Dan “The Mouth” Lovranski: Right now, we want to welcome our second guest of the evening. He’s fighting Jake Shields, as you heard in the ad there on the break, this coming Saturday on the EliteXC show Renegade. It’s in Corpus Christie, Texas and in the U.S. it will be on Showtime and here in Canada it will air live on The Fight Network. It’s a pleasure to welcome, for the first time, Mike “Quicksand” Pyle. Mike, how are ya?

Mike Pyle: Good guys, how are you doing?

Mouth: We are very, very good. Now, I got to start off with this little bit of…It seems a little bit of controversy, going into this fight. As it was originally designed to create a new welterweight champion, but you told EliteXC that you’re not happy with them? So you’re not staying with the company? So, you don’t care about the title? Is that correct, basically?

Pyle: Well basically, what’s going on brother is I wanted a little more exposure on their main card, let the public know who Mike Pyle is and then let’s have a title shot. Fair is fair, help me in my career, help promote me a little bit and help build this title thing up. Once they gave me the title shot, they gave me five weeks. They’re just like, “Hey, title shot—five weeks.”

Mouth: Right.

Pyle: I’m like, “No”. Title fights are five rounds, I got to train for a five round fight and most of all, I’m fighting Jake shields. Jake Shields is good. He is known for his cardio and his relentless attack, so I have to be more ready than five weeks. I won’t even take a three round fight in five weeks…

Mouth: Right.

Pyle:…much less a championship fight. You know I was unhappy with the way they promoted me, so that’s—I don’t have time to not be promoted somewhere, so I want to go somewhere where I’m going to be promoted and that’s that.

Mouth: Right, so after this fight this weekend is that it for you and EliteXC?

Pyle: I don’t want to say I’ll never fight for EliteXC again. EliteXC has treated me well. My only problem with them is their lack of promotion of me, sticking me on undercards and things like that. I feel I am more worthy than that and if they’re not going to give that to me I have to move on. But yes, I do know they’re putting me on the card now.

Mouth: But don’t you think if they put you in a title fight situation that would bring about more promotion, though?

Pyle: Yes, that would come along with it, but the thing is, they wouldn’t work with me the way I want, so I wasn’t working with them the way they want. You know what I mean? I’m not a guy you’re just going to throw in the cage and say, “Let’s go fight!”

Mouth: Right, right.

Pyle: You can’t just say, “Go dance for me.” I’m not that guy. I’ve been fighting for 10 years now. I’ve learned some things. I know promotion is important. After my second fight with them they kept putting me on the undercard, so I made the decision then. I can’t trust their ideas for me. I don’t see how their ideas are going to help Mike Pyle decide…You know just putting me on the undercards and then…No one knows that Mike Pyle fights for Elite man.

Mouth: Right.

Pyle: No one does.

Mouth: Right.

Pyle: Some people still feel I’m fighting for IFL. “Oh, you are fighting for IFL again?” No, I haven’t fought with IFL for a year now, I’m fighting for Elite. “Oh okay, I didn’t see you on there and I bought the pay per view twice.” Yeah, I was on the undercard. “Why the undercard?” Whatever, long story… whatever.

Mouth: Right.

Pyle: I still feel what’s done is done and I’m going to look for a better promotion. Yes, I do agree with you that the title fight would put me in the spotlight, but I still feel the same and I’m still making the decision.

Mouth: Right, so let’s look at the other options then. Who are you looking at in terms of where you like to fight next?

Pyle: Well, I’m not going to give any specific names. I’m still under contract with Elite, but right now I definitely have interest in all the other shows that are out there. All the more marquee shows, so after this fight…I’m going to concentrate on putting on a great show for Elite like I always do. I have no animosity, no beef with those guys, I like them, it’s just I don’t trust the way they’re going to promote me.

Mouth: I would assume this is the final fight on your contract?

Pyle: Yes, to answer your question from before, this is the final fight on my contract. Gary Shaw and those guys might be under the impression, because I haven’t really had a chance to talk with them, that this is my last fight with them. This is my last fight on my contract, which means I’m not going to work with them unless other things…You understand what I’m saying?

Mouth: Yes absolutely, so does it make you upset when someone like Gina Carano are being—

Pyle: THANK YOU! Thank you very much. This is a woman! I’m being put behind a woman to be on the undercard. I don’t have time for that man! That, right there gives me the idea that they don’t…and some of the people they chose to promote can’t even stay out of f—ing jail long enough to make their fight.

Mouth: Wow! Well that’s true, yeah that’s true.

Pyle: I don’t have time to be put behind people like that! Not to take anything away from Gina, Gina’s my girl, but right now this is a man’s sport. This is a man’s world right now in this game and that’s all there is to it. Who else am I going to be put behind? I feel like I’ve earned my spot in the game. Look at my record, I have fights against Quinton [Jackson], John Fitch, Andrei Semenov, Shonie Carter…I’ve been around the world fighting dude. I fought, you know?

Mouth: Right, no, absolutely, but I can kind of understand the pushing of Gina just because it is such a rarity and I assume they want to hook people with that.

Pyle: Well, I mean, you take a room full of guys and who are they going to watch brawl, Mike Pyle or a chick?

Mouth: That’s a tough call actually. I would assume most people would want to watch the chick brawl.

Pyle: Yeah well, this is the thing: Gina can get down.

Mouth: Yeah

Pyle: This is one out of a handful of those chicks that can really scrap. The rest of them just look like shit, but there are some that can get down and Gina is one of them and she is very entertaining with that. But still, she is a woman and I don’t have time for that man. I can’t be put behind a woman and I will stand behind that until the day I die.

Mouth: Fair enough. You did mention that you had a match with Quentin Jackson back in 1999. I mean you’re kind of in different weight classes, but would you like to have a rematch with him?

Pyle: HELL NO! That dude has come a long way. We’re in different weight classes and he’s champion now so he doesn’t have anything to prove against me and I don’t have anything to prove against him. No, No way! I have no desire whatsoever. Do you see what he’s doing to people lately?

Mouth: [laughing] Well if you’re thinking of UFC there’s not a lot of room in your weight class, so are you thinking of moving up a bit, or bulking up?

Pyle: No, I already did that for the IFL and I didn’t like that weight class so that’s why I parted from the IFL and the 85 division. I’m at home at 170lbs. I like my opponents at 170 and that’s where I want to stay.

Mouth: The big fight, obviously, in UFC coming up is Serra v.s. Hughes. If you were to pick who would win that fight who do you think would come out on top?

Pyle: I would like to see Serra win, even though it looks like stylistically on paper that Hughes will win. When Matt and Georges met, it did look like on paper that Georges would win the last fight. I think matt has the ability to shock the world again. I like they way he carries himself and I don’t like the way Matt carries himself, so I’d like to see the better man in the public eye win. I would like to see him finish Matt, so there is no question about it.

Mouth: Right. We got to wrap things up here Mike and I really appreciate you calling in so late at night, but there’s just one more question I got to get in here. Earlier in the show, we had Nicky Ryann on and she’s got a show that airs on The Fight Network called Rough. She told me your one hell of a dancer.

Pyle: I’m one hell of a dancer, huh? She must’ve seen me shake what I got, huh?

Mouth: She did! She said you were amazing.

Pyle: Well, if she said it brother than it’s true brother, can’t argue with that.

Mouth: [Laughing] Alright Mike, well good luck with the fight on the EliteXC show on Saturday and good luck wherever you might end up.

Pyle: Thank you brother, I appreciate it. {plug}