Undefeated pro Shorty "The Pitbull" Weikel will be fighting former WEC fighter Bryan "Kid Lightning" Caraway this Sat Feb 19th on the CageSport MMA card at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma. NW Fightscene's Spaniard had a chance to talk with Shorty about the fight and more...

NW Fightscene: You're still undefeated. This is definitely your toughest fight to date. But everyone keeps saying that with every fight you take. So what is it? Do you just got to take tough fights or you just don't like taking time off?
Shorty Weikel: Its a little bit of both. I don't really like downtime. If you look at 2010, I fought 9 out of the 12 months. So I like to take fights month to month. But at the same time, I keep facing these guys that everyone says I can't beat and I beat them... And then after I beat these people they try and tell me they're not good enough. I'm like 'Well beforehand you were telling me I couldn't even take these people out and now you're telling me they weren't even good enough'. And so I think Caraway is one they won't be able to take away from me. I've been training really hard for this fight and I'm excited. I hope he's ready.

NWFS: Talk about your training camp and getting ready for Caraway.
Weikel: Its kind of the same. I don't really train for an opponent. Don't really feel that's the way to go about a fight. I really train on my game, kind of the same way I went into all my fights. I want to make sure I'm ready as much as possible when I go into a fight. I've been training down at Midtown MMA in Springfield Oregon. Its a great facility. My coach Levi Kurtovich, my hands coach Tomi Massey, out at KHJ with Randall Coburn. He teaches all-around, everything. Not just one particular style. 

The only reason you should train for a guy is if you plan on letting him do something to you. If you plan on dictating the fight then you should train your own style. Because you're going to be doing everything you're used to the whole fight. If you plan on letting the guy take you down and take you into his game, then yeah, you might want to train his style. I plan on pushing forward in this fight and really taking it to Caraway. And so I really worked on what I felt were my weaknesses and spots I need to improve from last fight. And I'm ready to go out there and showcase it to everybody.

NWFS: Caraway is with Team Alpha Male and they're known for their fast pace and their striking. And Caraway in the past has been known for his aggressive wrestling and submission game. How do you think your styles are going to match up in this fight?
Weikel: Really good actually. Mine's also the same thing. I love the ground game and that's my place. I love to ground and pound people out. I've actually been  practicing a lot of submissions. So if Caraway sets up, I'll probably submit him. I've submitted veteran Jason Georgianna, veteran Rob Hisamoto. If you look over my record, I have pretty much a submission in every category except the triangle choke. Which could happen.

NWFS: Not looking past this but if you get a win here, do you think this is the fight that could get you in the big show?
Weikel: Yeah, I really do. That's what I was planning and hoping that fighting someone like Caraway will get me recognized because he's been recognized. I've fought people that are local and have records, veterans. Whichever way you want to look at it. But I haven't really fought someone that's actually been in the WEC before. Which is no big deal for me because as you're building and working up the ladder, you've always got to fight someone better. It doesn't play a part in my game. I could care less if he's fought in the WEC. That's just another show. That's not going to help him any when he steps into the cage against me. Everybody has their own styles. Whether he's fought top line guys.... I consider myself a top line guy. So I hope he doesn't look at me any less than that. I've heard people say that I keep getting all my wins because people underestimate me. But I don't feel people are underestimating me, I just think that I have a style that is hard for them to prepare for. As much as they want to watch video or study and think they're going to go out there and do this jits move on me.. its a lot easier said than done.

NWFS: Now you're always seem to be the underdog. Are you getting used to that?
Weikel: I love being the underdog actually. Means you always get to surprise people when you win. Makes it that much better. 

NWFS: Anybody you'd like to thank? 
Weikel: I'd like to thank KHJ and Randall Coburn. But foremost and most of all, Midtown MMA, my hometown gym down in Springfield OR. You guys want some good training, come down there. I hope to see you guys up at the Emerald Queen. I'm ready to take on Caraway. My next fight is actually scheduled for April 16th against Enoch Wilson. But we're not looking past Caraway yet.

Many thanks to Shorty for taking the time to speak to NW Fightscene. Fight fans can catch this rising star take on Bryan Caraway this Sat Feb 19th, 2011 at CageSport MMA inside the Emerald Queen Casino's I-5 Showroom in Tacoma. More info on the show is at halquistproductions.com/cagesport_13_card.html