The Forgotten Man

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A respected grappler, he has beaten the best competitors on the planet. John Olav Einemo is a household name in the world of no-gi grappling -- it is a small but dedicated fan base -- but remains virtually unknown as a mixed martial artist. He hopes a commanding performance in his UFC debut will change that.

It is a belated arrival for Einemo, but when he meets Dave Herman in a featured heavyweight bout at UFC 131 “Dos Santos vs. Carwin” on Saturday at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, he will have already overcome considerable obstacles just to step into the cage.

The Norwegian’s MMA career has been in considerable limbo, as he has not competed in the sport since submitting James Thompson in 2006.

With a record of 6-1, Einemo’s loss came via decision against Fabricio Werdum, his most notable foe. His four and a half-year layoff finally comes to an end in mere hours, and with a host of physical aliments finally solved and put behind him, Einemo cannot wait to get back to fighting again.

Fittingly -- in a career interrupted from 2001-2003 by stomach problems and an iron deficiency and again from 2006 until now by a foot infection, including an encounter with flesh-eating bacteria that nearly required leg amputation -- Einemo’s first UFC opponent was switched. Shane Carwin, his original foe, was scratched and booked to replace Brock Lesnar in the show’s main event.

Einemo could have hardly picked a more dangerous first-time guy to fight, but he is not letting yet another twist in the road back distract him. He admits the drastic drop-off from a former title challenger in Carwin to Herman, a fellow UFC rookie, still stings a little.

“I was disappointed with my management,” Einemo tells Sherdog.com. “I trained really hard for Carwin, and I was not happy that my not-injured opponent was switched and that I had to hear this news from the Internet.”

Herman, a 6-foot-5, 233-pound wrestler with an aggressive style and a willingness to take risks on the feet, will have to do.

“I have no problem with being on the ground [with him]. I am prepared for everything,” Einemo says.

Einemo’s grappling is renowned and universally respected at the elite levels. He is the only man to beat the great Roger Gracie at the prestigious Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships, turning the trick in 2003 en route to winning the 98-kilogram class. He has also won numerous titles in jiu-jitsu, including the European and world championships.

“I was 100 percent,” he says. “I felt good and [was] not injured, sick or low on iron. Your mind and physical health have a lot to do with how you perform in a fight. People sometimes forget we are all human and can have relationship, financial or other problems which will affect your state of mind in the fight game.”

Currently training standup with Golden Glory, he hopes to add more striking to his arsenal and round out his game.

“They have a lot of heavyweights there for sparring: Sergei Kharitonov, Denis Stojnic, Dion Staring, Alistair Overeem [and] Semmy Schilt,” Einemo says. “I trained
now for five months non-stop with all the top Golden
Glory guys.”

Legendary for the huge pool of talent it produces and nurtures, Golden Glory is a heck of a place to cut one’s teeth on the standup side of MMA. If Rio de Janeiro holds billing as the epicenter of Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Iowa as wrestling’s equivalent, Golden Glory, based in the Netherlands, might be the equivalent for kickboxing and muay Thai.

Einemo decidedly was not ready for Werdum in the first and only loss of his seven-fight MMA career. Facing the crafty Werdum at Pride 31, Einemo was in the throes of a long-running iron deficiency that sapped his energy and spirit.

“I started to get [a] stomach problem again, [too]. It went the distance, but I simply missed my [chance] to show my full potential,” he says.

From a physical perspective, Einemo presents some interesting questions. His lanky frame has translated well into no-gi submission grappling, as he uses his long levers expertly to control positioning, buttressed with expectably top-notch mat fundamentals. However, nobody punches you in the face while you have them in your guard in the submission world; in MMA, that is something that can make the best grapplers look woefully average.

Einemo, 35, is also such a phenomenal submission specialist that many of his teammates use him to prepare their ground games against some of the sport’s biggest names. Now, finally, he is the face in the fight, instead of being yet another specialist brought into the mix to sharpen up someone else’s tools.

In the standup department, he has thus far shown some decent fundamentals and a modest comfort level with striking -- the translation into MMA for submission grapplers is not always a smooth one, no matter how great one may be on the mat. Ask Marcelo Garcia. In his win over Thompson, Einemo landed some shots and did not shy away from letting the powerful but one-dimensional Brit throw a few his way.

“Expect me to be aggressive,” he says. “Einemo ‘The Viking’ is back. I am ready for anybody.”

Jason Probst can be reached at Jason@jasonprobst.com or at www.twitter.com/jasonprobst.