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MIKE KYLE HAS TURNED LIFE AND CAREER AROUND SINCE 18-MONTH MMA SUSPENSION; HE FACES HUMPHREY IN STRIKEFORCE EVENT AT COMCAST ARENA AT EVERETT, WA. THIS FRIDAY
Tickets for STRIKEFORCE Challengers Event Currently On Sale
EVERETT, Wash. (July 20, 2010) - Mike "Mak" Kyle doesn't mind admitting it. His consistent presence in church on Sunday mornings over the last four years coincides with the date Kyle would just as soon forget: May 5, 2006.
That's when the STRIKEFORCE light heavyweight (205 pounds) Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter was disqualified from his fight against Brian Olsen at WEC 20 for attacking Olsen following the bell. After an 18-month suspension from the sport, redemption has been sweet for the 30-year-old Kyle, who has won four fights in a row and eight out of nine and is the last fighter to defeat superstar Rafael "Feijao'' Cavalcante.
Kyle (16-7-1), a resident of San Jose, Calif., steps back into the cage on a stacked STRIKEFORCE Challengers fight card at Comcast Arena at Everett, live on SHOWTIME® at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast), this Friday, July 23.
"It's really helped me change my life around a little bit and get my goals straight," said Kyle, who will face Atlanta's Abongo Humphrey (7-1). "I've always been real spiritual. It's just something I look forward to. I look up for the power and the strength to get through every day."
Kyle attends a Bethel Christian church and says he doesn't miss many Sundays. "It seems like every time I'm there (at church) the pastor Fred Allen has a lesson that's directed just for me. It's amazing how the spirit works."
Kyle says he's open to share his religious faith to his fellow fighters at American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) in San Jose where he trains, but doesn't try to push it on them. "It seems like now people seem to be getting more spiritual, but we don't talk much about it," he said. "At AKA it's a very good team atmosphere. After our workouts we all get around and talk about what's going on with our lives."
He still doesn't know exactly why he did what he did against Olsen, but he has an idea. "I do know I was wrong for doing it," Kyle said. "Now I'm just trying to figure out what makes me tick as a fighter. I think what it comes down to was that I was in there fighting scared.
"Once you get me to react, I'm fighting off emotion. When I got suspended it really made me want to do some soul-searching. Am I really just this angry person? People were saying all kinds of (stuff) about me. That really hurt me. I was saying, 'That's not really me at all.' It made me want to look at myself from all sides."
Just two months after replacing Renato "Babalu" Sobral against Cavalcante and surprising everyone by stopping Cavalcante with punches on the STRIKEFORCE: Lawler vs. Shields undercard in St. Louis, Mo., Kyle was back as a substitute, this time replacing Alistair Overeem against UFC and PRIDE veteran, Fabricio Werdum, at STRIKEFORCE: Carano vs. Cyborg on Aug. 15, 2009. Kyle's night ended early with a first-round submission after getting caught in a guillotine choke at 1:24.
But he said he had to smile on June 26, when he was sitting cage-side at HP Pavilion in San Jose, watching Werdum pull off arguably the greatest upset in MMA history by conquering the world's No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter Fedor Emelianenko in just over one minute.
"It made me feel a lot better," Kyle said. "I can say I lasted a little bit longer than Fedor. At least I really hit (Werdum). It didn't really look like (Werdum) got rocked. I think he baited (Fedor) in and maybe just got clipped a little bit. It looks like he fell on his butt and said, 'Come on, come on.' I know that was his game plan.
"It really boosted my spirits because I didn't just lose to anyone. He's one of the best in the world. And, since that loss I'm on a winning streak with four in a row, including a five-round decision (against Tony Lopez in Mescalero, New Mexico) at 9,000 feet.
Kyle is preparing for Humphrey by working out at AKA, receiving help from guys like former STRIKEFORCE Lightweight (155 pounds) Champion Josh Thomson, football legend turned MMA fighter Herschel Walker and trainer Bob Cook.
Kyle said he's been most impressed with Walker. "He really is a great guy," he said. "And you know what it is about Herschel, he's so humble. When he walked into that gym he wanted to be a fighter. There was not an 'I'm a Heisman winner, pro running back' attitude. He knew he was starting at the bottom of the totem pole. It tripped me out. It was amazing with all the things he's accomplished in life. He's very humble."
Having fought three times in 2010, there isn't much free time for Kyle, who said he enjoys fishing to relax. "My dad lives in Idaho and, so after this fight, I'd like to go up there and relax a little bit," said Kyle, who said he once caught a 19-pound catfish as a 10-year-old. "I have two boys from my first marriage that still live up there so I'd like to get up there and be in their lives a little more. Their names are Andrew (age 11) and Isaiah (age 10)."
Kyle said he plans to marry his fiancé of eight years Stephanie Serna sometime next summer.
But right now, his focus remains strictly on Friday's challenge.
"I really want to look good next Friday night," he said. "It's not just about going out there and just winning this fight. I want to go out there and really put on a show. Being back with STRIKEFORCE and on SHOWTIME, I just want to go out there and look amazing and make people turn their heads and say, 'Wow!'
Tickets for the event can be purchased at the Comcast Arena at Everett box office (866-332-8499) as well as online at ComcastArenaEverett.com and STRIKEFORCE's official website (www.strikeforce.com).
Comcast Arena at Everett doors will open for the STRIKEFORCE Challengers event at 5:15 p.m. The first preliminary bout will begin at 6 p.m. PT. The first main card bout will start at 8 p.m.
About STRIKEFORCE
STRIKEFORCE (www.STRIKEFORCE.com <http://www.strikeforce.com/> ) is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its "Shamrock vs. Gracie" event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state history. The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose's HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, STRIKEFORCE, sanctioned by ISKA, has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts (MMA) series with "Shamrock vs. Gracie." In May 2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of STRIKEFORCE, partnered with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation aspects of the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose. In March 2009, STRIKEFORCE signed a multi-year agreement with SHOWTIME® to stage live events on the premium cable television network. The promotion has since also produced two live, primetime events on the CBS Television Network.
