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Interview with Jason Tan
22 Aug 2010
By Ben Cartlidge
With the No-Gi Grappling scene bigger than ever, we here at MMA Hit Pit jumped at the chance to talk to a big name, both in UK MMA and the UK grappling scene. We caught up with Jason Tan, fresh from organizing the latest Ground Control Grappling event.
Jason, thanks for taking the time to talk to us at MMA Hit Pit, have you recovered from another successful Ground Control Grappling event?
No problem; yes I’ve recovered from Ground Control. It’s more the lead up to the event which is stressful. I think it is plain to see that Ground Control is getting better each time; we are starting to attract names from all the major grappling/MMA teams. Our end of year show is gonna be huge!
How have you seen the Grappling scene expand since you began organizing grappling tournaments?
I first started doing the Ground Control Tournament a few years back, at that time I think there was only Urban Gorillaz promoting a No-Gi tournament; it’s good to see now that there are a lot of tournaments that you can compete in. There is literally a No-Gi tournament every month now I would say, and the same with BJJ events.
Do you think that the growth of MMA in this country has contributed to the increase in the number of grappling tournaments?
Without a doubt, I guess every man and his dog trains or watches MMA and I'd say it’s going to get a lot bigger too. There are a lot of people training now but I remember a few years back when you would struggle to find a good grappling club in your area, now it is everywhere; it’s really good to see.
Apart from Ground Control, what have you been up to since we last saw you in action inside the cage?
This last year I opened a new academy along with Peter Davies, so I have just been concentrating on teaching and getting a few guys ready for fights. I have no plans to fight in the near future, so I have just dedicated my time to teaching.
You’ve trained with some top names in MMA how did you find the experience of training with BJ Penn?
Training at BJ's was great, was a lot of good guys there at the time; Gunnar Nelson, Johnny Hendricks, Ross Ebanez, BJ's brothers, Kendal and a lot more too. It was good to be able to just train and not worry about too much else. Of course BJ is an animal and, when he is on his game, I don’t see anyone beating him at 155.
How have you seen the sport of MMA grow in this country over the past 5 years?
I guess The Ultimate Fighter just blew things up, it’s on TV all the time now, it’s a mainstream thing. Five years ago I would have said it would take a long time for it to knock boxing off, but it has, and it’s going to get bigger too I suppose.
What plans have you got for Ground Control Grappling in the future?
I’ve a lot of plans for Ground Control, this next event (Manchester Sunday Nov 14th) will be a lot better, would like to have a lot more spectators so I’ll figure out a way to get them in. I have a lot of ideas, so we just need to implement them. I cannot wait to start making Super Fight tournaments, I get to pick and choose what people go against each other, and with the talent pool that we have in the UK I think it will be great and we’ll be in for some really great grappling matches! It’ll also be great to see good guys earning money from grappling. The other ideas, I guess you’ll have to wait and see what’s in store at our next event
What inspired you to start your gym, The MMA Academy?
When Pete and I left our other gym we just needed another place, I enjoy teaching so I knew that I would be setting up an academy, inspiration comes from training martial arts I suppose. You meet so many good people when you train at an academy, friendships that you probably wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for the discipline you train in. That is kind of an inspiration, to provide that for other people who walk through the door.
What’s next for Jason Tan?
We have our end of year show that will be a lot bigger and better, have a bigger venue with good seating, Ground Control Nationals will be held in Manchester on Sunday Nov 14th keep checking our site for details www.gcgrappling.com. I think you will see Ground Control grow over the next year, the academy grow, if that happens I will be happy. I can smell Chinese food, so that’s deffo what’s next!
Are there any sponsors that you’d like to give a shout out to at this time?
Yes thanks; Eye Design Opticians, MMAfightwear.net, R.L.K.M mobile car valets, GnP clothing, Caged Steel, Like2Fight, Body Fuel and don’t forget our end of year show on Sunday Nov 14th
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