Vladimir Matyushenko (Rob Tatum/MMADieHards)

For Vladimir Matyushenko, mixed martial arts is simply a way of life.

The 40-year old Belarusian is a veteran of 30 fights and is making the most of his second stint in the UFC.

“The Janitor” is slated to take on Jason Brilz as part of the main card of UFC 129 on April 30 in Toronto.  When Matyushenko recently joined hosts Joe Rizzo and Jeremy Fullerton for Rear Naked Choke Radio on the MMADieHards Radio Network, the trio discussed the upcoming matchup, the process of cutting weight, and the current light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones.

Casual fans of the sport may not recognize Matyushenko if he walked through a crowded room, but long-time supporters would undoubtedly spot the only light heavyweight champion in IFL history.  After a brief stint in the UFC from 2001-03 that included losses to former champions Tito Ortiz and Andrei Arlovski, Matyushenko went on an eight-fight win streak that included a perfect 6-0 record inside the IFL. When the promotion folded, a contract with Affliction eventually led Matyushenko back to the UFC.

Boasting a 3-1 record since his return in late 2009, with his only loss being against Jones, “The Janitor” once again has his sights set on Brilz.  The pair were slated to fight at UFC 122 in November 2010, but an injury forced Brilz out of the bout.  Matyushenko instead dispatched of Alexandre Ferreira with a first-round TKO.  The previous training camp that focused largely on Brilz is something Matyushenko sees as an advantage.

“It’s like a continuation of training for him,” explained Matyushenko.  “This is nothing new for me.  I’ve fought wrestlers before.  I think it’s going to an exciting fight and we both deserve it.”

The prospect of fighting in front of 55,000 fans in Toronto’s Rogers Centre is something new, even to someone as experienced as Matyushenko.

“I’ve never experienced anything like this before,” acknowledged the veteran.  “The crowd in Canada is pretty educated and pretty fun.  They understand things.  It feels great to be a part of it.”

Although Matyushenko has competed at heavyweight in the past, the freestyle wrestler believes that he is best suited for the 205-pound weight class.  Oddly enough, he feels that cutting weight helps his preparation.

“I like cutting weight,” Matyushenko declared.  “It brings all the fighters together.  It takes your mind off of the fight and takes away the nervousness.  I fought at heavyweight a few times and it was kind of weird because I just sat around thinking about the fight.  At 205, I’m cutting weight and it helps me relax.”

Having competed across the globe in his career, Matyushenko has run into a wide variety of scenarios for weight cutting.  He recalled his experience in Germany for UFC 122.

“You have to do what you have to do,” Matyushenko recounted with a chuckle.  “(In Germany) they didn’t have a lot of facilities, so all I did was run up and down the stairs of a 14-story building.  All the way up, all the way down, go to the sauna.  Repeat.”

This resiliency and willingness to adapt to any situation has propelled “The Janitor” to victory in 25 of his 30 career fights.  However, in August 2010, he faced off against Jones in a fight that didn’t go his way.  Asked if he was surprised at the result, Matyushenko opened up about the eventual champion.

“No, I wasn’t surprised,” said Matyushenko.  “After my fight, we went to the bar for a shot of vodka and I told him that if he didn’t win the championship this year that I was going to come back and kick his ass (laughing).

“He’s a very talented guy, not just young and athletic.  It’s about him being able to utilize his abilities.  There’s a lot of tall, athletic guys, but they don’t use it in a fight.  He doesn’t make many mistakes.  He’s smart and does his homework.  He’s going to be there a while.”

The loss not withstanding, a string of victories easily could thrust Matyushenko into the title mix and a chance at redemption against Jones.  But it is only possible if he takes care of business April 30 against Brilz.

Jason Brilz (MMAJunkie.com photo)

With UFC 129 right around the corner, worldwide fans of mixed martial arts are beginning to buzz as the sport’s grandest spectacle moves ever closer towards gracing our television screens.

In front of 55,000 spectators packed into Toronto’s Rogers Centre, generating a collective gate receipt pushing $11million, Jason Brilz is one of the few fighters lucky enough to compete on the largest show North American MMA has ever seen.

The occasion marks a significant step up from the humble beginnings Brilz (18-3-1 MMA) embarked on in the 90’s, initially as a wrestler, before turning to MMA at the beginning of the millennium. Speaking to hosts Joe Rizzo and stand-in Hector Castro on Rear Naked Choke Radio on the MMA DieHards Network, Brilz shared memories of his first forays into the cage 11 years ago.

“I was born and raised in North Dakota and moved down to Omaha, Nebraska in 1989 when I was a freshman in high school,” said Brilz. “Then in ’94, I went on to (the University of Nebraska at Omaha) and got on the wrestling team. I wrestled there for five years through ’99 before taking my first (MMA) fight in 2000 on a week’s notice. I just had no idea what I was doing or what was going on. They were like, ‘Hey, want to fight?’  So I said, ‘Uh, OK.’  Next day, the promoter tells me he’s booked my match so I had to borrow my coach’s gloves, those Chuck Norris ones, which I probably used for my first five or six matches.”

Brilz’s lack of preparation complimented his game-plan, or lack of one, quite nicely.

“I just kept my hands up, I didn’t know anything about striking,” confessed the light-heavyweight. “The dude came out and just blasted me with a leg kick that broke my arm actually, but the adrenaline was rolling so I didn’t even know about it until finally I got him in a choke and he tapped out. After that, my mom came over and said ‘Oh God, I did not teach you to do this!’  Then my grandma joined us and said, ‘That’s OK, he hit you first.’  After that, I had to take four months off. My wedding was coming up and nobody wanted me showing with a big black eye or something like that.”

Brilz’ winning streak would continue, reaching 5-0 before he lost to Vince Feilds in 2001. It would be the only loss of his career before conceding a close split decision to Eliot Marshall at UFC 103 in the fall of 2009 that saw “The Hitman” fall to 17-2 in his MMA career. Despite an impressive record, Brilz asserted that the accomplishment never played on his mind and that his decade-plus career boils down to a desire to compete.

“You know, I never really thought (about my record),” admitted Brilz. “I just enjoyed it, the fighting, the training. I was still an assistant coach (at Nebraska-Omaha) so I would only compete during the wrestling season.  I would usually compete between October and March and it worked out great. I never thought it would be a career by any means.

One thing’s for sure, there’s no way Brilz could have been in it for the money.

“I remember after my first fight I got 50 bucks,” said Brilz. “Then I won another and got another 50 bucks. So I was all happy. My mom then pointed out that my hospital bill for the cast had been $300. But I didn’t care; I’d made a hundred bucks! Eventually I made a couple of hundred here and there, then a couple of thousand, which made a nice bit of extra income for that family vacation or TV we had wanted. But then I got into the UFC and they started throwing the money around. Compared to what I was making before that fight it was like ‘Holy smokes!’  I was able to start paying off student loans and become debt free.

“But I’m a fighter; I fight. It’s more than a hobby and I don’t want to call it a secondary job. Its something I truly enjoy and I could see myself doing it for another four or five years. My career right now is fire-fighting, that’s my bread and butter.”

(photo courtesy of Paula Miller)

Fast-forwarding to the present day, Brilz prepares to face a man who has done a respectable job of clearing out the lower tiers of the UFC’s 205 pound division in a manner well-suited to his nickname, Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko. In one of two bouts on the card not to feature a Canadian, Brilz maintained that Matyushenko would still be a handful, with or without a home-field advantage.

“I saw my buddy Ryan Jensen and told him, ‘Thank God I’m not fighting a Canadian, that place is going to get loud!’ ” Brilz said.  It’s a huge fight for me, I think (Matyushenko) is very underrated, actually. At one time people were saying ‘Oh, that guy’s been beaten by Jon Jones.’  Well who hasn’t, you know?  He’s on quite a tear, anyways, and I’m really looking forward to it. He’s very solid.”

Riding the merry-go-round of UFC match-making, Brilz was originally drafted in as a replacement for Matt Hamill in a bout with Phil Davis. Davis then replaced Tito Ortiz at UFC Fight Night 24, securing a victory over Antônio Rogério Nogueira, with Matyushenko stepping up to the challenge. Despite the contest’s arrangement on short notice, Brilz has remained consistent with his training, looking to put on an entertaining display while ensuring he doesn’t taste defeat two times in row after narrowly missing out to “Little Nog” at UFC 114.

“My training camp is pretty much the same for whoever I fight,” said Brilz. “I always try to impose my will, I’m going to go after the guy. I haven’t had to really switch anything up.  I think it will really come down to whether it’s a boring fight.  In that case, I could see the loser getting cut but I have no worries that its going to be boring.  I’m not just going to take him down and climb on top of him, I would try and submit him.  I’ve been working my stand-up quite a bit. But I really do enjoy the ground and pound, the submissions. Those are things I’ve also been working on a lot more, to make my transitions quicker, so wherever this fight goes, I’m not too worried.

“(Facing Nogueira) I probably would have benefited more from the win. But for me personally, to be able to go out there and know that I can compete with these guys is a huge, huge boost. And for the fans it’s another guy in the weight division who they know isn’t going to be a pushover for anybody.”

Certainly not, especially while training at Jeremy Horn’s Elite Performance Gym with the likes of fellow UFC 129 participants Jensen and Jake Ellenberger.

“Oh, I smoke Jake in training. I smoke him on pretty much a daily basis,” Brilz said with a sinister chuckle.  “No, Jake is my training partner, he’s been my partner for years and I can’t thank him enough for that.  We have an outstanding wrestling team here in Nebraska. The University of Nebraska at Omaha just recently won their third consecutive national title so to be able to work out with those guys daily is a huge advantage.”

With an extraordinary outfit behind him, Brilz looks to put on an impressive showing Saturday against Matyushenko but not before enjoying the festivities at UFC 129’s fan expo.

“I have some friends out in Toronto who have told me the hype’s already started and we (were) still three weeks away. It’s unbelievable.  It’s just going to be an unbelievable event up there. So yeah, it’ll be tough to stay calm.  Not too many people get to experience that so I just want to take it all in and enjoy everything about it.”