Australia's Rob Lisita: Being Ruthless To Succeed

In a business where it is important to make the right connections and often even more important to try to please everybody to progress your career, Rob Lisita lives life by a different mantra. He isn’t afraid to tell it like it is, he is a straight shooter and he is passionate about his life as a professional fighter. His nickname of “Ruthless” fits this mantra quite well.

“It works well with my name. I’m ruthless by name, ruthless by nature,” he revealed in an exclusive interview with The MMA Corner. “If you have seen me fight, you can’t say I don’t deserve it. I do this sport because I’m an alpha male, and I will continue to do it as long as I can and prove I’m one of the very best fighters on the planet.”

After falling in love with the sport of MMA at an early age, it took many years for Lisita to make the transition into being a professional fighter. But since the second he did it, he has never looked back.

“One day when I was 16, I grabbed a UFC video from the [video] store,” he revealed. “I had never heard of the sport, but fell in love instantly. When I decided I’d had enough of Rugby League [Football] in 2008, I started training.”

Lisita (Scott Clark/Sherdog)

Over the years since Lisita first started competing, the sport has exploded. In part, that has been because of the success of the UFC. And with the rise of the sport, things that people once thought were impossible have now started to become a reality.

“The sport has changed a lot,” Lisita said. “There are girls fighting. More gyms and more shows. I wish I could say more money, but only in a few shows.”

Lisita splits his training up between Thailand and Australia and is well-known for seeking out the best camps that he can in order to become the very best fighter that he can be.

“I’ve been coming to Phuket Top Team back and forth since 2011,” he explained. “It’s a great gym with a great team, and Thailand is probably the best country on Earth. In Australia, I’m a gypsy. I train at Mark Hunt’s Juggernaut, Shane Nix’s FCC, my boxing with Todd Makelim and Southern Cross, with my mate Jai Bradney and also when I can get there, the best gym in Australia, Integrated MMA.”

Lisita is set to compete on the April 27 in the Combat 8 event in Sydney, where he will meet Hugh Cameron. Lisita is excited to put on a show. Even with the modified rules of the event, he is planning to fight the same way that he always does: with as much heart as possible.

“Combat 8 is the style any true fight fan loves, and I’m a fight fan,” he admitted “I wanna be involved in bloody wars. I respect the promoters for making an event for the masses.

“My strategy doesn’t change, no matter what. A fight is a fight. I’m gonna go forward and do as much damage as I can. I want to finish my opponent and prove I’m the better man. Hugh has got BJJ and so do I, so I don’t see a finish on the ground in [the] 30 seconds [of allotted ground time]. I’m gonna go for the finish on the feet. I don’t think he’ll run, so it’s going to be a dogfight, which is something I love—it’s my daily routine.”

The MMA scene in Australia is truly beginning to thrive, with some months featuring at least four events held across the country. With that, typically, would come more fighters, which should mean more opportunities to fight for the country’s best competitors. Lisita hasn’t had an MMA bout in Australia since May 2012. That may seem like not so long ago, but for a competitor who likes to stay as active as possible, he is eager to get back inside the cage.

“I find it hard because all the fighters that have been asked to fight me are KFC (Kentucky Fried Chickens),” Lisita said. “Plain and simple, there are smaller shows that say they want to give me fights, but I’ve done the hard yards and fought anyone at anytime and won’t take a fight that will pay one-fifth of the purse I get elsewhere.”

Lisita (R) (Scott Clark/Sherdog)

Although Lisita is signed to Legend FC, the organization does allow him to take fights in Australia during the promotion’s down time. For that, he is thankful.

“Legend FC is the most professional MMA organization in the Asia-Pacific region,” Lisita said. “They only want to match the fighters evenly and don’t set up ‘gimme fights’ like others. They make the fighters feel like we are somebodies. I’m so proud to be part of it. I guarantee I will become their champion in 2013.”

After fighting six months out of the year in 2012, Lisita is eager to fight in a MMA bout again and has been linked with another fight with Legend FC at the promotion’s next event. However, regardless of when the chance comes, Lisita will be ready to fight.

“I’d fight every month if I had the chance,” he confessed. “My goal is to be Legend FC champion, Combat 8 champion and the Australian welterweight boxing champion. I’m gonna make my start this year and want to be the first Australian three-sport champion and be considered the pound-for-pound best in the country. I won’t stop until I achieve my goals. You never know how long you have in this sport, and I am not going to sit back and let opportunities pass.”

If there is a fighter that bleeds passion, his name would be Rob Lisita. Each and every time he competes, you know that he will put on a show to remember. He speaks his mind and he fights the fight that the fans want to see. This year, he is going to be “ruthless” both inside and outside of the cage in order to achieve what he wants to in the sport.

http://themmacorner.com/2013/04/18/australias-rob-lisita-being-ruthless-to-succeed/