Interviews
MMATorch Exclusive Interview with Frank Trigg (pt. 2 of 2): "There are two or three welterweights who are now talking about whether or not I'm going to punch them in the face next or not."
Feb 6, 2009 - 9:40:42 PM MMATorch Exclusive Interview with Frank Trigg (pt. 2 of 2): "There are two or three welterweights who are now talking about whether or not I'm going to punch them in the face next or not."

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This is part two of Jason Bent's exclusive interview with Frank Trigg, who is making a return to the UFC after four years outside of the organization. In part one Trigg discusses his time in the pro wrestling organization TNA, his expectations for his return, whether he'd be open to a third fight with Matt Hughes, thoughts on fickle MMA fans and much more.

Jason Bent: It will be four years ago this August since you last appeared in the UFC Octagon and your last fight was of course a disheartening loss to Georges St. Pierre. Today he is widely considered to be one of the very best pound-for-pound fighters in the world; would this have shocked you at all had you been told this four years ago, and speaking of the pound for pound best, who is at the top of yours?

Frank Trigg: I have Fedor Emelianenko at the top. Until he loses a fight, you have got to keep him up there. You know, I get the whole thing of people saying that he hasn't fought anyone in a while and you don't know what is going to happen in his future and I get all of that stuff. Who are the tough guys that he is fighting? I mean you have to look at his record and he beat up Nogueira and Cro Crop. He beat up Arlovski and he beat up Tim Sylvia. So you are talking about three former UFC Champs he has beaten up and now he is going to battle Barnett which will be his fourth former UFC champ. If he beats Barnett up then you have got to say that Fedor is one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world and there is no doubt about it. Until he loses, you can't really take him off of the top of the list. This fight with Barnett will really determine his legacy. If he beats Barnett, then hands down there can be no question about it. If he loses to Barnett than that should put Barnett up at number one or two in the heavyweight division and allows you to ask the question of Fedor's ability of a fighter. I mean, was he really that good? For a long time we have had that argument and a loss could go the other way with it.

Jason Bent: You have enjoyed much success in your time away from the UFC in compiling a 7-2 record with your only losses coming against Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit; how have you been able to not only remain relevant but seemingly get better as a fighter when many fighters over the age of 35 such as Chuck Liddell and Mark Coleman seem to see their skills erode with the passing of each fight?

Frank Trigg: It's simple. I stopped cutting weight. One of those things it does is that if you allow yourself to stop cutting weight from a wrestling standpoint where you are always having to be on a big, super diet, and keeping that weight down that if you allow yourself to stop worrying about cutting weight that it takes one thing off of the shelf and you can start focusing just on training and technique. You can then focus on just trying to get better as a fighter.

Another thing is that I have realized my problems in this sport. I'm not very good at boxing, not very good at jiu-jitsu offense or defense and I have been working diligently at those things. I am going to a boxing gym and working with boxers; I went there to get hit in the head and learn how to move. Then I went back to doing straight gi jiu-jitsu with John Lewis over in Las Vegas and I said, "I'm really going to learn how to do this. I'm going to learn how to do gi style and figure this stuff out" and that's what I did.

To spend that time really learning the sport because mixed martial arts is really three different sports. You have your wrestling, boxing and jiu-jitsu. Now, of course with boxing it could be karate or tae kwon do or kickboxing or whatever with the striking. For me boxing is the best form of striking for me because of the way that I move my body and my feet. So, what I did is that I figured out how to really box and really do jiu-jitsu and as a result I just got better. Then remember that I'm not a big 185 pounder by any means and I'm a little short so its difficult. So, what happened is that I decided I'm going to go out and use what I have. I'm shorter so I'm going to be an inside boxer. I have just been working towards putting together a better game plan and watching lots of film.

Another thing that has really helped me is being a broadcaster. Not just broadcasting on the sport itself but sitting there and having to break this down ringside and go "why is this guy doing this and why is it working?" has really helped me a lot as well.

Now that I have myself back and ready as a fighter to where I am ready to go back on a strict diet and get the weight back down, I have made my phone calls and have gotten myself back into the UFC.

Jason Bent: MMA has gotten bigger seemingly by the day and now there are not only more marketing opportunities for fighters but more money as well. If a fighter can kick ass in the cage and show some semblance of personality; the sky is the limit for them in today's marketplace. Is it a shock to you to find that you are still one of a handful of fighters who are able to actually hold their own with a microphone and cut a promo?

Frank Trigg: It really isn't that surprising to me. A lot of these guys just don't understand what it's like. They just haven't been brought up in a way to put themselves out there like that. You really have to have a lot of different personalities to make it work, though. You have to have a guy like Randy Couture who really isn't going to be able to sell a fight or guys like Chuck Liddell who are going to go in there and knock someone out but aren't going to really say anything about it. You have to have guys like that. You have to have a guy like Matt Hughes brought up on those Midwestern values to be that guy and you have got to have guys like Frank Trigg and Matt Serra who are guys that are going to run their mouths and beat you and kick your butt and try to be as strong and as big as you are. The nature of the sport is just like that.

Obama wouldn't have been elected President if he wasn't as good in front of a camera. It's just how it is and how America works. These guys with great personalities are groomed for success and if they don't have a good personality but great sports background as well, and it just isn't that surprising that those guys can't cut good promos. A lot of these guys are embarrassed and too scared to cut promos and they just don't want to look stupid in their promos and sometimes you do look dumb cutting them. That's just how it works and how it is.

Jason Bent: You have enjoyed tremendous success as a fighter, announcer, radio host and fashion designer; what else is on your to-do list in life and where do you see yourself in say five years?

Frank Trigg: Well, I don't know in five or ten years but I want to build playgrounds in some of the inner cities for those places in America where they need a place where their children can go and play and be safe.

I also want to build a couple of libraries and some real legitimate libraries attached to high schools. I see a lot of libraries in high schools and they are just under funded and just done correctly so I would like to see a few more libraries put together that could actually help out. One of the problems that we are lacking in our society and falling behind a lot of the European countries in math and science and all of the prizes for science and mathematics are being won overseas.

A lot of our attention is being placed in our society on just how to do things better, quicker, faster and easier. Take this "P90X" which is the big infomercial now, and one I just saw this morning and it's a big weight loss quick thing. This thing is supposed to put you in shape in just ninety days and the whole point is just to make you look good in ninety days. This is because it is faster, quicker and easier than anybody else. I mean you have "Bowflex" and their whole thing is that twenty minutes a day three times a week and you will have a body that looks like this and it's whole basis is that it is faster, quicker and easier.

Our society is built that way, and part of it means that our education system is being left behind. It's up to the parents now to educate our kids and public education is no longer really public, and that's really one of the biggest flaws in our society. If they are cutting money back on teachers and cutting money back on taxes and cutting money back on these things that the kids are the ones getting left behind. The one thing they don't get enough of is simple books for knowledge to read and to be able to grasp onto some ideas that may be outside of their box. I mean to some degree I am always reading something and the reason I am so knowledgeable is it wasn't because of the education that I got and that I went to English at Oklahoma, but it was because I read all of the time about stuff that interested me; and maybe if the book didn't interest me that it would maybe open my mind to something else. I would just love to see a couple of libraries built so we can get enough or at least more books for these kids to take home and read and try to develop themselves. I mean I am probably overstepping my boundaries but we have got these lists of banned books that we have where books like "The Slaughterhouse Five" and these other great works of art like "The Catcher in the Rye" and these great books were banned from high school libraries because parents don't want kids to read them. Well, you have got to let your kids read these books and try to understand them for themselves what goes on in the world. I would like to see a lot of more of that going on. So, that would have to be like ten years down the road because that is a pretty expensive dream and you have got to raise a lot of money in order to make those sorts of things happen.

Jason Bent: Expounding a little further on some of these things that you have touched on and combining this with your magnetic personality and your public speaking ability, could you ever see yourself running for public office?

Frank Trigg: I went to school with the whole intention of eventually running for President of the United States. That's what I went to college for; that I wanted to be President one day. I have always been that guy who is not going to step into something without reaching for the top. Don't try to do something if you are not going to try to be the absolute best. Do you fall short a lot of times? Yes. But I am not going to let that stop me and I am still going to try to do the best that I can do and try to make it happen.

So, I went to school to do that thing and get into the game. I hung out a lot with J.C. Watts who is also from the University of Oklahoma and talked to Steve Largent who is from Oklahoma and now a senator and this was very much something that I wanted to do.

But, here is one of my flaws that would probably keep me from running for office unless I'd have to change a couple of things or my public opinion would change about these things; I am a very liberal democrat. Very liberal. I believe in gay marriages and all of the rights that go along with marriage to be offered to same sex marriages the same as opposite sex marriages. It doesn't affect my life one way or the other about gay marriages and so I believe that everyone has the right to truly be happy or in some cases as unhappy as they would choose to be.

I am fiscally a Republican. I don't like people going out there and raising or lowering my tax dollars every day and making the decision of how it is going to be spent or not being spent, but believe from a Democrat's standpoint that there are some things that have to be taken care of with tax dollars. Obviously with tax dollars we are going to talk about the police, firemen and EMTs and how are tax dollars are going to pay for these things. I firmly believe that there is no reason for a cop to be making less money and the police force continue to be understaffed. The biggest problem right here in Nevada in Clark County is that they just reduced the budget again for teachers, and we are actually closing schools and reducing teacher's pay and class sizes had to go from around fourteen or fifteen kids per class up to twenty-one or twenty-two per class. Which is a lot of kids for that one teacher to educate and the kids are falling way off. I just really don't understand the whole reasoning behind this.

One of my other flaws is that I am a huge NRA supporter. I love the NRA and I love the fact that thanks to our first amendment that we get to wake up every morning and bear arms and defend our rights to own weaponry. Although this is kind of intuitive to me as a Democrat as this is typically a Republican standpoint. Which is confusing, so it is kind of tough.
So, would I ever run for public office if the opportunity arose? Yes, I would absolutely run for public office without a doubt. I come from a whole family of Republicans, most of my family is devoutly Republican so I would be running on a Democratic ticket and be on the opposite end. That would be very difficult. I would also do it in a certain way like Matt Lindland and give myself the best chance of winning.

Matt, in Oregon, ran for a seat in the State House and won the primary with seven Republicans in that whole area. So he just had to convince four of them and he has more than that in his whole family so that was very simple for him. I don't think a Republican had even won that seat in under a hundred years so what he did and from a Republican standpoint in a Democratic area that he had to be smart about it and you would have to be smart about that when you run. You have to look at it from the standpoint that if a Republican hasn't won this in a hundred years that the chances of winning are so slim that maybe I want to get my voice out there now so that I can really run the second time. Those are the sort of things that of course go on behind the scenes.

Yes, if the opportunity arose I would definitely run for office. I would have no problems with that. I am also unapologetic and would have no problem telling my constituents that the reason why I voted for this Air Force closing in Texas, and I live in Nevada right now so I am using this as an example, is that in Nevada they were going to lower the tax burden on casinos in Clark County where I'm from so I would have no problem telling my constituents about pork barrel policy and that look, I voted for that because why we are doing this is going to help us. What do you want me to do? Not help you guys? I have to help us, meaning the people who voted me in and that's why we are doing it. I'm not scared to stand upon my voting patterns and my views and if people don't like it then the answer would be just don’t vote me in.

I am big voter. Don't vote? You cannot wake up and then complain that Obama is the President if you didn't even vote for the President. The only way you can complain about it is if you have a vote card. I have a vote card and I voted the other way. I didn't like Obama and I can complain about it because I voted. If you don't go out and vote then how are you going to complain about it?

So, sure, if I could run that would be awesome. If I could all of that together and make it happen, sure.

Jason Bent: Speaking of other career paths and touching on your mind for business, how did Triggonomics come about, where is the company going today and what is in store for the future in terms of your successful clothing line?

Frank Trigg: It started out because back in the day, gear in the beginning of mixed martial arts was horrible. The clothing was just horrible. Even TapouT was just pathetic and it was just horrible gear. They were under funded and we all know the story of Charles and Dan selling stuff from the trunk of their cars, but they were under funded and you can only make the quality that you can afford to make. It just wasn't that great of gear.

So, we decided that we wanted to make something a little bit better. So I went and got a loan with a couple of professional hockey players and we started our thing in 2004 and just started moving forward. Right now we are at a stage where because I have signed with the UFC that I now have to put everything else on the backburner. When you are with the UFC you can't be a guy that does nineteen or twenty different things when you are out there. Right now, I'm that kind of guy, I can't do all of that stuff.

The thing is that when it comes to clothing, Triggonomics is my passion of fashion. I got the name, put all of that together with the trademarks and put all of that together myself. The first couple of stages I was working hand in hand with the designers to put the stuff together and stood over them to the point of where to put a line or where not to put a line. I take care of the look of the company, the sales for the company; I do everything myself. I just don't have the support staff to maintain it while I am trying to prepare for a fight. As a result it is going to have to go on the backburner for now. We have a bunch of new designs we put together and really wanted to get out but with the way the economy is and how tough it is, as a small clothing line; you really have to dedicate yourself to it eight to twelve hours a day and I can't do that and still be able to train my six hours a day. Ultimately I want to be as big as TapouT, Affliction, Ed Hardy and as a company you would want to rival Nike and Stussy and Mossimo for clothing sales. You want to go out there and walk into a place and see people wearing Triggonomics and it's right there on the shelf next to Phat Farm. You want to see that happen.

We are almost there but it's definitely going to have to slow down. We've got another couple of months and two or three things that need to happen. I either need to get a distribution partner that can handle all of the sales and distribution of the garments Or I need to find some new investors to come in and give us a revitalization of the line. If that doesn't happen right now then we will need to back off and slow things down a little for the next few years while I am fighting.

Jason Bent: One thing that impressed me about your clothing line is that you are unlike a lot of athletes who are willing to simply put their name on a product and expect that to be the main selling point. A lot of vanity operations like this are run with the mindset of just slapping a screen printed name on some t-shirts or sweatshirts and feel like this alone will mean success. How did you avoid the common pitfall of just putting the least amount of effort into the product and hoping your name alone will garner some sales?

Frank Trigg: It's an ego thing. Someone could think that just because my name is out there or that I'm big and winning that this means their stuff will sell. This just isn't how it works in fashion. Fashion isn't necessarily about the impulse buyers. I mean we get some impulse buyers for sure who will buy the gear because my name is attached but my goal is not to reach those people.

I'm not trying to reach my fans through my fashion. I am not going to try and sell my gear to the guy who is going to watch me no matter what. I am trying to get the people who want a nice graphic t-shirt or want a comfortable sweatshirt. The people who might have no idea about who I am or what I am doing. I don't want those people who are buying it because of me as a fighter. I want the guys who go, "I really like this graphic" or just the feel and comfort of the shirt and who are going to buy three or four of them as opposed to someone who will just buy one of them.

One of the things that can make this happen is that I have to update the graphics. Right now my graphics are admittedly a little bit last season. Because of the economy that has affected the way that the sales have been going. If you are going to buy something or spend any money, you are going to buy something new and fresh. My graphics right now are a little last season. So, we have to get the new season out there and update and I have to add that I don't want to look like Affliction or Silver Star or Ed Hardy, but you do have to get those new designs that people want out there. Now, you have to have foil and you have to have sequins on the girl's stuff or stones and that's just what the people are into right now. You have to attack with what people are buying and that is just something you have to do.

I am the middle of seven boys; I grew up with nothing but hand-me-downs. I grew up to really love shoes and I love watches. The comfort and function ability of a garment is what I am after. I also have to say that I have developed a real love of fashion and I am really trying to dedicate myself to making this brand grow and to pick itself up by the summer and it's difficult because I'm battling up against guys like Tom Atencio who has been doing this since he was thirteen and he is now forty-two years old. He has been in fashion since he was fifteen; it's what he has done. I'm going up against guys like Luke and Charis of Silver Star and they have been doing this stuff for fifteen years. You can't battle those guys. I mean you can't battle those guys like Punkass and Skyskrape who have been in the game of fashion for fifteen or sixteen years. Here I am trying to battle them at their game while doing five or six other things at once.

The main thing about garments is that you can't ride on a name or just simply put your name on something and expect it to do well. For it to do well, that means I have to be doing something else so it is very difficult do stuff like this because you have to be able to dedicate a lot of time to it. Just like anything else, you have to have a passion for it. If you don't have a passion for getting punched in the face, you won't be in there and getting punched in the face. If you don't have the passion to train hard, you just aren't going to be any type of athlete. A lot of these folks in fashion who are experiencing this kind of success have partners and investors who take over everything but really take over the name. Mine on the other hand is where I'm not just the name and the face but I also develop everything as well. So, because my passion is fully behind it; it is slow growth but it is growing tremendously for me as well.

Jason Bent: Obviously your goal for your clothing brand is to have your garments distributed in the biggest stores and to enjoy a high level of circulation but before that happens you will be focusing all of your energies into distributing your own brand as it pertains to MMA as Frank Trigg is now back in circulation in the UFC.

Where do you feel that you immediately rank in terms of the competition already there at 170 lbs. and also what would you say to those fighters who now have to hear that Frank Trigg is back and will be gunning for their spots?

Frank Trigg: Well, one thing is that with the media with your sites and stuff like Facebook and Myspace is that everyone immediately knew that I was back and that I'm coming back to the UFC. The fighters, they get it, they know that I'm coming in. A lot of them won't know anything about me because they are younger and a lot of the new guys certainly won't know who I am. The older guys are going to be thinking that I am past my prime, which is, well I don't think so. They will be able to tell once I compete and by how I compete when I'm out there.

Then you are talking about, where do I fit in? I am looking to contend for a title shot within four fights. That'd be great if I could get a title shot in the next year, but to be able to do that I've got to win. That's the thing whoever they put in there first. I've got to beat him up. Then, whoever is second, I've got to beat him up too. I have to win these fights, so there really isn't that much I can say and certainly not much I can do anything about until I get to these fights. First, you've got to beat some guys up and then you've got to have some help, but you've got to get through these guys first before you really fit in.

Now, I would think I was ninth or tenth ranked at 185 so in dropping down to 170, traditionally I'd be ranked like fifth, sixth, seventh or eighth. You know, somewhere in that bottom five in coming down to 170 but it's been a long time so I am quite the anomaly so I will be off the rankings for my first fight. Depending on who they give to me, if they are ranked eighth and I beat them then I will take over that eighth place and if they are ranked number one then I will be number one in the weight class. I just have to get in there first and do it and then see what goes on. Knowing this sport now and how there is so much knowledge out there, I can guarantee that as we are doing this interview that there are two or three welterweights who are now talking about whether or not I'm going to punch them in the face next or not. Or talking about what they are going to do to me if we were to battle.

Jason Bent: Now, the UFC is the big show and in terms of MMA promotions is sort of a monopoly, in that there are very few places for a fighter to ply his trade that will actually be there tomorrow. We have had a litany of promotions such as Elite XC, Strikeforce, Affliction, and in two of these cases the company is either no longer in existence or will not be around much longer. In your opinion, why is it that no one can seem to come up with a proper business structure or a plan to not necessarily take the UFC head on but to rather compete with them in the MMA marketplace while trying to be a strong number two or three promotion?

Frank Trigg: Well, Strikeforce is doing it now. They have their deal with Showtime or CBS and what have you and they will be the second tier. The problem for the second tier promotions is that the UFC locks up all of the talent. You can liken this to the NBA and the ABA back in the day like Dr. J. who came over to the NBA from the ABA. The NBA could see that while the ABA did have a lot of talent, they were also under funded and couldn't afford to keep doing what they were doing, and so instead of having competition the NBA said, "look, we are going to just buy you up and pick up all of your contracts," which is exactly what they did. What this did was shut down the ABA because they of course had no talent left. This is kind of what the UFC has done. They have all of the talent.

The main reason for me to come back to the UFC and the main reason why I called them up and said, "would you please have me back" is that all of the talent at 170 lbs. is in the UFC. All the talent in the world and all of the best talent in the world is there.

So, do I want to roll around with Strikeforce when all they've really got is Jake Shields? One guy, and then if I beat him what happens next? I'd be running around outside of the UFC still and it wouldn't do me any good. Or I could go back to the UFC and battle and work my way all the way up to number one contender or number two in the world depending on St. Pierre and Alves when they fight. That is a lot more satisfying to me.

So, the UFC has all of the talent so it is tough. I mean with Affliction, who do they really have? They have Fedor but who else can hold a card? No one else in their talent pool can headline a card. Say if Fedor were to get hurt and pull out of Affliction's third card, who do they have that they can put on this card who could actually sell the card? Without Fedor they just don't have anybody.

Strikeforce is doing a good job because they are building up Scott Smith and Cung Le even though he is not battling anyone right now. There are some other cats out there like Robbie Lawler, although he needs to speak or just say something every once in a while. They have a pretty good guy in Lawler but just need to figure out what they are going to do with that division. Jake Shields is currently the one man pony show over there and after that there is really nobody else. They really haven't developed themselves to where you can say that they have four or five guys who can really carry a card.

By carry a card I mean a main event that people are going to buy just because of a main event alone. Because all of the promos have to revolve around your main event or your co-main event. All of your marketing resources have to go for the main event and you have to find a way to get butts in the seats and if you can't you're going to sink.

Look at the UFC, they can do a main event or co-main event with anybody in the heavyweight division. Between Couture, Nogueira, Mir and Lesnar, and I don't mean just against each other but as themselves each fighting another fighter, and that is four main events that they have. That's four months right there and one quarter with just using heavyweights as the main event that will be able to sell tickets, sell out arenas and draw PPV buys.

Then you have St. Pierre and Thiago Alves or a Sean Sherk or Kenny Florian, and I mean in the UFC you can easily come up with ten to fourteen or fifteen guys who can carry a card on their own and this is not even counting who they would be fighting.

Look at this fight night the UFC is putting on in Oklahoma, they will sell out just by having Johnny Hendricks and Jake Rosholt on the card. That will sell out the card just by itself and these aren't guys who are being looked at as top end guys within the UFC right now, but they are from Oklahoma so it would sell out based on that.

You look at Strikeforce and they are going to St. Louis on the 6th of June and to my knowledge, I don't think they are even sold out. There is nothing on that card that makes anyone jump up and down. I want to see the Baroni-Riggs fight of course, because I like to see Baroni fight and I like Riggs because he is a lefthander. Outside of that, there is really nothing else on that card that really makes me want to jump up and down.

To me, the Shields-Lawler fight is really a silly fight. You have one guy going down and another guy coming up a little in weight to fight each other, but the outcome of it and the end result is not going to change anything in respect to their individual weight classes. Shields will still be the Welterweight champ and Lawler will still be the Middleweight Champ until Cung Le comes back and that's what is going to happen. So there is really no one on that card who I can say, "oh, that guy is selling the whole card out." But, like I said, the UFC can do it all of the time and that's why no one can really battle with them because of the lack of a talent pool. All of the great talent is locked up over there in the UFC and that's kind of what they do.

Jason Bent: In yourself, the UFC has locked up yet another talent in the world. I have to say that of all athletes that I have ever spoken to, that you have to rank up there with one I wouldn't mind talking to for several hours about a wide range of subjects. You are an intelligent man and a rather personable one at that and I could see this going on to become the "Fireside Chat with Frank Trigg" series.

I have to stress intelligence because not only is this lacking in many, which goes back to your points on the downfall of public education and in a world in which many athletes and non-athletes are not as well educated as maybe they should be, I have to give you much credit for being so and take note of the fact that you do have a college degree.

Frank Trigg: I appreciate that. It wasn't easy getting that degree. It was a tough, tough road for me to obtain it. I wouldn't describe myself as particularly book smart and I didn't really do too well in the classroom and that's not my thing. I do definitely pride myself on my ability to study and I do have a degree from the University of Oklahoma and I do work on learning everyday. Anytime I am on a flight, I am trying to learn something new. I like to try and learn about things I think I don't like in order to see if there is really a reason as to why I don't like it. Is it because I was taught some prejudice against it and that's why I don't like it or is there really a reason and I like to find these things out about myself too.

Jason Bent: One of the things which I feel has set you apart from others and is likely a reason for your success within the fight game and in the fashion world is the fact that you do have such a work ethic.

Before we go today, is there anything that you would like to say to your fans or to your detractors? Such as the guys with the "I Hate Frank Trigg" Facebook pages; is there anything you would like to say to either of those parties before you leave today?

Frank Trigg: Here is the thing, man. I am from that Muhammad Ali school of marketing where if fifty percent of the people are watching me fight to win and the other fifty percent are watching me fight and hoping I lose so that equals one hundred percent of the people coming to watch me. So, I am that way. For every hater out there, I'm going to have a guy who likes me and that's just the way it is and I can't judge the way that people might feel about me on my views or my opinions. I just am who I am and I go out there and fight and to do my thing and speak my piece or speak my mind and that is just going to be the way it is. I have no fear of what I have said and I'm going to stand behind what I say, and if I am wrong I am not just going to say, "you got me" and I was wrong. I have no problem doing that and the folks that enjoy it are watching me because they enjoy it and the folks who are running away and talking about me because they don't enjoy it is fine. I couldn't care less either way, really.

Jason Bent: I would like to thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to speak to me today and I really appreciate this. Perhaps once a fight is signed and your opponent becomes official we can get some words from you at that time and go from there. Frank Trigg is officially back so we all wait and see just what happens upon your return to the UFC Octagon, and I look forward to hearing from you again later on.

Frank Trigg: Absolutely. Thanks, Jason and I appreciate it. Talk to you later on.

Frank Trigg is indeed back in the UFC, and he has his work cut out for him as the welterweight division is arguably one of the most competitive in the world, and the level of talent is also much higher than it was before he left.

As it stands now, his next opponent is undecided or at the very least unknown to Trigg as no contracts have been signed and all such rumors will have to be regarded as such until the word if official. All reports of a bout with Josh Koscheck must be taken as only mere speculation and rumor as the man himself has made it clear that no such thing has been guaranteed.

He returns to the UFC and finds the welterweight division to be in much better shape than it was before, but the same can also be said of Trigg who has indeed found a way to not only continue to compete at the highest level but has actually become a better fighter in his time away from the UFC.

You either love or hate Frank Trigg, but it is a sure bet that all of us will be watching as he brings his tenacity, strengths and outspoken personality back into the Octagon and onto the MMA world's biggest stage of the UFC.

Will he make good on his hopes of earning a title shot or becoming the UFC Welterweight Champion?

Who knows, but as Frank himself says, "YOU KNOW" that you will be watching every moment and each fight as he makes what he hopes will be a triumphant return to the UFC.

Frank Trigg's clothing line can be found at www.triggonomics.com and his MySpace account is www.myspace.com/triggonomics. You can check these out in the meantime but be sure keep it right here at www.mmatorch.com as we bring you the latest news as it happens and will let you know when a fight announcement for Trigg's return becomes official.

Be sure to check out part one of the interview on the main page.

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