Lockflow interview with Lisa Ward

Posted by Charles Pearson

Wed Oct 11, 2006 3:35 pm

Female fighter Lisa Ward is quickly making a name for herself. A wrestler turned MMA fighter, Lisa has now fought in AX, FCFF, Hook-N-Shoot, AFC, Valor, NFC and most recently traveled to Japan to face "Miku" in Smack Girl. Lockflow caught up with the busy fighter and spoke with her about fight in Japan.

Lockflow: Lisa, first off, congrats on your last win in Japan. What did you think of the land of the rising sun?

Lisa: It was amazing. Eddy and I kept staring everywhere we went. We had a lot of fun. The Smackgirl promoters where awesome and took great care of us. Very professional.

Lockflow: What did you know about your opponent Miku going into the fight?

Lisa: I had a chance to check out some video and I thought she had good stand up. I knew MIKU was well versed in submissions and had won most fights with a submission.

Lockflow: What strategy did you plan on using going into the fight?

Lisa: Stand up until I wanted to go down to the ground. I have been working stand up, but it never seems to flow for me in the ring. I knew my takedowns where better, so if I felt threatened I was going to bring it to the ground. From there I figured it would be a scramble.

Lockflow: For the people that don't know what the rules of smack girl are, can you explain them?

Lisa: If I remember correctly, all is legal from stand up except the usual illegal stuff. From the ground, no strikes to the face. Knees and punches are legal to the body. Only 30 seconds on the ground to submit otherwise back on your feet again.

Lockflow: Are you a fan of the the smack girl Rule set?

Lisa: Yes but I do like our rules as well. GNP!!!!

Lockflow: In your own words tell us how the fight went down.

Lisa: It was funny because I think we figured out I fought at like 2 or 3 AM our time.
So it was really hard to get going. It almost felt like I was watching myself fight.
I remember leg kicking her right off the bat and her responding with punches.
I backed up and went to take a shot, and she kicked me in my head.
We scrambled a little and Miku took a shot and I grabbed up a front choke.
It was really tight and I though it was over. They tapped us after the 30 seconds and
Miku's head fell onto my chest. She wouldn't tap, but she had purple lips.
They stood us back up and we pitter pattered a little and I got a single leg.
I stepped threw and we landed hard. I took side mount, put in a knee ride
and punched the belly a couple of times. They stood us back up and her glove
broke, so we took a break so they could fix it. When we continued I stepped in
and threw her in a head and arm. Miku instantly responded by going for an armbar. I
defended and she ended up not getting it and they stood us back up.
While defending the armbar, I picked her up and dropped back down and I was then warned that was illegal.
No slamming from ground position at all. OOpps! Anyways we started again and I threw another ( not so good) head
and arm and was in side mount holding the head and arm position. I took that near side arm and laced it under
my bottom leg. I guess in an Americana style thing. After her lag was laced I pulled the head up and over and she tapped.

Lockflow: The two top girls in smack girl right now seem to be Yuka Tsuji(title Holder) and up comer Megumi Fuji, would you consider fighting either of those two?

Lisa: I have already considered both these as future fights. They are the champions and I want to be the best in the world. They both are amazing and I will have to train very hard. I also am considering dropping to 48kg and challenging the title holder there. We'll see

Lockflow: Has an offer been made?

Lisa: It's been thrown my way, but nothing has been settled

Lockflow: What's next for Lisa?

Lisa: Find fights and promote myself. I want to be a Smackgirl Champion, so until then I wouldn't be satisfied. I also would like to pick up a few belts here in the states, so I'll see how that goes.