Former IFL veteran Brad Blackburn finally able to focus on fighting in UFC

Originally posted by the Canadian Press

Brad (Bad) Blackburn doesn't have to cast his mind back too far to remember the really bad times. In 2005, he lost all four times he fought.

"That time I was going through my divorce and going through a custody battle with the kids and working a job and a half, so I was just spread too thin and stressed out," recalled the welterweight from Olympia, Wash. "I just fought to fight, pretty much.

"I wasn't ready, I wasn't prepared. I didn't train for them, I didn't have the time. Mentally I shouldn't have been fighting, so that's pretty much what happened."

Dennis Hallman, Maurice Smith and the International Fight League helped put Blackburn back on the mixed martial arts map. And, on Saturday night, the 31-year-old takes on former Pride fighter Ryo (Piranha) Chonan on the UFC 92 undercard at the MGM Grand Garden Arena (available on pay per view).

"I'm excited and nervous at the same time, of course," said Blackburn, who won his UFC debut over James Giboo via TKO in July. "Excited because for one, it's on a huge card but what I'm more excited about than the card it's on is who I'm fighting. I'm fighting somebody that has a name."


Click here to read the entire article