I got a little bit of the Marine mentality from my dad, I guess. You can't but help absorb the culture you're around.

You don't really realize the effect those things have on you when you're growing up but then when you look back you can see how they molded you.

My parents were divorced and my dad was in the Marines. I lived in California until I was 10 then we moved to Bettendorf, Iowa when I was in the fourth grade. I had an older brother so it made it a little easier to adjust to things.

I got a little bit of the Marine mentality from my dad, I guess. You can't but help absorb the culture you're around.

I just started training with the best fighters in the world trying to get better. I was a pretty good athlete so I did pretty well with the team and that gave me confidence that I would be able to compete with people.

I also watched boxing all the time and Tuesday Night Fights on USA and just kept hitting my heavy back in the garage.

I met Pat Militich when I was a junior in high school when I was 16 and just started training and went from there. I went to the same high school that Pat had attended and he would bring some of his fighters out to wrestling practice to work out and I got to know him that way. I immediately like it.