TRAINING: Every day is different and every day is hard. One thing that has changed is that I'm wrestling with Olympian Ben Askren every single training day for this fight!

When and why did you start training for fighting? I was in martial arts as a kid and I got lucky that I got involved with people who weren’t teaching just traditional boxing or karate.  I was 15 when I first fought in amateur MMA, and around that time the sport was dying out so I focused on playing football, baseball, and basketball in high school, and baseball at junior college.  Then the sport started taking off again and the baseball didn’t work out, so I started picking up MMA again.  I fought in a few fights and then hooked up with Rich (Clementi) and moved to the coast to train with him and fight for him full-time.

What ranks and titles have you held? EFL light heavyweight champion, Brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Helio Soneca.

Do you have any heroes?  I’ve got a lot of respect for Rich Franklin.  And one fighter I really like is Takanori Gomi. You can tell that his mind is nowhere except on what he needs to be doing.  He’s trying for perfection the whole time.  

What is your favorite technique? Whatever ends the fight.

What does it mean for you to fight in the UFC? It’s a lifetime dream.
 

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