Shane Carwin Cleared For UFC Return; Ready To Be A Shark Instead Of Swimming With Them


Former UFC heavyweight title contender Shane Carwin is back, ready to be a shark instead of just swimming with them.

“I informed UFC Matchmaker (Joe Silva) that I would like to fight in early fall 2012,” Carwin wrote in a recent post on his website.

It’s been a year since Carwin set foot in the Octagon. He’s been on the sidelines recovering from surgery to deal with the lingering effects of injuries he sustained as a collegiate football player.

“I have spent my entire career dealing with injuries sustained through football,” said Carwin. “(But now) I am 100 percent and I feel like a younger version of my former self.”

His former self rocketed to a 12-0 record before ever tasting defeat. During that 12-0 run, Carwin never went outside of the first round, finishing fighters like Gabe Gonzaga and former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir along the way.

Not only is Carwin back and ready to return to the Octagon, rejuvenated, he wants to fight more frequently as well. Having fought just six times in his four-year UFC tenure, Carwin “would like to be able to fight every three or four months.”

Despite the down time, Carwin has been anything but down.

“My entire career is shorter then some Pride Fights,” he quipped. “I have somehow managed to contend for the UFC heavyweight title with less than an hour of actual fighting. On one hand that is amazing, on the other, it’s kind of scary to think I am facing seasoned veterans with limited experience. Talk about swimming with the sharks.”

So Carwin has been hard at work during his year “off,” shoring up his skill set. As he noted, when a fighter gets into the mix of training for the next big fight, he gets so focused on the opponent at hand there isn’t much time to work on rounding out his skills.

Having had the time to do that. Carwin is ready to come back and put on display what he’s learned, offering a warning for the UFC heavyweight division.

“The UFC should look into adding some padding in the gloves because I plan on crushing my opponents.”

http://www.mmaweekly.com/shane-carwin-cleared-for-ufc-return-ready-to-be-a-shark-instead-of-swimming-with-them

Bellator Champ Michael Chandler Wants To Be The No. 1 World Ranked Lightweight


Bellator lightweight champ Michael Chandler (10-0) has a long way to go before he will be considered the World’s No. 1 ranked 155-lbs fighter, but the undefeated champ feels that it’s the reason “God put me in this sport”.

Chandler recently broke the top ten rankings of several mma websites, coming in at No. 9, after his recent victory over
Japanese veteran Akihiro Gono, who held over six times the number of pro-matches as Chandler possessed.

Speaking to MMAFighting.com, the Bellator champ talked about his quick win versus Gono and it’s meaning to him in his quest to be Number one. Chandler also attended this past weekends MTV Movie Awards, sitting in the fourth row with Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal and Pat Curran, but you’ll have to hit the link to read those comments.

“For me, that’s awesome. Being considered top 10 in the world is an amazing thing. My goal is to be No. 1. God put me in this sport for a reason. But I’m trying not to focus on the rankings too much, just beat the next tournament winner and next tournament winner and next tournament winner after that.”

Since defeating Alvarez, Chandler went on to defeat veteran Akihiro Gono via first-round knockout in less than a minute on May 4. The veteran Gono announced his retirement immediately after the bout, but Chandler still views the win as an important learning experience.

“The thing about Gono, he was a little bit older and toward the end of his career, but he’s still dangerous,” Chandler said. “The fact that I was fighting a guy who went to a draw with Chael Sonnen, beat Hector Lombard, fought Dan Henderson, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, those guys, you know he’s dangerous. You know he’s got 40-something fights on me, I’ve only get 10 fights, he’s got 50-something. The fact we were able to go out and get a dominant win shows that I’m working hard and shows my explosiveness in the cage and how serious I’m taking this.”

Chandler captured the Bellator title last November by submitting former champ Eddie Alvarez in one of the most memorable fights of 2011. Chandler will face Rick Hawn next at an undetermined date.

http://www.themmanews.com/bellator-champ-michael-chandler-wants-to-be-the-no-1-world-ranked-lightweight/

Bellator 71 Features Light Heavyweight Tournament And Brett Rogers’ Debut


Bellator Fighting Championships is headed to “The Mountain State” on Friday, June 22 for Bellator 71 and the start of the Bellator Summer Series Light Heavyweight Tournament from The Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort in Chester, W.V.

Featuring a main card that includes Travis Wiuff facing off against Chris Davis, as well as Attila Vegh taking on Zelg Galesic, Bellator 71 will also host the debut of hard-hitting knockout artist, Brett Rogers. Additionally, a loaded Bellator 71 preliminary card full of the area’s top talent will be on display. Tickets for Bellator 71 are on sale and are available through Etix.com or at the Mountaineer Casino Players Club. Tickets are priced from $25-$200.

After agreeing to terms with Bellator Fighting Championships, Brett Rogers is ready to make his promotional debut as he takes on the heavy-handed Kevin Asplund in a heavyweight affair. Former training partners and close friends, the two massive combatants no longer have a relationship and both men are eager to lock horns on June 22.

The Bellator Summer Series Light Heavyweight Tournament field is now complete as Roy Boughton will meet “The Hardcore Kid” Emanuel Newton.

Boughton joins Bellator after compiling an impressive 8-2 record, including wins over “Ninja” Rua and Misha Cirkunov. Training at the world-renowned Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, the 22-year-old Boughton is looking to make a statement in his first Bellator fight.

For Newton, “The Hardcore Kid” enters the Bellator Summer Series Light Heavyweight Tournament riding a five-fight win streak and holds 17 career victories, including wins over MMA veterans James McSweeney and Roger Hollett.

A battle of undefeated lightweights will get the preliminary card started as four-time Bellator veteran E.J. Brooks will look to keep his unblemished Bellator record intact when he meets Ohio’s Joey Holt. Holt, who earned a spectacular flying knee knockout win over Clint Musser at Bellator 51, will look to add “Pretty Boy” to his growing resume.

Pennsylvania featherweight Brylan Van Artsdalen will look to earn his first victory inside the Bellator cage when he meets Virginia’s Neil Johnson in his promotional debut. Both men will have an enormous amount of support from friends and family when they square off from the Mountaineer Casino on June 22.

After stopping Plinio Cruz and Daniel Gracie in his two previous Bellator appearances, Duane Bastress will look to keep his momentum going when he meets West Virginia’s own Jason Butcher in a matchup at 185 pounds. For Butcher, a drop from light heavyweight to middleweight will earn him the biggest test of his career as he squares off against Bastress with the hometown support behind the West Virginia product.

Also on the card, well-rounded Bellator veterans Tim Carpenter and John Hawk will look to build off recent wins over Ryan Contaldi and Marcus Vanttinen respectively when they lock horns in an exciting light heavyweight bout that will have the crowd at The Mountaineer on the edge of their seats. Carpenter, whose lone defeat came at the hands of Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion Christian M’Pumbu, is coming off the first knockout win of his career while Hawk will look to build off a hard-earned split decision win at Bellator 66.

Rounding out the card will be a rematch from over two years ago as nearby Ohio light heavyweights Dan “The Dragon” Spohn and Josh Stansbury meet in a highly-anticipated bout. Back in November of 2009, it was Spohn who submitted Stansbury in his professional debut, however, both men have improved their games since that time, earning a combined record of 8-2.

MAIN CARD:
Travis Wiuff (66-14) vs. Chris Davis (10-3)*
Attila Vegh (25-4-2) vs. Zelg Galesic (11-6)*
Roy Boughton (8-2) vs. Emanuel Newton (17-6)*
Beau Tribolet (7-1) vs. Richard Hale (19-4-1)*
Brett Rogers (11-4) vs. Kevin Asplund (15-1)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike.com):
Dan Spohn (6-2) vs. Josh Stansbury (3-2)
Tim Carpenter (8-1) vs. John Hawk (7-4)
Jason Butcher (3-0) vs. Duane Bastress (5-1)
Neil Johnson (6-4) vs. Brylan Van Artsdalen (6-3)
E.J. Brooks (7-0) vs. Joey Holt (3-0)

http://www.mmaweekly.com/bellator-71-features-light-heavyweight-tournament-and-brett-rogers-debut

Bellator Season Six Lightweight Tourny Winner Rick Hawn Didn’t Think He’d Ever Make 155-Lbs


Bellator Season Six lightweight tournament winner Rick Hawn (14-1) will look to capture his first title this summer when he faces current champion Michael Chandler.

Hawn, who was also a tournament finalist at welterweight in Season Four, opted to drop down in weight after his loss to Jay Hieron last year, has made the most of the change despite his initial trepidations.

Hawn, who trains in Montreal at the famous Tristar gym under coach Firas Zahabi, had to get talked into dropping down to 155-lbs by his coach, thinking that it wasn’t possible for him to make that weight.

So far he’s shown himself to be a very dangerous fighter at lightweight, with two knockout finishes and one decision victory to earn the Season Six crown.

Speaking to MMAMania.com, Hawn talked about the move to lightweight as well as his upcoming title fight with the Bellator champ this summer.

Did the disappointment from last year’s tournament and how that all went down motivate you in the lightweight tournament this year?

Rick Hawn: Definitely. I didn’t move down to lightweight because I lost. It was just basically to make better use of my size and my body type. It was definitely motivation for this year. I really wanted to make it back to the finals and make up for that loss and I was able to do it. It’s been a great year. My coach Firas Zahabi had to talk me into coming down to lightweight. I wasn’t keen to do it or even thought it was possible, but it was definitely a great decision.

This being your first time ever dropping down to lightweight, was it difficult having to make the cut three times in three months for the tournament?

Rick Hawn: Well not having a practice cut before the first fight was a little scary but I came in and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be for the first fight. Coming around the second fight, it was very difficult. That one was really bad so going into the third fight, we decided to get me down a little lighter so it’d be an easier cut just because it’s so tough to make those cuts every four weeks. The last cut was very easy.

You’ve got Michael Chandler assuming at the end of the summer series or the beginning of the seventh season. He’s a terrific wrestler but something I’ve seen is that judo players have the best balance of any fighters in mixed martial arts. Do you think that’s going to really help you out in countering his wrestling attack?

Rick Hawn: I think so. I think it’s a really great match-up. I’ve never fought a good wrestler as he is so I’m interested to see how it’s gonna play out. Obviously I’m gonna train a lot of wrestling for his style but I think with my background, it gives me a good advantage with him as opposed to a lot of other fighters he’s fought.

http://www.themmanews.com/bellator-season-six-lightweight-tourny-winner-rick-hawn-didnt-think-hed-ever-make-155-lbs/

It didn’t take Paul “Semtex” Daley long to find a new home following his release from Strikeforce just a few days ago.

The British heavy hitter has signed on with Bellator Fighting Championships and will debut for the promotion on July 20 at Bellator 72.

“I’ve been a Semtex fan for years,” said Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney. “He’s an incredibly explosive fighter who is magic to watch inside the cage. So when the opportunity presented itself to join forces with Paul, it was a simple decision to make. Paul’s one of those fighters I’ve always intentionally stayed home to watch and now I can watch him cageside at Bellator.”

Daley closed out his Strikeforce career by going 2-3 overall, but faced some of the stiffest competition the promotion could present to him while fighting there.

In 2011, Daley lost to current UFC welterweight Nick Diaz, but the pair put on one of the most exciting fights of the year despite it lasting less than a single round.

Now Daley brings his power and brash attitude to the Bellator cage where he will begin fighting in just over a month.

“I’ve been a fan of Bellator for a long while,” Daley said. “When this chance came up, I was absolutely ready to make a long term commitment to Bellator. I have my sights set on winning the tournament and winning that Bellator title.”

http://www.mmaweekly.com/paul-semtex-daley-signs-with-bellator

Strikeforce light heavyweight title contender Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante has reportedly tested positive for a banned substance following his victory over Mike Kyle at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Cormier last month in San Jose, Calif.

The failed drug was first reported by boxing reporter Gabriel Montoya on Twitter. MMAFighting.com later confirmed it with California State Athletic Commission executive officer George Dodd, who did not identify the banned substance.

Cavalcante has been suspended for one year dating from the time of the fight and fined $2,500.

His manager, Ed Soares, who also did not disclose any details of the test, stands behind his fighter.

“I believe he is innocent,” Soares told MMAWeekly.com.

Cavalcante submitted Mike Kyle just 33 seconds into their fight at the May 19 event at the HP Pavilion. The victory was believed to have catapulted the former Strikeforce champion into a battle with Gegard Mousasi for the vacant Strikeforce light heavyweight title later this year.

MMAWeekly.com was unable to reach Dodd prior to publication.

http://www.mmaweekly.com/rafael-feijao-cavalcante-suspended-for-failed-drug-test

US Olympic Wrestler Steve Mocco Coming To MMA, A Look At His Wrestling Career


2008 Olympian Steve Mocco has announced his intention to pursue a mixed martial arts career. This announcement means that we are a mere Henry Cejudo away from seeing more than half of the 2008 freestyle Olympic wrestling team fighting for paychecks inside of a cage. An era is fast approaching when world or Olympic team freestyle wrestler's migration to MMA is a norm rather than an exception.

Skeptics of the value of world class wrestling credentials as a predictor of mixed martial arts success cannot deny that things have gone swimingly well for the two members of that Olympic team who have already embarked on their MMA careers. Daniel Cormier and Ben Askren have not a single loss between them and wear belts from two of the top three MMA promotions on the planet. I believe that Steve Mocco will experience comparable success.

Continue reading to for a retrospective on Steve Mocco's wrestling career and reasons why Steve is particularly equipped for a very nice run in professional MMA.

Steve Mocco, High School Wrestling legend

My teenage confidence, crystaline in its fragility, shattered when I peered at a freshly printed bracket sheet to see that I was seeded fourth. The fairly high seed at a very respectable tournament should have encouraged me; after years of struggling as a mediocre wrestler I was enjoying some level of success and recognition. Instead, I was deeply troubled for eight lines above my name and next to the number one was Steve Mocco. He and I were slated to wrestle in the semi-finals. Usually wrestling based fear is due to a natural aversion to potential embarassment, an aversion that was strong in high schooler Mike Riordan, but this fear was justly founded, Steve Mocco could have seriously messed me up.

Steve was scary. He still is, but he was really scary, particularly to the eighteen year-old version of myself. I was an underpowered and undersized two-hundred and fifteen pound heavyweight with midling skills and Steve was the greatest high school heavyweight...ever. He was built like something imagined by Maurice Sendak and his style was one of brutality and he did not hesitate to unleash this brutality on any quality of the competition. Whether he was wrestling the pud who took up wrestling because it was the only sport without cuts, or a collegiate All-American, Steve would attempt to obliterate his opponent with extreme prejudice. I'm happy to say that at least he didn't injure me.

Since I began to follow (obsess about) wrestling in my young teens more than a decade and a half ago, Steve has been probably the third most hyped high school wrestler to pull up singlet straps. He won four national prep titles, four Fargo national championships, an NHSCA national championship, and was victorious at Dapper Dan.* Wrestling one of the toughest high school schedules imaginable, Steve lost once in varsity competition, and even that was something of a fluke.

Behind Steve's stellar competitive credentials were the best training resources available. Before his junior year Steve transferred to Blair Academy, the nation's preeminent high school wrestling program. When he was not receiving top flight coaching at Blair, he was receiving instruction at the New York Athletic Club and Edge Wrestling School, the private training school of six different NCAA champs. Steve also supplemented his wrestling with judo, a martial art in which he was also a top flight practitioner. His judo background would prove to be very important to his wrestling success, as well as his impending success in MMA.

Mocco's Post-High School Career

Steve followed his incredible high school career with a fantastic collegiate and post collegiate career. He was a four time NCAA finalist and two time champ and he followed this with a 2008 Olympic appearance. These accomplishments appear to be above reproach, but careful reading between the lines of the story of Steve Mocco's wrestling career reveals a tale of immense potential that was not quite fulfilled.

Mocco had only six collegiate losses. Two of those losses, however, weigh more heavily than any other as they were in the NCAA finals. Both of those losses were razor thin and occurred against opponents whom Steve had beaten in the past. If either loss were to be reversed, Mocco would statistically be the greatest collegiate heavyweight ever.** The finals loss that particularly stands out was the loss to Cole Konrad in 2006, Steve's senior year.

After beating Konrad in the 2005 NCAA finals and winning the Hodge Trophy, wrestling's Heisman, two seasons separated Mocco from his last loss and he looked as if he would to cap off his collegiate career with a third straight undefeated national championship season. Instead Mocco experienced what I believe is his worst season in college where he was pinned for the only time in college and doubled his career loss total. Granted, his losses in this season only came to a great wrestler in Cole Konrad and two were decided in tie-breakers, but more alarming than actual defeats was the fact that Steve seemed uninspired and he certainly was not growing as a wrestler.

I believe that Mocco was burnt out. One season of college wrestling can inflict wear and tear that can last a lifetime and Steve had been training like an Olympian for at least ten years. The fact that Mocco left the sport for a year to play defensive tackle for the OSU football team lends some credence to my speculation. It seems he just wanted some time away from a wrestling room. Mocco did regain enough focus and motivation to win the Olympic trials in 2008 and place seventh in Beijing, losing one match short of the bronze medal bout.

Looking back on Steve's wrestling career after high school, I see great accomplishment, but I also perceive some level of disappointment. Out of high school Mocco looked poised to be the greatest college heavyweight ever and win multiple world or Olympic medals. These may be mammoth expectations, but Steve had justly earned them and he did not fulfill them. The most notable disappointment, however, is the arc of his improvement.

He never developed the skill set necessary to consistently generate offense on the world's best and he let inferior wrestlers surpass him in competition. Chief among these were the aforementioned Konrad and more recently, Les Sigman, whom Mocco once would beat handily and regularly but who was able to close the gap and beat Mocco in the semi-finals of last month's Olympic trials. Seven years ago, if a man were to predict that Les Sigman would make as many world or Olympic teams as Steve Mocco (one) and win as many world level medals (zero) in his career, I would have figured him for a moron or lunatic.

Most wrestlers at the world class level are hyper-critical of themselves and If I detect the shortcomings in Mocco's competitive career, then I have no doubt that he does as well. This leads me to believe that Mocco may be entering into MMA motivated by more than a payday, but by the drive to climb the sport's highest summit. This is important because I would imagine that when getting punched in the face by a giant Brazilian, it helps to have as many motivating factors as possible.

What Mocco Brings to MMA

Mocco experienced large volumes of hatred as a wrestler and I suspect he will experience the same as a fighter. Steve received some hate as a backlash to the hype that accmpanied him. He earned more this hatred when after his sophomore year in college, Mocco transferred from the University of Iowa to Oklahoma State. These two programs have won more than sixty percent of the sport's national titles between them. They bitterly hate each other and are vehemently detested by the rest of the wrestling community. Exacerbating the situation, Steve's transfer came at the time when Iowa was struggling and OSU was on top of the sport, lending a LeBron Jamesian feel to the whole affair. In spite of this, for more reason than any other, Mocco detractors hated Steve because he was tubby and often somewhat boring.

Mixed martial arts fans will hate him for the same reason. They will call him fat, though if you were ever to stand next to him in his current shape you would realize that he has a shockingly lean appearance and is clearly in fantastic physical condition. Fans will also whine that he is boring and lays and prays*** because he will take all but the most elite opponents down whenever he feels like it and he will be able to hold them down at his leisure.

We will not see him fighting in the style of fellow OSU Cowboy and Olympic teammate Daniel Cormier. Mocco is a very good athlete and an excellent athlete for his size; Mike "I'm 40, I'm a man" Gundy is not going to let many people with absolutely no football experience walk on to his team. The fact that Mocco spent a year playing Big 12 football speaks volumes about his physical talent and ability to adapt to different sports. This bodes well for his ability to pick up the striking and submission elements of MMA at an fairly rapid rate.

This being said, he still does not possess the elite athleticism of Cormier and we will probably not see him train for a year or two and conduct striking clinics against more experienced fighters. He is not much taller than Cormier, if at all, is fairly stubby and will not have Daniel's quick feet to allow him to close distance rapidly enough to compensate for the lack of reach. His talent level is such that he should be able to pick up adequate enough striking knowledge to stay out of danger against most adversaries long enough to take them down. It is a safe prediction, and one that brings me great joy, that his fight strategy will will closely resemble that of his rival Cole Konrad.

Where he distinguishes himself from other wrestling centered heavyweights is in his preferred takedown methodology. Mocco's signature takedown is a footsweep. This is a technique that I believe he honed as a judoka and adapted to wrestling. While footsweeps are not completely alien to wrestling and I understand the move on a basic level, I do not know enough to articulate its intricacies on a technical level. Failing a detailed explanation, I have provided a specimen of said footsweep.

Mocco's judo background is what makes him a particularly interesting MMA prospect. He has elite, perhaps world class judo skills and he had the advantages of using judo technique in a gi-less environment for many years. Unlike other judo players, he will not have to learn to adapt to shirtless opponents and he has the folkstyle wrestling base that gives him an unmatched ability to keep competitors on the ground once taken down.

I have coached judo converts to wrestling to decent levels of success. Judo can help an inexperienced wrestler pick up victories against some more seasoned competition though ironically, the judo background that provides them with their initial success in the sport can limit them with a built-in cap to their long term success. Wrestling judokas tend to rely so much on certain judo techniques to score points and never properly develop the wrestling leg attacks necessary to defeat their most elite competition.

While Mocco was primarily a wrestler, I believe that his reliance on what is primarily a judo technique may have limited his success at the extreme upper levels of wrestling. With extremely few exceptions, to be able to beat the best wrestlers in the world it is necessary to attack their legs by lowering levels and shooting on them. Mocco, whether because of his dependence on his footsweep or his lack of length, never was able to generate shot-based offense good enough to regularly work on the world's very best.

What was his detriment in wrestling may well be his advantage in prize fighting. Dropping the head and shooting in a mixed martial arts bout is a perilous thing and all sorts of nasty counters can result, not to mention that it requires vast amounts of energy. Mocco will be the best heavyweight in MMA at taking opponents down without lowering levels to do so. This is extremely important; he can ground opponents from the safety of a standing position, do so relatively effortlessly and without putting himself in positions that will leave him vulnerable to get taken down himself.

Not that he has ever been particularly vulnerable to a takedown. I doubt that we will ever see Steve get taken down in a cage as he is one of the best defensive wrestlers ever. I can count the number of times he was taken down in college on one hand and I do not believe that any of those takedowns were the result of an opponent converting a conventional shot. More impressive is that he was almost as parsimonious in takedown defense on the international level. I am racking my brain trying to think of a time when an opponent got in on his legs and actually took him to the mat in international competition and I cannot do it. Succesfully finishing a take down on Steve Mocco is next to impossible.

Mocco is entering the sport of MMA with the invaluable ability to take almost anyone to the mat effortlessly and defend nearly any of an opponent's takedown attempts. He carries these skills into a thin heavyweight class with a dearth of quality wrestling. Brock Lesnar and Cole Konrad recently ascended to the elite levels of the sport based primarily on their wrestling skills and physicality. Steve is more physical than either and even though he may not be as explosive as Lesnar and not have the favorable physical dimensions of Konrad, he's a better technical wrestler than either and with the integration of his elite judo takedowns he has a style better suited to MMA.

Steve Mocco is equipped to go very far in MMA. I see him as an eventual top ten heavyweight in the world and possibly top five. He will always have trouble with powerful strikers with excellent take down defense as well as any fighter with an active and dangerous guard but the fact of the matter is that there just are not that many heavyweights which fit these descriptions. Steve will be a bad matchup for almost any current MMA heavyweight, expect for him to make some big noise in the division really soon.

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2012/6/12/3077912/steve-mocco-ncaa-olympic-wrestling-mma

UFC Vet Chris Lytle Happy In Retirement, But Willing To Fight Underground For Millionaires


Chris Lytle is happy in retirement, but the UFC veteran told MMAjunkie.com Radio (http://www.mmajunkie.com/radio) he sees a few scenarios in which he could be lured back to the cage.

One would be a late-notice opportunity in which he's not stuck in a three-month training camp and away from his family.

The second is a bit odder – and would require an underground fight venue with rich men smoking cigars, drinking wine and betting a million dollars on his fight.

Lytle, the UFC's longtime blue-collar workhorse, closed out his 12-year MMA career this past August with a 31-18-5 record, including a 10-10 mark in the UFC. That record may seem pedestrian, but consider the details: Only six fighters have logged more UFC appearances than Lytle, he's scored a record 10 fight-night bonuses (six for the night's best fight, three for the best submission, and one for the best knockout), he was a runner-up on "The Ultimate Fighter 4," and he closed his career on a high note with five victories in his final six fights. He's also never been submitted, and his only stoppage losses were due to cuts.

The married father of four and Indianapolis firefighter recently fell short in his Indiana State Senate run, but he's kept busy training other fighters, and he's heavily involved in the Indianapolis Police Athletic League (Indy PAL), a nonprofit organization that teaches martial arts to inner-city kids.

The lure of the cage, though, is strong for the 37-year-old. He has no immediate plans to return to it, but he admits the right opportunity would be tempting.

"I'd love to, but the reason I decided to stop fighting was because I just wasn't being a good dad," he told MMAjunkie.com Radio. "If I came back and fought again ... it'd be that I know the right thing and wasn't doing it. That'd be very hard for me to do."

But he sees a scenario in which he could both be with his family and fight again.

"I've talked to a couple people, and ... here's the only condition in which I'd take a fight," he said. "Let's say it's about four days out (from a UFC) event, and someone got hurt. And it was the right kind of fight, and they say, 'We need you Chris.' Then I might do it because I'm still in pretty good shape. And if I didn't have to go out and spend all day training, spend time away from my family, I'd do that. I'd hop in last minute. That wouldn't be too bad. That could be a possibility."

Another possibility? Brace yourself. Because he knows it's a bit far-fetched.

"Now, this is going to sound a little crazy, but I know there's someplace where you know like (UFC president) Dana White and his real rich friends – some of the richest people in America – sit around and in some dark room and have cocktails and smoke cigars, and they're betting a million (dollars) on these little underground fights," he said. "Hey man, just bring me out there for a day. I'll do one of these underground fights, and nobody has to know about it.

"That would be fun for me because it'd be the competition I enjoy. I would do that. So if you hear any real rich people putting on these fights, let me know. I'll show up."

But haven't we seen this before with Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson's backyard events – or in nearly every 1980s martial-arts movie and post-apocolytpic thrillers about the future? Lytle laughs and lets us know his standards are higher.

"It's not going to be with a bunch of idiots betting 500 bucks," he joked. "I want to be in one of these nice, classy places. People in there drinking wine or smoking cigars. Probably not wine, actually. Whatever rich people drink. It'd be high-end. People betting $500,000 per fight. ... Not somewhere were they're betting craps with their drug money on the side."

In all seriousness, though, Lytle likely won't be fighting above or below ground. He made promises to his family, and he plans to stick by them.

Besides, he got as close to a storybook ending that a fighter can hope for. At UFC on Versus 5, his final MMA appearance, he choked out Dan Hardy and picked up two fight-night bonuses.

"My last fight ended so good," he said. "How could I really top that?"

http://mmajunkie.com/news/29193/ufc-vet-chris-lytle-happy-in-retirement-but-willing-to-fight-underground-for-millionaires.mma