Robert "The Beast" Washington (pictured) headlines Shamrock FC: "Charged" against Zak Bucia tomorrow, Fri., May 29, live on GFL.tv

By Mike Bacior

Robert “The Beast” Washington (19-9) is cool, calm and collected.  Not surprising for a military man with 28 professional bouts under his belt.  He has seen the world and fought in many places away from home.

Heading into his 162 pound catchweight, main event fight with fellow battle-tested veteran Zak “Crash” Bucia (12-6) at Shamrock FC: “Charged” in St. Louis, Miss., tomorrow, May 29, live on GFL.tv, the 32-year-old spoke with Full Contact Fighter about the challenge in front of him, his improvement under famed trainer Firas Zahabi, his career ambitions and the origin of his familiar sounding nickname.

Mike Bacior: For fans that are new to you, what’s the short version of your story?

Robert Washington: “I started fighting while I was in the military… I would fight in the Southeast Asia area, Guam and Taiwan. I got pretty good at it, and then I moved to St. Louis and took my career a little bit further. I got out of the military and joined the HIT squad.”

MB: You’ve been at this awhile Robert, fought some tough guys, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned so far in your MMA career?

RW: The most important thing I’ve learned so far in my career is to take something positive out of each fight and build off of it.”

MB: What do you know of your opponent, Zak Bucia?

RW: I don’t know a lot about him. Honestly I never heard his name until I took the fight. I watched a lot of film like I do for all my opponents. I think he’s a tough opponent, and like any other opponent I have to train hard and take this fight seriously.

MB: What’s your game plan going in?

RW: The game plan is be relaxed and fight; let everything flow. Play it as it goes. If I get a finish early, I get a finish. If it goes three rounds I’m prepared for that, too.”

MB: Do you have any words for him pre-fight?

RW: Nah, I don’t really know the guy. I think he’s a competitor and going to come out and fight hard.”

MB: Are you excited to be the main event? Does that mean anything special to you?

RW: I prefer to fight early to get it done and over with. I fought first on my last card this is going to be a little different. I am excited to showcase my skills in front of the crowd.

MB: How are you feeling going into it? How has training been?

RW: Training has been real good. I came off another fight two months ago. I did a lot of my camp for this fight at Tri-Star with Firas Zahabi… I feel like I was good last fight, but I am a lot better now. I am a lot stronger; my conditioning is a lot better. My last fight I was real nervous, coming off a real close loss.  I am literally 20 percent better than what I was two months ago when I fought last… Firas is a head full of knowledge.

MB: Do you dream of making it to the UFC?

RW: That’s my goal. I honestly feel like I can do it. I feel like if I wouldn’t have lost the real close decision I think I’d be one step closer. If I go out there and perform the way I need to perform and show them I am an exciting fighter and come to fight I honestly believe they will come calling. I know I can compete with the best in the world; I’ve trained with and fought some of the best guys in the world. My goal is to put on a great performance for the fans and for everybody and hopefully that propels me one step closer to my ultimate goal, to get to the UFC.

MB: How did you get your nickname?

RW: When I was in the military, one of my friends came up with the nickname. Because I was in the military, I was kind of afraid of fighting because my command wouldn’t agree with it, so we decided to come up with a fake nickname. My middle name is Lee so my friend called me ‘Lee the Beast.’ I also spar really hard, which is one of the reasons he came up with it.

MB: I didn’t know if you were just a Bob Sapp fan.

RW: Nah, I don’t like Bob Sapp in all honestly (laughs). I’m the real Beast.

MB: Any shout outs?

RW: Shout out to my team at gym, all the guys who help me out at Finney’s MMA. My boxing coach Eric. We’re a smaller gym but we definitely have some talent; shout out to all those guys for working hard.

MB: Anything else you want to say before we go?

RW: I want everybody to tune in because it’s going to be an exciting fight; I don’t really put on boring fights… The smaller crowds are more personal to me; you get that connection with the fans. I am looking forward to this opportunity.