Matthew: You’re speaking about new beginnings, you just recently left ATT to start a new squad at Imperial with the Villeforts and JZ and Rashad Evans. I guess the first question is what happened with ATT? The second would be the team at Imperial, what’s it like having a small squad of people you’re really really close to?
Jorge: About ATT, nothing happened. I just left to focus on myself. As for the new team, my manager Glenn Robinson put together the best team with all those guys that you said. I feel like it’s something fresh, something new that we are doing together. A new team, a new kind of approach to training for the fight, the game plan everything. Everybody is doing the same thing together without too many people at too many different weights. Everyone is going at in the same direction so it feels great. The guys that are behind me, Authentic Sports Management, I’m in the right place, with the right guys, and I’m about to make it happen.
Matthew: For a lot of your fights, you were training at South Miami Sports Performance with Juan Carlos, along with JZ and Masvidal. Are you still training with Juan Carlos? There was a TV show you were putting together with Genghis Con, Miami Hustle, what’s going on with that as well?
Jorge: Once in a while I still go there. I train everywhere. I train at South Miami with Juan Carlos. I also train in Jupiter at the Armory with the Armory team. So I’m just all over the place. As for the show, it started as something fun and now everyone wants to watch it. But that’s us, going to the beach and then to training. Messing around with each other. I wish I had more time to spend at South Miami. And I think after this fight I’ll spend more time training with those guys cause it’s really fun.
And here's what he had to say about UFC 130 opponent Brian Stann:Jorge: About ATT, nothing happened. I just left to focus on myself. As for the new team, my manager Glenn Robinson put together the best team with all those guys that you said. I feel like it’s something fresh, something new that we are doing together. A new team, a new kind of approach to training for the fight, the game plan everything. Everybody is doing the same thing together without too many people at too many different weights. Everyone is going at in the same direction so it feels great. The guys that are behind me, Authentic Sports Management, I’m in the right place, with the right guys, and I’m about to make it happen.
Matthew: For a lot of your fights, you were training at South Miami Sports Performance with Juan Carlos, along with JZ and Masvidal. Are you still training with Juan Carlos? There was a TV show you were putting together with Genghis Con, Miami Hustle, what’s going on with that as well?
Jorge: Once in a while I still go there. I train everywhere. I train at South Miami with Juan Carlos. I also train in Jupiter at the Armory with the Armory team. So I’m just all over the place. As for the show, it started as something fun and now everyone wants to watch it. But that’s us, going to the beach and then to training. Messing around with each other. I wish I had more time to spend at South Miami. And I think after this fight I’ll spend more time training with those guys cause it’s really fun.
Matt: For UFC fans that haven’t seen you since your fights with Chris Leben and Alan Belcher, how much do you see in yourself as you’ve improved?
Jorge: I think fans are gonna have a big surprised. Everybody asks who are you gonna fight and I say "Brian Stann" and they go "oooooooh". And I’m like you know what? I don’t care man, I don’t care. They don’t know me. They have a right to think things this way. Brian Stann is this guy and he hits hard and this and that. I don’t care about that. I’m gonna go in there and prove I’m better than him. And thats it. All that matters is who’s gonna have his arm raised at the end of the fight. Then they’re going to respect me. I don’t care about what they say now about me as a fighter before. I’m just going to go in there and prove that everything has changed. They’re going to know Jorge Santiago, not Brian Stann.
Head on over to HKL to catch the rest of the interview, and interviews with many other combat sports names including Kenny Florian, Cosmo Alexandre, and Mark "Fight Shark" Miller.Jorge: I think fans are gonna have a big surprised. Everybody asks who are you gonna fight and I say "Brian Stann" and they go "oooooooh". And I’m like you know what? I don’t care man, I don’t care. They don’t know me. They have a right to think things this way. Brian Stann is this guy and he hits hard and this and that. I don’t care about that. I’m gonna go in there and prove I’m better than him. And thats it. All that matters is who’s gonna have his arm raised at the end of the fight. Then they’re going to respect me. I don’t care about what they say now about me as a fighter before. I’m just going to go in there and prove that everything has changed. They’re going to know Jorge Santiago, not Brian Stann.
