Middletown, New Jersey product Chris Liguori is far from a newcomer to the big time MMA scene. Early in his career he took a tough loss to Keith Rockel in the UFC. However, it was later wins over Dorian Price and current UFC fighter Matt Brown that propelled his career. Recently, Elite XC came calling and Liguori delivered a convincing second round TKO win over Jim Bova on the Kimbo Slice undercard. Liguori’s career has evolved alongside his training partner Frankie Edgar, working independently out of Elite Wrestling in Jackson, New Jersey. Liguori and Edgar made news this spring when they joined the team of Ricardo Almeida in Hamilton, New Jersey. Both felt they were at a crossroads and the time was now or never to chase their MMA dreams.

John Moody from TSF sat down with Liguori after a recent sparring session to discuss his recent win, his near move to the American Kick Boxing Academy team in San Jose and his success training alongside his buddy Frankie Edgar.

Moody: Talk about your win Vs. Jim Bova at the Meadowlands on the recent Elite XC card. Did it play out as you expected?

Liguori: He started off good. Got some take-downs but did not do too much damage. He worked hard. By the start of second he was tiring and could not keep my pace. I ended up getting shots in. He shot a double-leg and I sprawled on him - got some good elbows behind the ear which might have rattled him and that was the beginning of the end.

Moody: What did you think about Gary Shaw and the whole Elite XC show?

Liguori: It felt great. It was a well run show. Not too many glitches on my end - no problems. It looked like it went off pretty well. They had a packed house and a lot of TV views so it worked out pretty well.

Moody: You and Frankie made news this past spring when you joined Ricardo Almeida’s team in Hamilton, NJ. How did that come about?

Liguori: We reached out to him. One of his black belts - Bill Scott from the Toms River area - we started training with him and then Ricardo sent the word out for us to come down. We had a meeting and talked about it and it worked well.

Moody: Is that all it is? Is there any tryout or he just decides if he can make time for you guys.

Ligouri: I am now a student of Ricardo Almeida. We know each other from the past. We respected him as a fighter. The interview process is more about you as person. It is more or less what kind of person and what you can add to the team.

Moody: But you guys almost made a different decision. Talk about the other option you considered?

Liguori: We would have gone to San Jose. We have a good relationship with Team AKA - Josh Koshchek, Jon Fitch, Dave Camarillo the Jiu Jitsu coach is a great guy and Josh Thompson is a good friend as well as Javier Mendez. But, it was tough to up-root and relocate, I have a business here. We were lacking the structure of a program. We got this far on our own. I showed him (Edgar) a lot and he showed me a lot and then I ran out of stuff to show him. (laugh)

Moody: Have you noticed a difference in your skill level since working with Ricardo Almeida?

Liguori: Yes, in the way I see the game. I have yet to leave a practice where I haven’t learned something. The guy is a book of knowledge. He has been there before. In my career I have been the guy who has been there before and slipped and fell. Now I got the guy ahead of me taking the reins.

Moody: How do you and Frankie help each other in training?

Liguori: We are training partners and we help each other out. When I am in off season, the workouts are geared to him and vice versa, if he is not training for fight the workouts are geared to me.

Moody: Is Frankie feeling the pressue coming off the loss to Gray Manard and now facing a very tough opponent in Hermes Franca on July 19th?

Liguori: I am sure there is always pressure. But you put more pressure on yourself. Win or lose your life is going on. Always have your girl and your dog. You train for this and this is your career … but you win some and you lose some.