Welterweight fighter, and recent Bellator Fighting Championships signee, Jon ‘War Machine’ Koppenhaver (12-4) is ready to push his limits as a fighter and not as the “wildman” antics most fans know him for.
‘War Machine’ stepped out of prison this past fall after a spending a year in the county jail. The fighter got back into training and took on a very tough opponent for his first fight, meeting Roger Huerta in a welterweight bout in November in Pharr, Texas. Koppenhaver earned a third round TKO stoppage utilizing his size over Huerta to control the fight.
Over the past year, Koppenhaver has seen many of his friends find success in the cage, and armed with a new Bellator contract he wants to do the same.
Talking as a guest on the Sherdog Radio Network, ‘War Machine’ is refocused and ready to “clean up” his image to show the world he is an “A-level fighter.”
“I don’t want to go back there,” he said. “I don’t want to be away from my sport and my friends and my family. Jail’s for losers, man. There’s nothing to do in there. All you do is sit in there and rot. It’s a waste of life. I’m definitely staying on the right track. That’s not a place for me. It’s not a place for any human being.”
“I missed it so much,” Machine said. “I saw all my friends out there fighting. My old roommate was Dominick Cruz. While I was in jail, he became a UFC champ. I used to live with that guy, and we were both broke bums. To see my friends like that become UFC champs and all my friends out there winning and even my students out there fighting and winning, it makes you miss it so much more. It makes you just want to really push it to your own limit…”
“I’m really trying to get back,” he said. “I think I’m an A-level fighter. I’m going to scare away big corporate sponsors and I’m going to scare away leagues like Bellator and the UFC or whoever if I’m doing that kind of stuff. That’s why, man. I want to put that behind and just clean my image up.”