TRAINER: Tom Jones, Clay Marrs, Ryan McClain, Dorothy Faas. Training is as usual. I did spend a week up with Alan Belcher, Joe Doerkson, Thomas Denny, Eric Schafer, Sean Salmon and Duke Roufus and right now I’m finishing up a few days of training in Dallas at Lutter’s place with Alex Andrade and a few other guys. So I am branching out a little more than usual. All those guys that I mentioned are great guys and have all been a benefit to my training. I was supposed be back to Milwaukee at Duke’s for a large portion of this month but due to some scheduling conflicts it didn’t happen.

When and why did you start training for fighting? I started training in 2002, when I first moved to Tulsa and learned that Mikey Burnett had a gym there.  I had always been a fan in the sport, and when I moved to Tulsa I worked with Mikey’s brother and didn’t even know they were brothers.  From there, it just all fell into place.

What ranks and titles have you held?  Freestyle Cage Fighting Light Heavyweight Champion.

Do you have any heroes? None

What is your favorite technique? Jab.  I think it’s very underused in MMA

What does it mean for you to fight in the UFC? It means everything.  It’s the payoff to a lot of hard work.  I’m happy to have this happen, not only for myself, but for all my teammates who have helped me get here.  It’s a testament to what we’re doing here in Tulsa – we’ve got some tough guys around here.

Did you go to college and if so what degree did you earn? Telecommunications degree from Central Tech in Oklahoma.  I went to K-State and Pittsburg State in Kansas as well.

What was your job before you started fighting? I worked at level three in telecommunications.