In one of the most stacked divisions in Strikeforce, Caros Fodor has already accomplished a lot—but still wants more.
Just days away from facing perhaps his toughest opponent to date in Pat Healy, Fodor sat down to speak with BleacherReport.com MMA.
His opponent may be tough but Fodor is confident he’s done enough to win.
“I had a bunch of guys to train with and stay injury free. I feel great for this fight,” said Fodor.
His road to promising Strikeforce prospect has seen the Kirkland native travel all over not just the United States, but the world.
After graduating high school, Fodor joined the Marines and was sent to Kuwait as part of the conflict in Iraq.
Just as valuable as a good jab, Fodor credits the Marines with giving him the tools to succeed.
“I think the Marines gave me a great work ethic and the mental toughness needed to have an effective career in the sport,” said Fodor.
Of course, great physical and mental tools are worthless without proper training and skills. Fodor found both of these in coach Matt Hume and AMC Pankration.
He doesn’t shy away from expressing the value of Hume and AMC.
“It has changed my life, gave me a career and put me back on track,” said Fodor. “I am just so thankful
I found him and AMC when I did.”
Finding a proper training place also likely saved him from a life that would’ve no doubt been riddled with legal troubles among other issues. Like many soldiers before him, returning from a war brought many problems with coming home.
Luckily for Fodor, these problems turned into a blessing in disguise by introducing him into the sport of MMA.
“When I returned from the war myself and friends got into a lot of street fights,” he said. “These fights are what brought me to MMA.”
Foder made his professional MMA debut in 2009 by winning via guillotine choke in the first round. He started his career by going 4-1 that produced three wins by submission and a controversial loss to Nate Hannah.
In April of 2011, Fodor had his breakthrough performance. He controlled the first two rounds of action against David Douglas and finished the fight in the third round with a barrage of knees.
Fodor’s next bout was a victory over James Terry who is an instructor at Cung Le’s gym. When he last stepped inside the Strikeforce cage, Fodor squared off against another touted prospect in Justin Wilcox.
The fight didn’t last long as he won via KO just 13 seconds in. He credits his training as being the reason behind his most impressive showing.
“I trained a lot of takedown defense for that fight which paid off,” said Fodor. “It ended when he shot and I stopped the takedown then landed an uppercut which led to the end of the fight.”
Stretching his record to 7-1, Fodor will square off against the savvy veteran Healy, who has beaten the likes of Paul Daley, Dan Hardy and Carlos Condit, to name but a few.
Fodor doesn’t believe he’ll be another rising prospect to fall before Healy.
” It’s gonna be a battle for both of us but I definitely see myself winning, just not sure how,” he said. “I would love another KO.”
Although he isn’t looking past his fight on Saturday night, Fodor isn’t shy about expressing his title aspirations.
“If I beat Healy, I want a title shot for sure,” he said.
After beating one Cesar Gracie product, Fodor believes he can match up well with the current champion Gilbert Melendez.
“I think I have all the tools to beat him but it will be very hard,” he said. “He is a great champ but I feel it’s my time. Being the Strikeforce champion is my only goal.”
He definitely has a tough task in front of him on Saturday but Fodor could see his standing in the lightweight rankings skyrocket if he can put away Healy in impressive fashion.
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