Vigilante MMA

We all know Mike Straka as the host of Fighting Words with Mike Straka on HDNet. He has interviewed some of the biggest names in mixed martial arts like Dana White, Scott Coker, Randy Couture and many more. His interview style seems to mesh perfectly with the larger than life personalities of some of his guests.

During this in-depth interview, we discuss several topics with Straka, including some subjects that might surprise you. He’s interviewed a list of celebrities a mile long (Clooney, Jagger), is working on his 2^nd book, has acted in movies, television and Broadway. Yet with all this, he still managed to find time to talk with VigilanteMMA so we could interview the interviewer. Enjoy!

VigilanteMMA: Mike, thanks for joining us today. We really enjoy your work on Fighting Words. But before we get into that, I’ve heard you are in the process of writing another book. Is this an MMA related project?

Mike Straka: Yes it is, in fact it’s called Fighting Words and each chapter is based on episodes of the first season of my show, so the transcripts are what’s driving the narrative. I’m writing some background and prose into and out of the subject’s quotes, but you’ll see profiles of Dana White, Matt Hughes, Bas Rutten and other guests whom I’ve interviewed. One of the coolest aspects of the book will be the electronic versions for iPads and the like, where the reader can actually touch the video file at the end of the chapter and actually watch the entire episode, which will be one of the first books of its kind. My first book was based on my old Foxnews.com column, and that was 2007, so I’m really excited to have the opportunity to do another book. There’s something so permanent about having a book on the shelf. Television shows come and go, so I feel honored. It comes out September 2011 and is being published by Triumph Books. If you walk the sports section at Barnes and Noble, the majority of the books are from Triumph, so I’m in good hands.

VigilanteMMA: Your interviewing style is very relaxed and conversational. Who are some of your influences?

Mike Straka: I watch a lot of Charlie Rose and Larry King. I feel like between those two there’s a nice balance between being casual and being newsworthy, without being as confrontational as say, a Bill O’Reilly or even a Mike Wallace. If you watch Wallace on 60 Minutes, when he does those celebrity interviews there’s an entirely different rhythm going on than when he’s going after a political figure or Ken Lay, for instance. I try to emulate the Wallace celeb vibe, not the hard-hitting one. There’s always a push and pull going on in my field, because the fighters want to be interviewed because they need exposure, and I want to interview them because otherwise I’m out of a job, so there’s a delicate balance which I think I do well in walking that line.

VigilanteMMA: We know you best from your work in the MMA world, but you’ve also interviewed major celebrities in other fields outside of MMA. Can you drop some names for us?

Mike Straka: I’ve interviewed Tom Cruise and George Clooney, Mick Jagger and Jon Bon Jovi, and some big business leaders like Jack Welch and S. Truett Cathy. I would lump Dana White in there with the big ones as well. I’ve never gotten nervous about who I might be interviewing, because before I left Fox my job was Vice President and executive producer, so I never really had the time to dwell on who it was I was about to interview, because my on-camera life there was only about 5 percent of what I did, and that included my mma show, Fox Fight Game. There were a lot of shows I hosted on the fly with zero preparation because I didn’t have time. I’m lucky now that I get to prepare a little better. People ask me who my favorite celeb to interview was and I always say Clooney, because he was very thoughtful in his answers and extremely bright. Al Pacino was so gracious his public relations person had to drag him away from me, and that was really surprising considering his closest peer, Robert DeNiro, is very camera-shy. I interviewed DeNiro at the first annual Tribeca Film Festival, and lucky for me I was in the movie Analyze This, where I actually auditioned to play the young DeNiro character in the film, in front of director Harold Ramis and DeNiro himself, and he remembered me, so that was a unique icebreaker the other reporters didn’t have. I remember Tony Potts from Access Hollywood was like ‘Who the hell is that Fox News guy who got a one-on-one with DeNiro when everyone else just did the red carpet?’ I’ve interviewed Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys, Debra Harry, Tina Fey, even Peyton Manning after he won the Super Bowl in Miami.

VigilanteMMA: Manning at the Super Bowl? How’d you manage that?

Mike Straka: That was nuts too, but I was smart in how I did it. I was waiting outside the locker room and positioned myself near his parents, who were also waiting. When Peyton emerged from the locker room he was mobbed, but I stayed with Archie and next thing I know, I’m being whisked along with my cameraman by NFL security with the Mannings to a private room. Before anyone in charge got a chance to play “Which one of these does not belong,” I acted like I was supposed to be there and started interviewing Archie about his son’s performance, and in the middle of it Peyton comes in and joins the interview, so I ended up with father and son on tape, post Super Bowl victory. And nobody else had that. Crazy huh? At a pre-Oscars ceremony at some Italian museum of art in Hollywood, I was lucky enough to get an interview with Ennio Morricone, the music composer who scored The Good The Bad The Ugly, Once Upon A Time In America, The Untouchables, and in walked Clint Eastwood, and we got their first reunion in over 40 years on tape, and that was awesome. Clint was so cool, but he is so much older appearing in person than he is on film, and I can’t believe how prolific he still is at his age in making and starring in movies. I was stoked to get to interview those two living legends.

VigilanteMMA: Unbelievable! So who was your first MMA interview?

Mike Straka: My first MMA interview was Dana White, and it was cageside at UFC 32. We were so young back then. He had hair and was so thin, and I had high-ass guido hair. It’s embarrassing to look at it. It was the first time I ever interviewed someone who came right out and was completely honest. I think he said ‘I don’t know if we’re gonna f’ing make it, but I love this sport more than anything.’ Incidentally, he was also the first one to use the F word on camera in one of my interviews.  The first fighter I ever interviewed was Randy Couture, and I was stoked because I wrestled in high school and college, and Randy was kind of a hero (along with guys like Pete Yazou and Tom Martucci). He was doing Geraldo Rivera’s show and I got him in Geraldo’s office, and he was one of the reasons Fox let me do the MMA show, because he was so anti what they thought an mma fighter would be. He’s still the most eloquent, most informed guy in MMA. Randy mentions that meeting and interview in the Foreword to my book “Fighting Words,” which he was kind enough to write for me.

VigilanteMMA: As I mentioned we are big fans of Fighting Words on HDNet. My DVR is set to record every episode. How do you pick your subjects to interview? I’m assuming the production staff books guests, but how much influence so you have selecting guests?

Mike Straka: It’s a collaborative effort but I certainly have a lot of influence, but since HDNet is paying the crews etc, the final say is always on the EP’s Andrew Simon or Darrell Ewalt. A lot of the time I am in the position to pitch my subjects directly, at events or industry parties, and that’s how I get most of them on my show. It doesn’t always work out that way though. For example, I asked Dominick Cruz at the UFC Fan Expo in Boston when he could come and do my show, and he dissed me in front of like 20 people lined up for his autograph and said, “What show is that?” I was like, “Doh!” What I wanted to say is “It’s the show you’ll never be on,” but I held my tongue and walked away with my tail between my legs. I also write for FIGHT! Magazine and UFC.com, so I get to talk to a lot of fighters along the way, and those guys end up on the show eventually. Plus, when I started FOX Fight Game back in 02, I got to know a bunch of guys because there really weren’t too many other shows around, so I got lucky in that respect.

VigilanteMMA: Do you have a favorite interview from Fighting Words or from those you’ve done outside of MMA?

Mike Straka: My favorite interviews are the ones that can make my wife laugh or at least keep her genuine attention where I get more than a dismissive, “That was good hon,” as she rushes off to do dishes or give the kids a bath.  Anyone married knows exactly what I mean. Of course the fact that her favorite interview thus far (with Roger Huerta) says more about his looks and her taste in men and less about my interview technique is beside the point. Seriously, my favorite interviews are the ones that completely fall apart, like the one I did with Matt Serra that was such a train wreck, it ended up having a cult following. He busted my chops about wearing lifts, I busted him when he said he saw the “coming attractions” for a certain movie, all the while the director kept cutting to Serra’s coach Ray Longo, who just sat there with a classic “WTF?” look on his face the entire time. Of course these are silly examples, but it’s hard for me to identify my favorites. It would be easier to tell you which ones I hated, but I’m not going to do that for obvious reasons. I will say that I love my job, and after years of living a life dictated by breaking news, let me tell you it’s a lot more fun knowing who won a light heavyweight championship bout last weekend than it is to know the details about a BP oil leak or the Chilean miners saga.

Outside of MMA I think my favorite interview was with Mick Jagger, because everyone told me it would never happen. I think any MMA fighter who was told they will never make it can relate to that on even a small measure. ‘Oh yea? Watch me.’  One note about Jagger, the run up to my interview with him was like a tornado of activity, with managers and PR people and assistants all making sure I was ready and I wouldn’t take too much time and what questions will I ask him and don’t ask him this and don’t ask him that – that by the time he showed up I was ready to say the hell with it, and then he couldn’t have been more kind and generous and down to earth, and it just showed me that when one truly becomes famous, it’s the people around them that change the most. I don’t think he was aware of all the commotion around him. He was a great interview.

VigilanteMMA: What were some of your favorite moments on Fighting Words?

Mike Straka: My favorites are the time Dana White admitted he’s a dream maker, then in the next breath said he’d crush you if you put him in that position. Another moment was Frank Shamrock tearing up when he spoke about his late father, and then there was the stoic and downright scary Cain Velasquez telling about how he proposed to his girlfriend on the beach in Sydney after knocking Nogueira out. Those are great moments that expose the audience to something about their favorite mma personality that they wouldn’t have learned.

VigilanteMMA: Have you ever asked a question that someone actually answered candidly that you didn’t expect? Maybe you thought they’d tiptoe around the question?

Mike Straka: Yes. Hands down the biggest surprise was when I asked Ken Shamrock point blank if he had ever done steroids, and he said yes. He went on to explain that he thought steroids should be legalized, and that buying roids was like going to the candy store. Ken ended up taking a lot of heat for that interview, and to be honest, I felt really bad about that. Ken was honest, and he was brave to do that, and I will do anything for Ken if he asked. But let me tell you I agreed with everything Shamrock said, and while I’m not condoning steroid use in professional sports, I would not be surprised if it’s a firm like BALCO that finally cures cancer.

VigilanteMMA: I was going to ask you the worst question you’ve ever asked an athlete, but I won’t phrase it so negatively. So, have you ever asked a question you wish you could take back? (I’ll go first…I once asked a fighter how many of those Little Debbie’s Cosmic Brownies he thinks he could fit in his mouth!)

Mike Straka: I wouldn’t take it back, but I did regret the way I worded a question to Anderson Silva at the UFC 97 press conference after his lackluster performance against Thales Leites. I asked him if he had some kind of mental block that prevented him from going in for the kill, and both Chuck Liddell and Ed Soares flipped out on me. I felt like Entourage’s Johnny Drama, with the Iceman berating me from the dais and Soares asking for someone else to ask “a real question.” Fast forward to Abu Dhabi and Silva vs Maia and all of a sudden I didn’t look so stupid, but in Montreal that night – and you can ask anyone who was present at that press conference, you could have cut the tension in the room with a knife. After Soares asked for another question, nobody really said anything, and while Anderson and Chuck continued staring me down, I considered raising my hand and asking ‘Does this mean I can’t come to the after-party?’ Thankfully I refrained, because I can be a real wise ass. By the way, I asked Chuck about that incident when I interviewed him for Fighting Words, so look out for that episode in January.

VigilanteMMA: Awesome! Love the Johnny Drama reference. Is there anything you’ve found that makes working with MMA athletes unique when it comes to interviews? For me, it’s the accessibility. But is there anything else you’ve found?

Mike Straka: You know, I know what you mean when it comes to the accessibility. There’s a great story that Walter Cronkite tells in his book “A Reporter’s Life,” when he was in Paris covering World War 2 for the UPI. He said he and 3 other newspaper reporters were eating dinner at a fancy restaurant, talking about interviewing Churchill and Ike Eisenhower or whoever was big at the time, and next thing they know the liquor’s flowing and the food’s coming, and then the check arrived. Between all of them they didn’t have enough money to pay the bill, and they began arguing about whose fault it was, and who can expense it, etc., and the reality was they were screwed. Suddenly Ernest Hemingway walked up to their table and said “Just because you’re among us, doesn’t make you one of us,” and picked up the tab and put it on his own bill. I may be misquoting the exact story, but that’s pretty much the gist. And I can relate, because when you’re around the toughest guys in the world, when they stop and offer a hug and a hello. When you’re covering their training or having a post-fight martini with them, it’s really easy to start to think you’re as tough as they are. I haven’t been in any fights, don’t get me wrong, but I have been in situations where somebody somewhere will say, ‘You don’t want to mess with Mike, he’s into that MMA stuff,’ and everyone will take a step back and assume the guy means that I’m a UFC fighter myself…but I’m not jumping to clarify the statement with, “Hey I’m just a TV host.” I’ll let them assume I’m a badass. I just hope I never get called out on it and end up getting my ass kicked by The Situation or someone even cheesier (is there anyone cheesier)?

VigilanteMMA: I doubt it. He’s the king of cheese.

Mike Straka: But what I love most about MMA fighters is no matter how famous they get, or how much money they make, they never forget where they came from, and that’s refreshing, particularly when I’ve interviewed celebrities who couldn’t put a sentence together who think they’re qualified to argue the economic collapse because they’re in some movie this week. Jon Stewart is the worst. He loves to bash any one who doesn’t agree with an ultra-liberal agenda and he’ll rally his faithful followers in Washington, but when he’s confronted by someone who presents a sane, cohesive and complex argument about why he’s wrong, he’ll immediately hide behind the ‘Hey I’m a comedian whose show’s lead-in is a show about puppets making prank calls,” where he tries to make the point that people shouldn’t take him seriously, yet he takes himself very seriously. Man, I’m digressing.

VigilanteMMA: You’ve interviewed a lot of superstars in MMA. Is there anyone on your wish list that you haven’t interviewed yet?

Mike Straka: I would love to interview Nick Diaz. He’s someone who says “Nobody puts me on the cover of magazines or on their TV show,” but then when you book him he doesn’t show up. In a way I love that about him, and I think he’d be a great interview. By the way, I don’t think Mayhem Miller deserves a fight with Diaz. Maybe if he wins a title, but until then, he should stop calling out the champion.

VigilanteMMA: I’ve asked this question to several fighters, and it’s always interesting to hear their answers. Being that you work in the MMA industry and are surrounded by tough guys, what 2 or 3 guys would you want as your wingmen if things got rough in a dark alley?

Mike Straka: Frankie Edgar, because he is so fast, and so strong yet so small that anyone would be caught by complete surprise and go down fast. Chris Horodecki, because he is so loyal yet completely out if his mind that he would not hesitate to grab the heaviest object at his disposal and crack someone across the face, and Renzo Gracie, because he would talk us all down and buy the next round for all of us before any of the above ever escalated to that point.

VigilanteMMA: Some of our readers may not know that you’ve also been an actor. Can you share with us some of the projects you’ve done?

Mike Straka: I was in Analyze This, I played Anthony the waiter on the soap Another World, I was Johnny in Tony N Tina’s Wedding on Broadway and played another part in the movie, I was in national commercials for Healthy Choice Pasta Sauce, The Olive Garden, Target, PowerPuff Girls and Bud Light, but those are just the paying gigs. I had a great time studying with the founder of The Actor’s Studio, Bobby Lewis, with Robert Williams of Jiulliard, Bill Esper of Rutgers and Tony Greco at the Actor’s Studio. I auditioned three times for Robin in the third Batman movie, I read with Rhea Perlman to play her son in her Cheers spinoff, read for Chuck Norris in a show called Sons of Thunder and was in the running to play Christopher on The Sopranos (incidentally the same casting directors for Pearlman’s show). I had a lot of fun. Sometimes I forget about my acting life where I’d be talking to someone and I’m like ‘And oh yeah, I used to be an actor too.’

VigilanteMMA: How many Cosmic Brownies can you fit in your mouth at once?

Mike Straka: I have no idea.

VigilanteMMA: I consider you one of the top interviewers in any field—let alone MMA. So as an expert, can you rate this interview on a scale of 1 to 10? Keeping in mind that I’m sitting right here waiting for your answer, and a low score may just send me into a downward spiral.

Mike Straka: I would have given you a solid nine, but since you’ve already told Ariel Helwani he was THE BEST MMA Journalist in the history of MMA Journalism, I have to give you an 8. :).

VigilanteMMA: Dammit Helwani! He cost me a point! I’m sure the Cosmic Brownie question didn’t help my cause either. Mike, this has really been a great interview. Thanks so much for your time and for checking in with ViglanteMMA.

Mike Straka:Thanks for the interview Steve. I appreciate the support.

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