Interview: Virgil Zwicker looking to go the distance with Lavar Johnson

Virgil Zwicker isn’t a household name in the MMA community, in fact type his name in any search engine and you’ll find very little on him. Zwicker knows this and plans to use this to his advantage against his opponent on Friday, Lavar Johnson. Co-Headling the Strikeforce: Challengers event at the Save Mart Center in  Fresno, California we caught up with Virgil to talk about his opponant, being Native American and more.

With the fight just days away, how are you feeling?

Feeling good, about to start tapering down a little bit. I usually train about four times a day the last couple weeks and we’ll drop down to around two times a day then this week maybe once a day.

What does your fight weeks schedule look like training wise?

Monday and Tuesday will be a good workout, maybe not as hard. Wednesday I’ll do some very light warm up workouts to keep the body stretched. Pretty much don’t do much at all the rest of the week, except some cardio and shadow boxing.

How much weight do you have to cut?

Not cutting any weight for the fight

Where do you train?

Team Quest in Temecula, CA

You were born in Nebraska but grew up on an Indian Reservation, can you talk about that?

My father was a truck driver and my mother was pregnant with me while on the road. We ended up in Nebraska for a few years and then we moved back to my mom’s reservation near San Diego at the San Pasqual Indian reservation in Valley Center. 

Is this where you got the name “The RezDog”?

Yes, I use it because that is what most young men on the reservation call themselves.

Your Sports Hero is Mike Tyson, have you ever met him?

I haven’t had the chance but I hope that I get too soon.

 How does it feel to be making your Strikeforce Debut on Friday?

I’m very blessed to have this opportunity I feel no pressure except the fact I want to go out there and have an exciting fight. Got a really tough opponent and I want to show this organization that they got the right guy for the job. I can’t wait to get in there and show not only Strikeforce, but all the other people who are watching that this is for me.

What do you know of your opponent Lavar Johnson?

From what I have seen he’s a big guy, power striker that looks very athletic. I don’t know much about his story of getting shot but he has a lot to lose fighting in his hometown. I’m exciting to be able to do that, I’m use to fighting in my hometown and that pressure of fighting in front of all your fans and friends is pretty heavy.

You guys are both strikers, you expecting a war?

I’m expecting to fight my fight which is to capitalize on anything, if he is standing straight up I’m going to shot in on him. If he ain’t ready for that I’m going to capitalize on it and use my ground and pound experience. It will be a battle on the feet but if we go to the ground I’m going to take his back and choke him out.

How do you see this fight going?

My goal is to go the distance and test myself against someone like him; I want to see how good I am through three rounds.

You got into MMA because you replaced your older brother, explain how that came about?

My oldest brother Julian had been a boxer and was competing for a fight while also working as a fireman. He got injured in a call two days before the fight where he sliced a ligament and wasn’t able to do the match. I got a call the day before the fight; they asked if I wanted to make some money. I took the fight and banged with this guy, Dennis Hall and knocked him out in 42 seconds.

Any sponsors you’d like to thank?

I’d like to thank all my sponsors. Native threads, JTY Construction, My team at Team Quest, My Family, the fans, Strikeforce for giving me the opportunity and you guys (the media)

Tags: Interview, Lavar Johnson, Strikeforce, Strikeforce Challengers, Virgil Zwicker

Category: Interview, MMA, Strikeforce