PC: How has everything been going Ed?

EH: Good. Everything’s been going real good. I’m training hard as ever and I’m in a good place mentally. I’m glad the holidays are over. That’s kind of a drawn out process.

PC: You’re coming off of two tough losses. How have you dealt with the losses?

EH: It’s rough. I’ve never lost two fights in a row. Luckily I have a lot of support from my teammates, my family and surprisingly my fans stuck around. I still have a lot of fan support. It’s hard to lose two in a row, but it just motivates me to come back even stronger. My last fight, I was in the best shape of my life. I trained harder than ever. I just made some really bad mistakes and got caught.

PC: You’ve been training with Chris Leben who is about to fight Jason Macdonald. What kind of advice have you offered him for that fight?

EH: I just try to give him a good look. It’s not really a whole lot of advice I can give Chris. He knows the game and he saw the fight, he was in my corner, so his game plan is not going to change much with too many guys. Chris likes to stand and bang. Obviously he realizes Jason has real slick submissions, so he doesn’t want to mess around with that. He probably learned from watching me get caught, what to do and what not to do.

PC: Looking back at the Macdonald fight, what do you think you could’ve done differently to change the outcome?

EH: Um, not get put in a triangle. I kind of rolled right into it and he pulled off a slick triangle. I give him props for that. It was a real sweet triangle. He had it locked in tight from the get go. I was trying my escapes. I think I may have panicked a little bit and not been as calm as I should have. I should’ve tried some other escapes. It’s a million different escapes from a triangle and I probably tried two or three. It’s hard though man when you’re getting choked out and getting hit in the top of the head, so… I could’ve held on. I wish I would’ve went to sleep like a man, that’s one thing I regret. I never tapped before. My only losses were a bullshit decision and the other two times I got put to sleep.

PC:  You’re fighting Chris Price on January 25. Have you broken down any tape on him and what do you think of him as a fighter?

EH: I’ve watched a little bit of film on him. I watched his fight against Kendall. I know he’s a southpaw; which is great for me. I train with some of the best lefties around, Leben and Lindland are both southpaws. I’m used to rolling with lefties. I don’t think he’s got a very good chin. I’ve seen him get dropped in a couple of his fights and I just wasn’t that impressed with him overall against Kendall. Kendall outpowered him and outwrestled him so I’m ready to take it to this guy!

PC: Are you looking at this fight as a do or die fight for you?

EH: In a way, yeah. This is a fight I’m supposed to win and look good. The UFC isn’t going to keep me around if I keep losing, that’s for sure. The market is good right now. If they were to drop me and I became a free agent; I would still make things happen because there are a lot of big shows out there, but I would like to stay with The UFC. Yeah, it’s a do or die in a way. I’ve never lost two in a row; I sure as hell don’t want to lose three.

PC: How has being on the show The Ultimate Fighter changed your life?

EH: It was definitely good for my career being on the show. I have quite a fan base from being on the show and it’s helped endorsements and me getting on live shows. I get stopped in the streets quite a bit, which is good and bad. You can’t go out to dinner without shaking hands and stuff; which is part of it. I like talking to the fans. It hasn’t changed my life a lot though. I still do the same things. I still live in the same house and drive the same truck, so things are the same still. I think it helped secure my career.

PC: I know Randy Couture is very instrumental in your fight game. How has he helped you and how did you hook up with him?

EH: I just joined up at Quest to have fun and workout and I started to get good real fast, so I joined the fight team with Randy. At the time, I didn’t really know how much that meant. Now I look back and it’s hard to believe I got to train with Randy from the very beginning. He kind of took me under his wing, him and Robert Follis, and taught me everything they knew. Robert is kind of the man behind the magic. He took me and Chris in from the very beginning.

PC: It was a pleasure talking to you. Is there anything you want to say in closing?

EH: I want to thank all my sponsors, Stagr, Warrior Wear and everybody helping me out. I want to thank you for spending time to interview me.

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