"Munoz's last couple of fights at 85, he's done a great job of mixing his standup with his wrestling. He's dominated doing that. I got some good wrestlers coming in. I have a guy who wrestled at Iowa State. He's coming down for the entire month of March. Justin McCully is coming down, Jake and I have Nissen Osterneck already down here and I got all of the guys at my school. That's how I've been training since Almeida and I love it. I'm pumped. I can't wait to go out there and fight. We get to do it in Abu Dhabi. We're making history; the first outdoor event in the Middle East. We're going to have war in war," stated UFC middleweight Kendall Grove as he talked about his upcoming showdown with Mark Munoz at UFC 112. Check it out!
PC: How's it been going KG?
KG: Everything is going good. I just moved gyms once again, but I think it's in a way better spot; better location. We're right across the street from the stadium where the track is and a lot of stairs, right next to the pool, a football field with a huge hill; we got basketball courts right behind us and it's just a good place to train. They have a weight room right there and it's a lot of places to take advantage of. Everything is right there.
PC: I spoke to you right before your big win against Jake Rosholt in your last outing. You dedicated that fight to your grandmother, who had just passed. How much did pulling off that submission win mean to you?
KG: It felt really good. It was a good win for my family. My grandmother passed away a week before that fight on my birthday, so it was big because right before I went out, I talked to her and I always pray before I go out and I never pray to win, just for both of us to get out of there safe. I know God is going to let us deal with it and he's not going to choose sides soÂ…I went in there and talked to my grandma and said, "Hey grandma, give me the most unbelievable heart right now." And what happened, happened. I was just trying to stay calm. I couldn't lose my cool and just start scrapping. I knew I couldn't do that with this guy because he could capitalize on it, especially with his wrestling, and devastate me. So I just kept my cool. I put myself in those positions a lot during that camp because I knew who he was and his accomplishments in wrestling, so the submission just came to me.
PC: You almost pulled off a slick armbar against Ricardo Almeida and then you did pull off the slick triangle against Rosholt. Are you trying to get back to your Jiu Jitsu a little bit, like we saw when you fought Belcher?
KG: Jiu Jitsu is my shit! I loved Jiu Jitsu before MMA. MMA is my way to get paid and I'm better at MMA, but for some reason, my heart is with Jiu Jitsu. I love it. It's therapy for me. I can do Jiu Jitsu pissed off and when I'm done, I realize whatever I was pissed about was stupid and that's what it does for me. I love it. It's fun for me, especially when I'm on the ground with someone good. For me, it's like, "Oh yeah, I caught so and so." That's just me. That's the way I think. I would have never thought I would be where I am today. All of my trainers always say, "Fuck Kendall, you're there dude." I would have never thought it and I credit my Jiu Jitsu for getting me there. That's something that I will never get bored with. I started off on the ground, I'm tall and it's just my style. That's how I like to fight. I like to punch, of course, but a lot of people try to take me down because I'm tall and they feel it's a way to neutralize my reach, but I can use my reach on the ground too and I think I do a good job of that.
PC: How do you view this fight against Mark Munoz? Your last 2 wins resulted in guys getting their walking papers from the UFC.
KG: I respect Mark a lot. I hung out with him before. I'm real good friends with his trainers, "Joker" and Jason Lambert. We're real cool. Right when I got the word that we were fighting, I shot him a Tweet saying, "Hey man, I respect you a lot. Good luck and let's put on a show." He responded back, "Likewise, it's an honor to fight you and we will give these guys a good show." It's business, you know? To me, that's just how our business is. At the end of the day, I can honestly say no matter if I'm on the positive or negative side of it, I will be the first to shake his hand and say, "Let's go grab a beer or do something." There are no hard feelings because business is business. If you let that shit get to you, you're going to have short career, but if not, you're going to be solid. He's a cool guy, man. I respect him a lot. He's a nice guy, he's met my family in Oregon, and he's met my daughter, so it's a privilege for me to fight another accomplished wrestler, man. He's NCAA Division 1 champ and a 2-time All American, so it's a privilege for me because I'm just a kid that wrestled in high school and loved it. For me, to go out there and fight these accomplished MMA fighters and these accomplished warriors is an honor. I just want to go out there and compete and do good; that's the shit.
PC: Munoz has a style and pedigree that is similar to Rosholt. Are you expecting the same type of fight?
KG: I think so, but I always expect the unexpected. Munoz's last couple of fights at 85, he's done a great job of mixing his standup with his wrestling. He's dominated doing that. I got some good wrestlers coming in. I have a guy who wrestled at Iowa State. He's coming down for the entire month of March. Justin McCully is coming down, Jake and I have Nissen Osterneck already down here and I got all of the guys at my school. That's how I've been training since Almeida and I love it. I'm pumped. I can't wait to go out there and fight. We get to do it in Abu Dhabi. We're making history; the first outdoor event in the Middle East. We're going to have war in war (laughing).
PC: You fought in Houston at the UFC's debut in Texas, same with Ohio and Philly. Now you will be a part of history, as you said, and fighting on the Abu Dhabi show. Did you ask to be a part of this show?
KG: I asked to fight in March and Joe Silva was like, "We got one more spot open. There is this kid from New Jersey that is fighting and if he does good, we're going to put him on and if he doesn't, you're on because we want you and Munoz to be on the main card." I said, "Alright!" Right after I got off the phone with him, I heard BJ was fighting in Abu Dhabi. I heard he had signed to fight Frankie Edgar. I texted Joe back immediately, "Hey, can I be on that same card as BJ?" He was like, "You got it!" I was like, "Yeah!" I think I fight better with BJ there. He's my hero in there and he's the guy that made me believe in myself. Shit, if a guy can make it from Hilo, then fuck, I got a shot. It might sound weird, but it just gives me more energy knowing my hero is there fighting on the same card watching me and he's holding it down and representing a lot of the same things that I'm representing as well. It's tight.
PC: It's a long flight, no doubt about it. What would be the ideal time for you to get to Abu Dhabi?
KG: I would like at least 10 days, but whatever, whatever. I have it instilled into my head that if you're a fighter, you can wake up at 6 AM to fight. Just give me 5 minutes to brush my teeth and put my mouthpiece in and I'm ready to go on. If I have to go 4 days before the fight, then let's do it. I'm still going to come to fight to the best of my ability. I hope we get to go 10 days though. I heard the guys that fought in Australia got to go 10 days, so that would be awesome.
PC: It's always good to catch up to you. I'm glad you guys avoided that natural disaster that was threatening Hawaii. Good luck my man. Give me some closing thoughts bro?
KG: I want to thank my sponsors, TapouT, for always being cool to me even before I was with them. They always showed me love. I gotta thank all of my fans out there who have always been behind me, my man Percy for always hooking me up with these sick interviews, and my family: my girlfriend Shaundy and my beautiful daughter Chloe.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]