Year of changes for Clements

It’s been a big year of change for Dresden, Ont.’s Chris (The Menace) Clements.

There have been some good things. For example, the 35-year-old got married to his longtime girlfriend/fiancée on Sept. 23, and they’re also expecting their first child.

However, the full-time trainer at Adrenaline Training Centre in London, Ont., is also part of the team that lost its mentor Shawn Tompkins, who died suddenly in August.

Clements, who takes on former UFC veteran Rich Clementi at an event in Sarnia on Saturday night, took some time this week to answer some questions (and gave some really good answers), including how he’s had to deal with some last-minute changes leading into the event.

The welterweight, who made 170.4 at the weigh-ins Friday, was originally supposed to headline the show against Forrest Petz, but the latter had to pull out with injury. Now local fighter John Fraser will headline the show against Travis Reddinger, and his bout against new opponent Rich Clementi will be the co-main event.

SN.ca: First off, when did you find out about the loss of your original opponent and how have you handled the switch?

Clements: I found out about two weeks ago and pretty much everything had to change. I went from fighting a right-handed kickboxer to a left-handed grappler.

SN.ca: Was that a difficult adjustment?

Clements: It’s not what I’d prefer, but I’m up to the challenge. I train every aspect of the game constantly, so just a little bit of strategies changed last minute, but other than that just do what I do when I get in there.

SN.ca: Clementi (41-20) has a lot more experience with 61 career fights compared to your 13. Do you think that will give him the edge, even though you’re 9-4?

Clements: I expect he will be tricky in certain areas, but I’m pretty tricky myself. I’m just going to have to really not focus much on his past and concentrate on what’s going to happen when we get in there. I’m more worried about what I’m going to do to him as opposed to what he can do to me.

SN.ca: Clementi fought just a few weeks ago (he won on Nov. 12) so it’s a quick turnaround for him. And he’s also been pretty active this year -- this will be his sixth fight this year. Thoughts on how that will affect the fight?

Clements: It could go two ways. Maybe he’s just taking fights just to fight, or he’s training really hard and he’s in super shape.

SN.ca: On to some non-fighting stuff, how’s married life treating you?

Clements: It’s good, it’s not much different so far … I came back from my (two-week) honeymoon and started right into my training camp, so I kind of owe my wife a husband for a week or so right after this fight, regardless of the outcome.

SN.ca: How was the honeymoon?

Clements: We went to Europe for two weeks and we went on a cruise, and I came back 210 pounds! So there’s been a lot of dieting going on since I’ve been home. I (was) 186 (a couple days ago), which is pretty normal for me. I usually cut about 15 pounds. I’ve never missed weight. I cut 28 pounds (in two days) to fight John Alessio (in 2010 -- a loss). I don’t want to do that again.

SN.ca: Speaking of Alessio, he’s been bumped off the card because his opponent Ryan Healy got injured and the commission wouldn’t approve a replacement.

Clements: The Ontario commission is not making it very easy.

SN.ca: I’m surprised they approved Clementi.

Clements: They actually didn’t a couple times. I had to get a letter written by Mark Hominick and a couple people had to vouch for me (because they felt his experience was too much compared to mine).

SN.ca: It must have been a tough August with the loss of Shawn. How did that affect you?

Clements: It affected me, obviously the loss of someone special to you. But as far as my training it hasn’t affected me much because I haven’t been going to the States, because I work full-time here as a trainer. So I haven’t been training with Shawn for quite some time. He’s just more of someone I go to for advice … (he was) more of a guide than a trainer to me the last couple years. So it hasn’t affected my training at all. The only difference is actually now everybody’s here, instead of in Vegas.

SN.ca: And how has it affected the team as a whole?

Clements: The team has come together. We’re much closer. We were a close team before, but since the passing of Shawn we’ve all pulled together and everybody’s trying to fill in and … take a little piece of Shawn and take it over.

SN.ca Thanks, Chris. And for Canadian fans, here’s hoping the next change for you will be a move to the UFC after a fourth straight win.

James Brydon is the Managing Digital Editor and blogger for sportsnet.ca's UFC section.