This is essentially a job application for our good friend Rick Slaton. The man needs work. What Slaton does for a living is he hits people, very hard. As hard as he can, in fact. Slaton is an MMA striker. So far nine men have been hit and nine men have fallen. But for some reason the invites have stopped coming. Lately, he’s had some trouble finding anyone willing to fight him.

    He really can’t explain it, “For some reason a lot of people don’t want to fight me. I don’t know if it’s the way I look or because I hit real hard. I get them to sign a contract and then when it comes down to it, they always back out. It’s happened to me numerous times, three times already this year!”

    To be perfectly candid, Slaton did lose one fight. His official record is 9-1-1, “My one lost is to Shane Carwin who’s 9 and 0 and he’s had two fights in the UFC and he’s bigger than Brock Lesnar. I shouldn’t have even fought him. I only walk around at 215 lbs., so I should be fighting light-heavyweights. I might eventually end up going to 185 but I figure, at that weight, people would be really scared to fight me. So I’ll probably stay at 205 like I was for my last two fights.

    “At 185 I’d be just too scary to fight for those guys. I’d be too big and too strong. Whereas at 205 we’d be pretty much the same. I’ve been fighting heavyweights and they’re always bigger than me. But I’m really too small for that division.

    "It doesn’t matter, though.  I just hit too hard. You can’t really train for me. I’m always coming forward, I don’t stop throwing punches.”

            Unlike a lot of MMA fighters, Slaton didn’t hone his skills in someone’s gym, “I was strictly a street fighter when I started. I started with Team Punishment when they were putting on amateur fights, I did like seven fights—then they asked me to turn pro and I did—then I met Ken Shamrock and he brought me over there. I went from being a street fighter to having…a little skill!”

            Slaton is rebuilding a life that got sidetracked by a “mistake” that cost him 4 years as a guest of the state, “I’m really restarting my career. I’m going to open a gym for doing stuff with kids—like after-school programs and stuff.

            Currently he is teaching and training MMA, “I have about 15 pro fighters that I manage also; a couple of them are in the UFC or on their way. One is in Affliction.

“We have some good fighters and we have a real good team. We’re training right now at Alliance over at Brandon Vera’s gym.

How does one go about building a stable of MMA prospects?

“A lot of them have actually called me,” says Slaton, “I have a pretty decent reputation in the MMA community for being honest and I’m always there for my fighters; so people come to me.”

Slaton is, at 38, nearing the high end for fighters. His gym plans and crew of fighters point to a switch to another line. Management or being an agent. The switch though has already been made, “I’m a fighter and an agent. Lately, I’ve been more agent than fighter. Usually I’m fighting a lot but lately I haven’t been.”

“I can fight another three, four years, maybe. I’m going to make one more push at it—see what happens. I’ve told every promoter, I’ve called everyone out. I will fight anybody that they throw at me. I don’t care who it is, I just want to fight.”

Slaton keeps in top shape meanwhile. He’s ready at a moment’s notice. He does have his eye on a future date, “My next fight will be January 23^rd in San Diego in the Convention Center. I don’t know who yet. I told them I didn’t care, just put someone in front of me, I don’t care who it is. K.J. Noons is on the card, he’s the EliteXC featherweight champion, He’s the main event, I’m going to be the co-main event. It’s a one-time card they’re doing for the ASR, the Action Sports Retailers convention. They’re doing it as an after-party. K.J. asked me if I was available to fight on that card and said he would make sure they paid me real good.”

            Slaton knows he has to keep busy, if for no other reason than to be seen by the promoters. His style is unique and the style usually makes the fight, “I’m pretty much a stand-up fighter. I like to stand and trade. That’s what the crowd likes and that’s what I try to give them. If a guy ends up on the ground—I’ve let people back up, because I’d rather just stand and bang with'em and see who comes out on top. They try to out-strike me but I just hit so dang hard.”