Trigg Talks About Comeback, Lawler, and Pride

By Steven Marrocco

Frank Trigg is enjoying a renaissance. Only a year ago, the veteran fighter was sitting on his couch, watching TV and eating junk food. He was retired as could be. Like many competitors who bow out, his training partners and colleagues brought him back into the fold.

After tasting the MMA life once again, he fully reinvested himself, signing on to fight Jason “Mayhem” Miller for the ICON sport middleweight title. “Mayhem” had just taken the title from Miletich fighter Robbie Lawler in September 2006, and had built a huge following in Hawaii. After fighting his way out of a rear-naked choke, his historical kryptonite, he went on to beat Miller via TKO in the second round.

Trigg continued in his winning ways in 2007, defeating Pride Middleweight Champion Kazuo Misaki via unanimous decision at Pride’s second U.S. show. While Trigg had definitely made a statement with the defeat of the champ, he acknowledged it wasn’t the most dazzling of fights to watch.

“He wasn’t doing much on the bottom and wasn’t letting me move, Trigg told reporters. “They talked about how good his striking was and it really wasn’t all that good. Mediocre at best. He was just so passive on the ground, and then I couldn’t knee him [in north-south position]. I couldn’t finish the fight the way I wanted to finish it.”

When FCF spoke to Trigg, he was ramping down his training camp, getting much needed rest in preparation for the fight. “It’s been going really good,” Trigg said of his preparation. “We’ve kept things moving forward. This week, we shut things down a little bit, as far as everything else, it’s all about fight week.”

Not surprisingly, his preparation has included a lot of boxing. For the last 8 years, Trigg has been refining his striking technique with pure boxers to develop his finesse. “I’ve gotten responses from a couple of pro boxers last week,” he boasted. “Even the pro boxers are like ‘We’re really impressed with how good you are. Your defense, how you throw straight punches.’”

Robbie Lawler, his opponent this Saturday, March 31st, has proven striking credentials. Lawler has never been accused of being passive in his fights, nor shying away from throwing hands. Trigg was quick to assess the threat he poses.

“Big haymaker thrower, big right hook, big left hand,” he said of his foe. “Likes to go for knockout power, he’s definitely got one punch dropping power. He’s one of those guys that can drill.”

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