idol Shinya Aoki, and he again had much to say on the subject:
“Yes, I called out Aoki. There is no bad blood, I am a fan of Aoki. This guy is a legend of our sport. I am 32, I don’t care for one more belt around my hips, but I want once in my life to fight one of my idols. What is wrong with that? I am on a six fight winning streak, beating guys like Haja and Choi and I am the first guy to beat them before the limit,” he explains, and then continues, “Aoki wrote on his twitter that he was “ok for the fight”, and I hoped that OneFC would put me against him, sadly they offered me someone else.
“I was really disappointed because, I was honestly thinking that it could have been a great fight, because; even if I only have a 5% chance to win it…I honestly think I can shock the world. Maybe that’s why they didn’t give it to me. I was only focused on Aoki, so instead of facing another opponent at the next ONE FC I will wait. For now, I prefer to get back in DARE FC’s cage and bring home my million dollars.”
So for now he won’t be getting a shot at his idol, and will be heading to DARE’s next event, going down in September (underground…whatever that means). I tried getting some inside information on where DARE will be headed, but Lepont just smiles a cunning smile, which tells me he won’t be saying much on the matter.
“I cannot give you anything cause Jon “Awesome” Nutt will kill me. Honestly, it will be a most f***ing awesome event. It will be something so crazy that people will talk about it for years.” And he means that sincerely.
So with his fight career on the rise, training and working at Muayfit, doing his best to give his son a good life, it seems like everything is his for the taking. Even with his busy schedule, he still does have plans in the future.
“You know me. I am a father, I am already 32, I still have a couple of fights and then it will be time to say “bye bye” to my fans. Fighting a couple of times in DARE FC, getting my money and my tournament belt, maybe a fight in UFC and then done.”
It came off to me like Randy Couture nearing the end of his career (all three times), so when I asked him about his future projects, he did already have something planned:
“So I am thinking “what is next?” I think I will try to open a gym in 2013, maybe later, affiliate or not, but I want to be back as manager cause I understand well the Asian way and I can make something great again like I used to have in Vietnam. But definitely not in Malaysia. I am 100% Muayfit here.”
“The Game” is a man with a plan, always thinking five steps ahead. All he wants to do is go out there, put on beastly performances in the cage, live the sport of MMA, and do all he can to provide his family with the best opportunities in life as best he can.
So watch out for Arnaud “The Game” Lepont in DARE’s next event, and stay updated here for his opponent once it is confirmed. Love him or hate him, Lepont says it best:
“If you don’t like me, keep hating me ‘cause you will pay for the PPV to see me lose…and you will be sad again when I win, again and again.”
