I had never thought about being a professional fighter but meeting Pat [ Militich ] and the guys just pushed me in that direction.

I remember coming across some DVDs of the UFC and so I started watching that and became a fan of it. It was a little boring because of all the grabbing and holding and I fast-forwarded through a lot of it, but I still watched because I like martial arts.

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

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.

A lot of military kids make a lot of moves but I only made the one, so it wasn't really an issue for me.

The sport in 2000 wasn't as big as it is now [in 2008].

I'd always done martial arts I was always interested in fighting.