January 9, 2009 - Eric Dahlberg steps into the ring tonight after a nearly 5 year gap from his last pro fight. The 32 year old Welterweight will be fighting Daniel Madrid on the undercard of MTX Audio Fight Night 2 " Evolution" which is an Invitation-only VIP event taking place at the Riviera Casino in Las Vegas.

A BJJ Black Belt with a wealth of collegiate wrestling experience as well, Eric's promising fight career was interrupted due to serious injuries to his neck and back. But as owner of the Ring Demon gym, just South of Seattle, Eric has forged a reputation as a world class trainer, most recently helping "Bad" Brad Blackburn prepare for his victory over Ryo Chonan at UFC 92 on December 28th. His injuries having healed up now, Dahlberg feels its his turn to show the world the unique skills he can bring to the ring. Make no mistake, if he can stay healthy, Eric Dahlberg is a name you will hear more and more of. Last night, after the MTX Fight Night weigh-ins, we spoke with Eric via phone about his return to the ring and more... 

NW Fightscene: How'd the weigh-ins go?

Eric Dahlberg: It went great. I weighed in at 169 pounds. It was an easy cut, so I'm pretty light right now.

 
NWFS: You're fighting against Daniel Madrid. Did he also made weight?
Dahlberg: Yeah, he struggled to make weight. He was hurting pretty bad.

 
NWFS: Was he?
Dahlberg: Yeah, he'll be quite a bit bigger than me tomorrow.

 
NWFS: Do you know much about him?
Dahlberg: I've seen three of his fights and watched two of his grappling

matches on YouTube.

 
NWFS: And how is the fight gonna go for you?
Dahlberg: I'm not really sure how its going to go to be honest. I don't know if its going to standup or go to the ground. Just see whatever. It doesn't really matter I guess. Either way. I think I have better striking than him, better wrestling and better ground, so we'll see if that's true.

[Ed Note 1/11/09 - Eric's fight unfortunately did not happen as the Nevada State Athletic Commission medically disqualified his opponent the day of the fight]

 
NWFS: Who did you prepare with for this fight specifically?
Dahlberg: I was preparing with Shawn Dawley, Brad Kertson, Brandon Dudley, Brad Blackburn, Mike Gavronski, and Nick Wallick who's the guy that's been in the trenches with me everyday.
 
NWFS: You haven't fought for quite a while.
Dahlberg: I think its been almost five years.

 
NWSF: I know you've had some injury problems. What was the nature of those?
Dahlberg: I had two herniated discs in my neck, and that was supposed to be a career ender. And then I had a herniated disc in my back. I rehabbed my neck and basically did the best I could do and now I basically just try to protect it as much as possible when I train. And my back I had surgery on five months ago.

 
NWFS: Wow, that's not too long ago...
Dahlberg: Yeah, I knew that the motivation of the fight would make me rehab harder, so I'd get back into it. You know, and I've been in this game for so long and have learned a lot and kind of done some things that are all behind the scenes so I though it was my turn to kind of get out and get that exposure that a lot of people that I'm training are getting. 
 
NWFS: When you fought five+ years ago, you faced such opponents as Dennis Hallman and Landon Showalter. What was your record?
Dahlberg: My record on Sherdog, I'm not sure what its listed as. I think 3-2... My record is actually 8-1 and my only one loss came to Dennis Hallman.
 
NWFS: The injuries that you had, were they just from competition over the years?
Dahlberg: Yeah, just abuse from wrestling and jiu-jitsu. I was predominately a grappler, I spent so much time on the ground and getting my neck beat on

that eventually it gave out and then eventually my back gave out.
 
NWFS: You're a black belt in BJJ, you also wrestled through college, and you are certified as Level 3 in Army Combatives. Quickly walk us through your background.
Dahlberg: I started training actually in Kung-Fu and Judo years ago and then when I got into college, I believe it was 1994, I started training straight Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. And trained Brazilian Jiu-jitsu from then till today. About 10 years with Marcelo Alonso and then broke away and went with Barra Gracie. 
 
NWFS: That was with Mamazinho..
Dahlberg: Yeah exactly. In the meantime, wrestled and just had the privilege of wrestling with high level wrestlers like Cadet World Champion Shawn Dawley and 3 time Pac-10 Champion Scott Norton. Guys like Number one ranked Matt Werner. Guys that are just really terrific wrestlers that just brought me up and literally made me into a good collegiate wrestler. 
 
NWFS: And how about the striking aspect of your game?
Dahlberg: I started striking with Emil Verbovski, he's out of Tacoma. And then I moved to Ring Sports United and trained with Mark and Kim Messer. And now I workout with Mike Gavronski.
 
NWFS: After this fight, what do you have for your goals in terms of MMA 
Dahlberg: I want to take it as far as it goes. I'm 32 years old so now's my time to do whatever I'm going to do. I know there's going to be the guys from WEC at this fight which is why I took it. My manager told me that "Hey these guys are going to be here specifically looking at you so put on a good show". So that's what I 'm here to do. Put on a good show and hopefully get a contract with the WEC or possibly the UFC. 
 
NWFS: Who is your manager?
Dahlberg: Todd and Trevor Lally

 
NWFS: You' ve a reputation as a world class grappler. You competed in the Abu Dhabi's in 2007. Any plans on competing in those as well this year?
Dahlberg: It depends on what happens, if I can make the qualifiers and things like that. I would definitely like to grapple at Abu Dhabi again. Last time I grappled at Abu Dhabi, I went on just a couple hours notice. I hadn't trained in like 3 or 4 months, and they told me the European Champion dropped out. The matchmaker knew me and knew I was really good on the ground and knew I was there coaching and asked me if I wanted to take the spot and I said yeah. I had to cut 18 pounds in 3 hours and weigh in and just grapple. It was not the best case scenario, definitely not the best Eric Dahlberg to grapple that's for sure. But I had a lot of fun and kind of saw where I stood internationally, even just being completely exhausted. I didn't embarrass myself so I was pleased. 
 
NWFS: Lets talk about your school, Ring Demon. When did you open it?
Dahlberg: I kind of started my school about oh, I guess it was five years ago now where I was teaching out of Ring Sports United. And then I'd taken a lot of the guys from Ring Sports when I left and I started teaching on Mercer Island, and then from Mercer Island I moved to Tukwila. This is my 3rd year now in Tukwila. 
 
NWFS: Tell us the size of the school, number of students, ect...

Dahlberg: It's a 2400 square foot gym. I have about 50 guys and we're a school that's just really really involved with proper technique. Its none of this fake stuff. I have really small classes and I make sure that every student is attended to and has the finest technique possible. I have a lot of guys there that are really serious and really talented. And I have a lot of new people that are just there to learn solid fundamentals. 
 
NWFS: So that's your philosophy, its technique, technique, technique...
Dahlberg: Yeah, 100%. Very few people have solid fundamentals and very few people have what I think is an effective style. There's no one in the area that really has an efficient style of Black Belt level Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and collegiate wrestling. I'm the only one that can offer that in the state.

 
NWFS: Are there other coaches there at the school or is it just you?
Dahlberg: Its just me as far as regular coaching but I bring in a lot of guys that like to help out at the gym. Guys like Shawn Dawley and Mike Gavronski are there helping. My strategy and kind of my mission statement at the gym is you're only as good as your partner, so make sure the older students are always constantly helping everyone and making everyone grow. There's no competition as far as Oh, I gotta be better than this guy. No, it's I gotta make my buddy as good as me.

 
NWFS: Who should we be looking out for from The Demon Fight Team?
Dahlberg: The guy to look for is Sean Wilson. He's a kid who came from Barra Gracie and needed to work more no-gi stuff and MMA, so he came to me. He's a terrific athlete and that kid can do anything he wants if he puts his mind to it. 

 Sean Wilson wins via choke at Carnage at the Creek 3, and post-fight (Dahlberg on the left)

 
NWFS: Do you have anyone sponsoring you?
Dahlberg: I've got no sponsors. I'm just out doing it for the love of the game right now, so hopefully somebody picks me up.

 
NWFS: And anyone you want to thank?
Dahlberg: Yeah, I just want to thank all the guys that helped me train. Guys like Shawn Dawley, and Brooke and Oliver. The guys that came down here to help me. Johnny Nazario. Yeah, the whole training crew... Matt Werner and Scott Norton as well. And to Cindy Hales for all her moral support.

[Ed Note: Cindy is featured this week as the cover story of

the Seattle Weekly. It is well worth the read. Check it out HERE!]

Cindy Hales & Eric Dahlberg at

The Revolution BJJ Tournament (2/9/2008)

Learn more about Eric Dahlberg & his Ring Demon gym online at ringdemon.com.
The gym is located South of Seattle, near the Southcenter Mall in Tukwila.

The gym's address is 840 Industry Drive, Tukwila, WA 98188

and the phone number is 425-306-8000.