I kept doing my own thing, working out with weights, wrestling, and doing other spots until I graduated from high school. Then I made a conscious decision to pursue MMA seriously and full time.

I did start wrestling after I moved to Iowa, I think in the seventh grade. It's really a part of the Iowa culture so it's hard not to do it if you like sports.

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.

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.

I did a lot of smoker fights and fought pretty much every week since Pat wouldn't let me fight until he was sure I was ready. I was also boxing and so I had 30 unofficial fights or more of those.

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 lived in Iowa for pretty much the rest of my life, but I just moved to St. Louis and opened up a gym and MMA training center.