Jun-16-2009

Brad Blackburn - Late Bloomer

By Rhett Butler

Most mixed martial artists can usually track their journey to the Octagon from prior sports experiences. If the fighter is a Midwesterner, he may have wrestled from the moment he could crawl. Others saw glory on the football field and failed attempts to get drafted led straight to the mat, if only to stay in shape. However, some fighters are more freaks of nature: never played on any team but somehow became professional fighters. Brad Blackburn belongs to this latter class but has been extremely successful despite it.

“I actually didn’t play any sports in high school; that surprises a lot of people. I was 4’10 until I was in my sophomore summer - I wasn’t even 5 foot. But by 21 (years old), I started working, bought a house, got into boxing and started getting all my stuff together. ”

Blackburn turned to exercise, mainly lifting weights. Then he progressed to the sweet science.

“There was a boxing gym right across the street and I was like, ‘I’ll go over there and train a little bit and see what I think about it.’ Then I had one boxing match and then I had one more.”

Next, the itch to further challenge himself entered his newfound “habit” and the right people dealing the challenges stepped into his life.

“Dennis Hallman and Jeff Monson and a few other guys came into the gym and I said, ‘oh let me see what they’re doing,’ and what they’re doing seemed a lot cooler than the boxing so I was like, ‘I’ll have one fight then I’ll have one more,’ and here I am now. I realized, why am I spending all this time learning how to box when if one of these guys got a hold of me they can basically do whatever they want? I didn’t know it was possible to be that dominant over another human being until I actually felt it.”

As the only person next to current UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre to have two wins over former UFC Champion Matt Hughes, Dennis Hallman is the perfect converter of a newfound boxing aficionado into an MMA athlete. Jeff Monson, former UFC title contender and grappling sensation is also the perfect converter and neither failed in their efforts. Blackburn began the rigorous start to MMA training and again began to excel. Going on a six-fight win streak right out of the gate, Blackburn became something of a sensation. However, the victories were bittersweet, captured during a time when Blackburn wasn’t at his personal best.

“At first my athleticism and strength and stuff was good to get me by with no cardio (laughs) and then when I stepped up in competition and I didn’t finish people in the first round, because if you look all my wins were in the first round. So when it got to the point that I couldn’t finish people in the first round I was like working two jobs and I basically was just the one round wonder; either I won in the first round or I ended up losing the fight.”

After a stint with the now defunct IFL as a Seattle Tiger Shark, Blackburn entered the UFC against James Giboo at UFC Fight Night - Silva vs. Irvin. Winning by TKO (strikes) in the second round, Blackburn yet again hit a milestone in his new athletic lifestyle. Next was a greater challenge in standout PRIDE veteran, Ryo Chonan. Blackburn churned out a decisive unanimous decision over the Japanese veteran, solidifying his presence within the greatest MMA show on earth.

No clamors of Blackburn’s athletic prowess permeate the media, although he has fought some of the biggest fighters in the game. With wins over Jay Hieron, Chris Wilson, Ryan and Pat Healy along with respectable losses to fighters such as Roger Huerta, Blackburn is a true fighter.

“I think they don’t give me credit because of my past in the sport but I feel like as long as I keep winning they can only deny you for so long. So I just need to focus on making sure I win my next fight.”

This next fight is this Saturday against undefeated Edgar Garcia, who just had the biggest win of his career when he debuted in the WEC against Hiromitsu Miura. After winning via first round knockout, Garcia is building a solid reputation as a powerful striker. With 5 of his 7 wins by knockout this definitely is a great fight for the fans. But is it good for Blackburn?

“I didn’t say this was a good fight for me. UFC picked this fight, it was the one they wanted. I think Edgar is a really tough opponent; he has the tools that it takes to be one of the tougher guys that I’ve fought. He has good hands, heavy hands, with a wrestling base and aside from that I kind of feel like I’m going into this fight blind because I’ve never seen him in there with a top level guy so I know his offense is good but in his clips I’ve never seen him in there with somebody that will push him.”

As the date draws near to this clash Blackburn hopes to give Garcia his first ‘L’ while building his name for the MMA community and media to take notice. Perhaps this matchup will bring the notoriety.

“I would just like to be recognized as one of the best fighters in the world and for people to respect the person that I am. I really enjoy the sport and I just hope that it pays off so I can branch off into other things.”