Elie: Welcome to Australia, how do you like it so far?
Joe: It’s amazing, if you can judge a country by your first impression, I’ve been blown away. Everyone I met from the moment I landed to right now, has been so proper and so polite and so respectable and so amazing. Just as people, even that people don’t know ‘I’m Joe Stevenson’, and people are like just regular people and just great.

Elie: When you got the call to fight in Australia what was your thoughts?
Joe: You see when I got the call, I got told.

Elie: (laughs) Oh you got told?
Joe: And when I was told… I was very excited.

Elie: When you got the call to fight, I mean when you got told you were going to fight George, what were your thoughts?
Joe: I’m fighting the guy in front of his home town, time to go to war. There goes Christmas… that was my thoughts exactly.

Elie: I just interviewed George, he said he is going to KO you in the first round… what are your thoughts?
Joe: I’m going to try to do a standing knee bar to him, if I’m standing, yeah.

Elie: (laughs)
Joe: No I really am, that’s not even a joke, that’s part of my game plan. I’m practicing.

Elie: A standing knee bar, I want to see that one.
Joe: You will.

Elie: Your last fight with Spencer Fisher... (Joe interrupts me, before I can finish the question).
Joe: Did he really say he was going to KO me, that’s not very nice at all. Where’s George, (shouts out while George is doing another interview across the room) George, did you tell him that you were going to knock me out in the first round? That is not nice at all. (George replies “he wanted an answer”). My gosh, your such a bully.

Elie: You beat Spencer Fisher in your last fight, you’re on a two fight winning streak now, how does it feel?
Joe: It feels great, you know. But I have to take one fight at a time and right now I have to look in front of me and the guy standing in front of me is George Strovalopous, snapalgopolous, whatever (laughs).

Elie: Who is helping you train for the fight?
Joe: Greg Jackson, that’s all I have to say.

Elie: The last two fights you had, did they go as planned?
Joe: Better.

Elie: Nate Diaz, how was that fight?
Joe: Fun, that was very fun, exciting. It went better than planned and in fact I pulled back and didn’t go to finish it.

Elie: Is there anyone else you are looking forward to fight?
Joe: George (Sotiropoulos).

Elie: Tell us about your first fight?
Joe: I was 16 years old and watched my best friend lose a close fight and get hurt, and I went out there and there was no way I was going to lose and I beat the crap out of Joe Camacho.

Elie: What about the nerves on your first fight walking in?
Joe: Right before your fight you have to go pee, it’s how it is every time.

Elie: So what do you do when you’re not fighting?
Joe: Spend time with my family, my boys I’ve got four boys, Joey, Tyler, Frankie and Max. I’ve got a beautiful wife, Maia. I try to spend as much time as I can because I’m
a scumbag training and I’m gone.

Elie: So for the people that don’t know you, give us a little background?
Joe: I was raised by my mother; my dad had some issues, divorced, took off and died, bone marrow cancer. I have three sisters and a mother and my mum went away for a little bit, things happen. I was raised primarily by my grandparents and their amazing people and watched them lead my life and was blessed at 18 with a son and got married right out of high school and have never looked back since.

Elie: BJ Penn dismantled Diego Sanchez, your thoughts?
Joe: Great job, right. Makes me excited and thrilled to want to eventually get another shot at him, but first I’ve got to work on beating George.

Elie: So I won’t even bother about against about BJ Penn yet until the next interview.
Joe: Thank you.

Elie: Any last comments?
Joe: God bless this Country. Amazing.