Joe Schilling is a fighter that has made himself known to kickboxing fans in recent years thanks to his showings in Glory. Recently, he has branched out and started making waves in MMA as well, first for his brutal KO of Melvin Manhoef in Bellator, and then for his high profile training work with Nick Diaz in anticipation of Diaz vs. Anderson Silva. Tonight, he returns to MMA to take on Rafael Carvalho at Bellator 136, live on Spike TV.

In anticipation of the fight with Carvalho, Schilling was on the Front Row Brian podcast, joining host Front Row Brian and myself. I talked to Joe about not only Bellator, but also his work in Glory and Muay Thai, and how all of the sports intersect. Here is Schilling's take on kickboxing skills in MMA, with some particularly bold comments about The Spider:

There's a lot of guys in MMA who could make a run in kickboxing but you wouldn't really know how they are until you put them in a full rules kickboxing or Muay Thai fight. It's hard to look like a world class kickboxer when you're fighting a wrestler and you can't let your hands go, you can't throw combinations, you have to lower your stance. It doesn't look as pretty or high level but these are extremely high level athletes who are trying to learn multiple scenarios to compete in MMA. You take a guy like Anderson Silva for example who's supposed to be the best Muay Thai guy in MMA - I don't think Anderson Silva would last three rounds with me in a kickboxing fight.

Listen to the entire podcast here.

Schilling also reveals a potential interesting future move for him: boxing. According to Schilling, when Al Haymon's PBC joined Glory and Bellator as past of Spike's Firday Night Lights Out series, Spike executives approached Schilling about fighting for PBC and becoming the first fighter to compete across all three brands. Schilling is considering the idea, and we may see him in a boxing ring on Spike.

The entire podcast is well worth a listed as Schilling also addresses his thoughts on Artem Levin vs. Simon Marcus and Glory 20, his appreciation for Donald Cerrone, and why kickboxing and Muay Thai are the same sport. Check it out, and be sure to join us tonight as Joe Schilling takes on Rafael Carvalho in Bellator.