Kendall Cross Bio:

• 1996 Olympic Champion
• 1997 World Cup Champion
• 4x Sunkist International Open
• 3x U.S. Open Champion
• 2x New York Athletic Club
• 1998 Espoir National Champion
• 1997 USA Wrestling Athlete Of The Year
• 1992 Final Olympic Wrestle-off
• 1988 Espoir World Cup Champion
• 1989 NCAA Champion
• 3x NCAA All-American Champion

After taking 6th in his first Olympics for three consecutive years prior to the 1996 Games, Kendall tried and failed to maintain his #1 ranking on the U.S. team. His opponent and long-time nemesis defeated him and went on to win two world titles. With the 1996 Games fast approaching, Kendall changed his style and adopted a new strategy developed around his opponent’s weaknesses. In the Olympic Team trials, Kendall wrestled his nemesis in a best-two-of-three series, losing the first bout but rebounding to win the second and third matches by the slightest of margins: 7-6 and 8-7. Kendall then cruised to Olympic Gold, defeating four opponents by a combined score of 32-7.

After winning the gold in Atlanta, Kendall capped his impressive wrestling career by capturing the 1997 World Cup Championships with a dramatic come-from-behind victory against Russia’s Murat Umakhanov. That same year, Kendall received USA Wrestling’s Man of the Year Award.

LESSONS ON DVD

1. Inside Trip
   1. Introduction
   2. Mechanics
   3. Mechanics II
   4. Setups
   5. Setups II
   6. Troubleshooting
   7. Developmental Drills
2. Cross Body Ride
   1. Intro
   2. Setups
   3. Mechanics
   4. Turns
   5. Turns II
3. Leg Ride Counters
   1. Defenses
4. Signature Moves
   1. Head Chancer
   2. Single Leg Trip
   3. Defense Grab Leg

FCF:   Your last fight was at HEAT FC 1 against Ben Rothwell, where you won by knockout. What can you tell us about the experience of fighting in a new show and against someone who accepted an open fight against you?
Carlas Barreto:     Ben Rothwell was a big surprise for me. People told me he was a weak opponent who wouldn’t give me much trouble, however nowadays in Mixed Martial Arts there is no such thing. Everybody is well trained and everybody is willing to win badly, and I know I’m a guy that has somewhat of a name abroad so beating me in a fight is always interesting for anyone’s career. So, he came after me with everything he had, even reminding me of Sylvester Stallone in Rocky, where I would hit the guy hard and he would always come back, and the harder I would hit him the more he would try to get me! I thought "Oh my God, this guy is a mutant! He is taking all my power!" (Laughs) So I found Rothwell a talented guy, who will have a great future if he trains hard. It was a good fight for me, It pushed me to my limits and showed that to fight me my opponent has to be well prepared, cause I try hard and I believe a lot in my own talent. The event itself was well organized and well ran, and the fight was great for me.

FCF:   You punished Rothwell a lot during that fight, even scoring a knockdown before the final knockout. However, there was a moment where Ben took you down and you seemed to have ran out of gas. What went trough your mind at that specific moment in the fight?
CB:     When I attempted a takedown, already tired, and he managed to sprawl and force me down, getting in side-mount position, I thought "It’s time for me to hold him down, cause I have the advantage on the ground, I know all the tricks here, so I’ll make him spend some energy here and recover my cardio, to get back to stand-up fighting" Cause I was looking for a KO, since I had trained for that. I didn’t get scared at that point, I only knew that if I would keep fighting in that rhythm I would ran out of stamina, since the fight started out with a lot of intensity, which is rare for a heavyweight fight. So I tried not to use any power at that point and just make him spend energy while I was saving it. So this is what happened, we ended up getting to our feet again, and I scored the knockout with a high-kick to his head. I hope this can also happen at HEAT FC 2, and I can show my Muay Thai moves again. But if I can’t do it, my Jiu-Jitsu is getting better and better and I’m ready to secure a submission as well.

FCF:   Speaking of Muay Thai, you have been training it a lot for quite a while already, and some people were resisting in believing in your new found Muay Thai skills. What was the importance for you of winning the fight against Rothwell by such a beautiful knockout instead of a submission?
CB:     It was very rewarding without a doubt. It was satisfactory due to all my work and dedication with Muay Thai, all the work professor Paulo Nikolai has been doing with me at Brazilian Top Team. I already have some submissions in my record, and to add a knockout is always good. I got very happy to see that all the work we did paid off. I fought at K-1 Brazil with only seven months of Muay Thai training, risking myself against experienced fighters and managed to do a good showing. Months later I fought MMA in HEAT and was able to show what I learned trough the tough trainings with Paulo Nikolai. I hope in my next fight I’ll be able to show even more of my Muay Thai, since I think I’m not a bit better of a Muay Thai fighter than I was at HEAT FC 1.