UFC 136, which is headlined by the lightweight championship bout between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard and the featherweight championship bout between Jose Aldo and Kenny Florian, airs live on Pay-Per-View from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas at 9…
UFC 136, which is headlined by the lightweight championship bout between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard and the featherweight championship bout between Jose Aldo and Kenny Florian, airs live on Pay-Per-View from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas at 9pm ET / 6pm PT. Fans can also tune in to Spike TV at 8pm ET / 5pm PT to see live UFC 136 preliminary bouts, and those who “like” the UFC on Facebook can see the rest of the prelim bouts at 5:45 pm ET / 2:45 pm PT.
CAUTION: SPOILERS INCLUDED – The first bantamweight elimination bout of the second round is on tap on this week’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller. Who will move on?Team Miller breaks the tension of practice with a litt…
Team Miller breaks the tension of practice with a little fun in the UFC Training Center to open things up, but as this is going on, Team Bisping’s coaching staff decides to respond to last week’s prank that was played on them by taking all four tires off Miller’s car. Miller takes the prank well, but he promises that things are just getting heated up.
“It has just begun,” said Miller. “Well done.”
Team Bisping’s sparring sessions are pretty intense, and things quickly get out of control, forcing coach Bisping to get involved to break up Marcus Brimage and Diego Brandao.
“Diego is definitely a bit of a ticking time bomb,” said Bisping. “He’s so emotional it’s ridiculous. But I’m an emotional guy too, so I can relate to that.”
Back in the house, Akira keeps his teammates entertained with his antics and various pranks, but the next day there’s some fight business to take care of, and with Team Miller in control of the board, they choose Johnny Bedford to face Josh Ferguson, and things quickly go to a whole new level when Ferguson writes “$%^% you Bedford” on a piece of paper and shows it to his foe.
“I felt like I was in the middle of a country-western bar about to get stabbed,” said Miller.
The showdowns aren’t finished yet though, as Dustin Neace has finally had enough of Akira’s antics, and he takes it out on Corassani’s bed. Corassani confronts Neace and a rivalry is born.
Also adding to the intrigue is the alliance started by Ferguson, Louis Gaudinot, and John Dodson. Dodson, of Team Miller, tells Team Bisping’s Ferguson that his opponent, Bedford, is coming into the fight with an injured hand.
Bedford is clearly favoring his right as the bout begins, as he almost exclusively uses his left hand after taking Ferguson to the mat. While standing, Bedford also focuses on using his left hand and his kicks, but since it’s working well for him, there are few concerns. With a little over a minute left, Bedford almost locks up an armbar, but Ferguson escapes and gets back to his feet. A final takedown before the bell locks up the round for the Team Miller member.
There’s more of the same in the second round, with Ferguson giving a scrappy effort, but Bedford just one step ahead of him in all aspects of the game, allowing him to take the unanimous decision and move on to the next round.
Team Miller takes a 2-0 lead in the competition. Here’s how the teams look:
TEAM BISPING Diego Brandao Akira Corassani Marcus Brimage – Eliminated in episode two by Bryan Caraway Stephen Bass Louis Gaudinot TJ Dillashaw John Albert Josh Ferguson – Eliminated in episode three by Johnny Bedford
TEAM MILLER Dennis Bermudez Bryan Caraway 1-0 Dustin Neace Steven Siler John Dodson Johnny Bedford 1-0 Dustin Pague Roland Delorme
For weekly recaps of The Ultimate Fighter, as well as fighter profiles, stay tuned to UFC.com.
“Pettis is overrated.” “Pettis is not as good as everybody thought he was.”Those are just the phrases that come to mind immediately for lightweight contender and former WEC champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis, who got a crash course in the f…
“Pettis is overrated.”
“Pettis is not as good as everybody thought he was.”
Those are just the phrases that come to mind immediately for lightweight contender and former WEC champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis, who got a crash course in the fickle nature of the fight game after his June loss to Clay Guida.
According to those folks, Pettis was a figment of their imagination, “a one kick wonder,” as he puts it, and you can tell that even as he prepares to get back into the Octagon to face Jeremy Stephens this Saturday night on the UFC 136 card in Houston, the barbs still burn.
“Duke (Roufus), my coach, actually prepares me for a lot of the stuff inside and outside the cage, and he always tells me that you’re only as good as your last performance and unfortunately for me I had a bad performance in the Guida fight and a lot of fans aren’t as loyal as you think they are,” he said. “They’ll celebrate with you, but once you lose, they’ll turn on you.”
It’s a situation experienced by so many fighters that to count them here would crash the internet itself. Win today and you’re the greatest thing since pizza. Lose tomorrow and you’re yesterday’s news. That’s the nature of the sports business, but one brand new to the affable 24-year old from Milwaukee, whose compelling story, personality, and talent made him a star in the WEC. And when he capped off his WEC title winning effort against Ben Henderson in December of 2010 with a kick off the cage that became a highlight for the ages, there seemed to be no stopping him.
But Guida has a way of getting in the way of things, and he stopped Pettis in his tracks with a beautifully executed gameplan of mauling and brawling that kept the dynamic striker from getting any room to breathe. The unanimous decision in Guida’s favor was a no-brainer. Pettis had his second pro loss (the first coming via decision to Bart Palaszewski in 2009), and it was time to regroup.
“It’s just a build-up of a number of things that went wrong,” he said. “I don’t want to say I had a bad fight or it was an off-night because that leaves something in my mind that I could have that kind of performance again. There were a number of things that I did wrong – preparation for the fight, gameplanning that should have been changed – but you can’t cry over spilled milk and I’m just ready to get back and get my next win.”
And when it comes down to it, that’s all he really can do. He’s got too many gifts to walk away from the game, and why would he? Oh wait, that’s what some “fans” of the sport believe fighters should do when they lose a fight. But Pettis knows better, and he admits that he still has plenty of people who remain in his corner.
“I still got some loyal fans,” he said. “I can’t say everybody turned on me. It’s just that the fans that don’t really know who I am, they just saw the kick (against Henderson). ‘Oh man, look at this crazy kick this guy did,’ and they don’t really know my skillset behind that kick. But some of my fans are always loyal to me, they know that I have skills, and that I want this so much. But the general masses and most of the media portrays it that I’m overrated and Guida exposed it.”
So where does a fighter begin after such a defeat? Do you erase everything you’ve done and start from scratch, or simply tweak the soft spots in your game and move forward? Pettis, hurt by the criticism, but using it as fuel, has become a gym rat.
“I just live in the gym,” he said. “I got back to becoming a student of the game and just learning everything. After the Henderson fight, I got so much media attention, the title shot in the UFC, all these appearances, all this hype, and no matter how many people tell you about it, you kinda gotta experience it for yourself to realize how it affects you and how it is. So I think I’m kinda getting more used to performing on that level where people actually care about my training and care about what I’m doing, so for me it’s just balancing everything out.”
A couple key factors help him attain that balance now, and the first one has nothing to do with the fight game, as Pettis and his girlfriend welcomed a daughter into the world in July.
“I’m not as important as I used to be,” Pettis laughed when asked how things have changed for him since the arrival of Aria. “She comes first. And it’s motivation. I’ve got a daughter to take care of now. I’m fighting for more than just myself and my own gain so I’ve got to do my job well to take care of her.”
The other factor is an old standby in Roufus, Pettis’ longtime trainer and mentor, and someone who isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel after the Guida loss. So don’t expect “Showtime” to play it safe from now on. He will be bringing all the unorthodox moves we’ve come to expect from him.
“A big reason why I’m with Duke is because he allows me to be myself,” said Pettis. “He doesn’t want to make me a Muay Thai guy, he doesn’t want to make me a wrestler or a basic jiu-jitsu guy. He allows me to create my own style and make my own Anthony Pettis. So he’s supportive but he’s still smart about it. He’s not like ‘ok, go out there and do a jump spin kick and see what happens.’ Everything’s set up, and he just helps me make it more effective.”
So with the motivation of being a father, the stability of having a good trainer and team behind him, and that little something in the back of his head that says ‘I’ll show you,’ Pettis is in fine stead as he prepares to meet Stephens, an unabashed banger who will likely strike with the striker.
“I’m getting to fight a striker finally,” said Pettis. “I’ve been fighting all these wrestlers, and people are counting me out big time; so for me it’s a chance to come back and show these guys that I am gonna be the number one contender and the champion one day.”
Pettis also has a secret weapon in camp in fellow UFC fighter Danny Downes, who recently extended Stephens the three round distance before losing a decision.
“Danny talks to me a lot and we train every day together,” said Pettis. “Danny said he (Stephens) didn’t feel as strong as everybody makes him out to be, and his punching power ain’t the end all. Everybody’s always like ‘oh, Jeremy Stephens has knockout power,’ and he does, but it’s not one of those punches where he touches you and it’s over. I got a good chin, so I’m not gonna go out there and overthink his right hand or left hook; I’m gonna do my gameplan and put my will on him.”
And not that Pettis needed any more motivation, but Stephens has not been reticent in declaring just what he’s going to do to the former WEC champ. There will be no retorts though; Pettis is saving his war for the Octagon.
“I haven’t really lashed out or talked any crap at all,” he said. “I’m gonna let my fight skill do the talking. I’ve got a lot to prove in this fight, it’s my second one in the UFC and I need to get that ‘W’ and I need to do it the ‘Showtime’ way.” I’m here to stay. I’m not just a one kick wonder and I’m not a guy who just got lucky once. I’m coming for that title shot and I’m gonna earn my title shot.”
With today’s announcement of the UFC 140 main event between champion Jon Jones and challenger Lyoto Machida, former champion Rashad Evans will be forced to wait a little longer for his shot at regaining the belt due to a serious injury to his thumb w…
With today’s announcement of the UFC 140 main event between champion Jon Jones and challenger Lyoto Machida, former champion Rashad Evans will be forced to wait a little longer for his shot at regaining the belt due to a serious injury to his thumb which will not have him ready for the December 10th date.
“After my last fight against Tito Ortiz, I dislocated my right thumb, which required it to be set back in place and held with pins,” said Evans in a statement released on Thursday. “24 hours ago, my physician removed the pins. At that time, I learned that it would require another three weeks of rehabilitation before engaging in any exercise or training that would require the use of my hand.”
“(UFC President) Dana White and I spoke earlier today, and I fully understand his decision to put Machida against Jones for the title at UFC 140,” continued Evans, who has won three in a row, defeating Thiago Silva, Quinton Jackson, and Ortiz. “Given the rehabilitation time I require for my dislocated thumb, I would not be 100 percent ready by December 10. The UFC has to keep making fights that entertain the fans. I would have done the same thing as Dana in his position. I’m asking for the fans to support me as I rehabilitate my hand, and I promise I will be back fighting very quickly.”
As meticulous as they come, Kenny Florian will never be described as reckless or haphazard in anything he does, especially when it comes to his day job as a professional fighter. So it’s no surprise that Florian would spend hours breaking down tape, …
As meticulous as they come, Kenny Florian will never be described as reckless or haphazard in anything he does, especially when it comes to his day job as a professional fighter. So it’s no surprise that Florian would spend hours breaking down tape, watching prospective opponents and studying their every move. It’s a habit that served him well when he became an analyst for ESPN’s MMA Live, but then it got to the point where it was hurting him in the Octagon.
“I used to do a lot of video watching, and I used to spend a lot of time doing it,” he said. “But analysts analyze and fighters fight and I needed to be able to separate the two. So now I leave the coaching to my coaches and I just try to fight. I listen to what they want me to do and what they want me to work on, and my job every single day is to get Kenny Florian better.”
It may sound like a simple solution to the problem of getting the longtime contender over the hump and into the winner’s circle in a championship bout, but it was far from that for Florian, because despite having world-class coaches and strategists in his brother Keith, and Firas Zahabi, letting go of some of the control he had over his career wasn’t an easy decision.
“It was tough in the beginning, and I think that’s where I’ve had my problems with either my brother or Firas as far as giving them that trust and that control,” admitted Florian. “But when you realize and you see how right they are and the kind of advice that they have and the wisdom that these guys have at such a young age, I do feel comfortable now. We’ve gone to war a few times now and they really do know what they’re talking about and I see the results in my training and in my fights, and that’s one thing over time I’ve learned to do.”
Now left in the position where the “only” things he has to do are train and fight, Florian has a new lease on his fighting life, and a new attitude that will serve him well as he approaches the third championship fight of his career, a Saturday date with UFCfeatherweight boss Jose Aldo. He sounds more relaxed and confident than ever leading into the UFC 136 co-main event, and while most of that is due to a solid training camp and the belief that the third time will be the charm when it comes to title shots, you can’t underestimate the power of having a weight cut that’s a lot more manageable than the one the former lightweight standout endured on the way to his featherweight debut against Diego Nunes in June.
“This one (weight cut) is much, much easier,” he said. “I’m coming down from a normal weight, and my body is now accustomed to getting down there and knows it can get down there. It’s seen the worst and I’m in a much better spot than I was last time out.”
Not to bring up bad memories, but how bad was the last weight cut?
“I was a couple pounds past 180,” Florian begins, and you know right then and there that the cut was a torturous effort of mammoth proportions. “So getting down to 145 is a tough, tough thing to do, especially when you haven’t done it. I haven’t been 145 since college, so it was a difficult cut, and physically the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. But it took me to a different place mentally. Honestly, it was so difficult to the point where I really feel I can do anything now. The fight wasn’t even an issue for me. I wasn’t even concerned with it because my biggest concern was making that weight. I was very nervous about it and it was one of those things where I really feel like I went to a higher level mentally and physically.”
But do you ever want to pack it in while in the midst of it and say ‘I’m done?’
“The word ‘can’t’ never crossed my mind at all, but I absolutely started asking questions of why the hell am I doing this,” he laughs. “But now I’m in such a better place and in such a better position to be right where I want to be, and it’s awesome. It’s funny, because now I look around at some of the other 155 pounders because my body has changed so much and I was like ‘how the hell was I fighting these guys?’ (Laughs) These guys are walking around past 180 and they’re pretty big.”
The fact that Florian can laugh about the worst weight cut of his life is evidence that his second trip to 145 is going a lot smoother. Now the only bad part is that he has to face Brazilian bomber Aldo at the end of the whole process. Florian enjoys that part of it though, calling it “figuring out a puzzle.” And the key element of finding a solution to the dynamic champion’s attack is knowing what you bring to the table.
“Do you have the tools in the toolbox, first of all, to be able to beat Aldo?” asked Florian. “It’s one thing to create all these great strategies and have this and that, but if you don’t have the bullets and don’t have the right guns, then why even talk about strategy? And I feel that I’m doing all the hard work necessary and I have all the tools because I am working all the time, to get the job done here against Aldo.”
He does have the tools, and wins over Sam Stout, Din Thomas, Joe Lauzon, Roger Huerta, Joe Stevenson, Clay Guida, and Takanori Gomi prove it. But those victories came at lightweight, making the UFC 131 bout with Nunes a pivotal one, not just because it was a test run at 145, but because a win put him right in line for a shot at the champion. But Florian survived a couple visits to the canvas to pound out a unanimous decision win over Aldo’s Nova Uniao teammate, and he liked how he felt in his fourth weight class.
“The speed at 145 is different – it’s much faster, and Jose Aldo’s gonna be faster,” said Florian. “That’s one thing I have to be able to adjust to when I’m out there. But I felt phenomenal on fight night against Nunes. I felt I could have done another five rounds if I needed to. I’ve never had a problem with cardio, and that’s one of the strongest points of my game, being able to go and go and go and not get tired. I was prepared and I had it mentally in my head that maybe I’m not gonna be at a hundred percent for this fight (against Nunes). Maybe I’m gonna be hurting in the final round (because of the weight cut). But I wasn’t. I knew pretty much when I woke up that day that I felt phenomenal thanks to my nutrition program and the way that I trained, and it paid off. I never trained harder for a fight than I did for Nunes.”
When it was over, the featherweight division had a new contender, and even though he lobbied UFC President Dana White for a title shot before UFC 131, after it was over, it was a lock.
“I knew I was ready to jump right in, based on the level that I faced at 155, and based on what I know I’m capable of doing as far as my fights and my training,” said Florian. “I was facing a guy in Nunes who was one of the top five featherweights in the world. And besides (fellow contender) Chad Mendes, I knew that a win over Nunes was gonna put me up there as one of the top featherweights out there, and the timing with Mendes didn’t work out, so based on what I did at ’55 and my win over Nunes, I was gonna be a frontrunner to face Aldo. I don’t think there’s a fight at 145 that you can market more than myself and Aldo.”
He’s right, and there are plenty of intriguing angles to look at this fight from. Can Aldo continue his amazing run? Did the last round against his last opponent, Mark Hominick, provide a blueprint for Florian to take advantage of? Can Florian finally get the belt he has sought for so long? And maybe most telling, how long can the 35-year old “KenFlo” keep doing this?
“It’s crazy when I even think about how long I’ve been fighting in the UFC,” said the affable New Englander. “I do think about that (age) and I think I’m still in the best shape and feeling the best I’ve ever felt at 35. I feel better now than I did when I was 21, so it’s how I’ve been eating and how I’ve been taking care of my body. I’ve never been a big partier, I’ve always been a guy who tries to train year-round, and I think that’s been the difference. I don’t want to be fighting into my 40’s and I don’t know how many years I have left, but physically it’s the best I’ve ever felt.”
It sounds like all the stars are aligned for Kenny Florian, and he would probably agree. Yeah, there’s still a fight to be fought, but when it comes to being prepared for battle, he’s ready. And when it comes down to it, after all the ups and downs, the starts and the stops, if he can put a championship belt around his waist on Saturday night, it may be sweeter now than it would have been before.
“It absolutely means a lot more,” he said. “I’ve done some good things in my career, but I’ve made a lot of mistakes, and it’s those mistakes that have brought me to where I am today. I feel completely different heading into this fight, physically, mentally, and spiritually, and I feel great. It’s been all those experiences, all those things good and bad, and I think this is my time to get it done. I know Aldo’s going to be the toughest fight of my career, but I’m a completely different fighter than I was back then, and I’m extremely hungry to compete. I want to go out there, compete hard, and earn a victory. I almost want to go a disgustingly tiring 25 minutes. (Laughs) I want to make my money the old fashioned way on October 8th.”
Leonard Garcia was down in the dumps. Forced out of an August fight with Alex Caceres due to injury, the “Bad Boy” from Texas now had to wait to erase the memory of his March loss to Chan Sung Jung while the rest of the mixed martial arts world kep…
Leonard Garcia was down in the dumps. Forced out of an August fight with Alex Caceres due to injury, the “Bad Boy” from Texas now had to wait to erase the memory of his March loss to Chan Sung Jung while the rest of the mixed martial arts world kept turning.
So he turned to a higher source for help.
“I used to dip tobacco and I made a promise to God and I told him I’d quit dipping tobacco as long as things went the way they were supposed to go,” he smiles. “And lo and behold, I get put on the main card in Houston, Texas against a guy I’ve been wanting to fight. So everything’s just falling into place.”
Maybe it wasn’t divine intervention; maybe it was. But whatever it is, Garcia is convinced that he has to stay away from dipping tobacco because this Saturday night, he will get the rematch he wanted with heated rival Nam Phan and he will do it in the same Toyota Center Octagon where he made his UFC debut back in 2007 against Roger Huerta.
It was that fight against “El Matador” that put him on the map (and put his back on the cover of Sports Illustrated) as a must-see MMA action hero, unwilling to take a backward step in pursuit of victory. The Plainview, Texas native didn’t get the victory that night, losing a three round decision, but he earned respect and a fan following that hasn’t left him since.
“I remember the first round coming out and hearing a lot of cheers for Roger, but it was still a homecoming for me, and people from Texas knew who I was, so I had a good crowd of people,” recalled Garcia of that UFC 69 bout. “I started the second round and picked my hands up in the air and said something to Roger in the middle of the ring, and we started fighting and then I started hearing people saying my name more, and at the end of the fight I just remember hearing the roar of the crowd. It was just a really good feeling. It was a great fight, it was my debut, and it was my coming out party as I like to put it.”
He pauses, almost as if to soak in the cheers once again.
“I made a good showing,” he continues. “Now, I want to go back and the people who were there last time that are gonna be there again this time, I want to show them how far I’ve come and how many steps I’ve taken since then. I don’t know how to put on a better fight than that, but the only thing I know is to fight my fighting style and hopefully it pleases the crowd.”
It almost takes you back to hear him say that he doesn’t know how to put on a better fight than that, because as good as the brawl with Huerta was, Garcia has had more than his share of classics since then, most notably his WEC war for the ages in his first fight with Jung (who is more commonly known as “The Korean Zombie”) and his 2010 scrap in the UFC with Phan.
And while he and Jung have had a good relationship outside the cage before and after their two bouts, Garcia doesn’t exactly see eye to eye with The Ultimate Fighter 12’s Phan, who he narrowly decisioned in one of the most controversial bouts of last year. To his credit, Garcia has not shied away from a rematch, feeling that while he won the first bout, the second one will be even more decisive. And yeah, these two don’t like each other.
“There’s always that mutual respect,” explains Garcia, a veteran of more than 11 years in the pro game. “It takes a certain type of guy to get into the cage and to reach the pinnacle of the sport and compete in the UFC; you’ve got to be a really skilled opponent. So I always walk in there with lots of respect for the other guy. I believe that’s what makes the sport what it is. You can go in there and kill each other and know that when the final bell rings, and you’ve got to show respect. But this one is a little different. I do have ill feelings towards the guy (Phan). He said some things about me that I didn’t like, and I probably said some things about him that he doesn’t like. Will there be a handshake at the end of the fight? Yeah, probably. A hug? Probably not, but maybe. (Laughs) I’m going in there and I want to prove a point to him; he wants to go in there and prove a point to me. This is what’s gonna make this fight so great – we’re both going in with the chip on our shoulder, we both have something to prove, and I had five weeks to get ready for that and I feel like it was the perfect amount of time. I’m ready to go and the fans in Houston are gonna be in for a great fight.”
They always are with Garcia, a name synonymous with crowd-pleasing, swing for the fences, defense be damned scraps. And that’s just with the guys Garcia likes (don’t even ask about the sparring sessions between Garcia and his best friend, lightweight contender Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone). So what happens when he’s in there with someone he doesn’t care for? Do emotions make him play it safe or get even wilder with his haymakers? Is it all out war or business as usual?
“It’s definitely business as usual,” said Garcia. “The only thing is, the killer instinct is a lot easier to reach right away. If I smell any kind of blood, I’m gonna go for it. With other guys, if you have mutual respect, sometimes you smell the blood in the water and you don’t go for the kill right away. You ease off. This is definitely a fight that that’s not gonna happen in. If I hurt him, he’s going down.”
But here’s the thing: for all of Garcia’s bad intentions, he is trying – and trying hard – to bring refinement to his game. If he has his way, he won’t be swinging for the fences all night; he’’ place his punches, throw some jabs in there, and even take care of business efficiently on the mat. If he fights the way he wants to and the way he’s capable of, there may be a new “Bad Boy” in town.
“Everybody likes to see a guy like Mike Tyson come in and knock 20 or 30 people out in the first round, but at the end of the day, people want to see the Erik Morales-(Marco Antonio) Barrera fights, Garcia-Jung, and fights like that so they have something to talk about and something to remember. I feel like I’ve delivered plenty of those; now it’s time to start delivering the knockouts.”
You get a feeling that he’ll be just as exciting pulling those off, most likely in Cheick Kongo come from behind to win fashion. But with things going so well for him now and a huge Pay-Per-View fight coming up in front of his home state fans, has he kept his end of the tobacco bargain?
He is, but when asked to compare staying off chewing tobacco to making the 145 pound featherweight limit, he’s torn…but only for a moment.
“Both of them are really, really hard, but the tobacco thing was murder,” he said. “I had been dipping since I was 13 years old, and it was my one and only habit that I’ve ever had. It’s not that bad, it’s only one habit, and my teeth are appreciating it (stopping) though.”
13???
“Growing up out in the country, you’re always looking for something to take up time, and that’s all I had ever seen,” said Garcia. “My grandfather and my dad were both big tobacco chewers, and as a kid you would run across a plug or an extra bit of tobacco laying around there, and the first few times you ran into it, yeah, it would make your stomach hurt and you got sick and a little bit dizzy (Laughs), but every country kid that I knew out there did it. Nobody smoked cigarettes. Cigarettes were a bad thing to do, it was frowned upon. But for some reason sticking the tobacco in your mouth was fine. (Laughs) The first few years I could get away with it in front of my dad; he didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. But man, if my mom would see it, we’d either swallow it down or get a good whippin’ for it.”
Leonard Garcia has come a long way since then. He’s quit chewing tobacco, he’s fighting on one of the biggest shows of the year, and he’s got a devoted group of fans who will watch him and cheer his on whenever he fights. He’s apparently not a bad dealmaker either.
“I’m telling people, you make promises to God and you hold ‘em, I think he holds up his end of the bargain as well.”
