UFC 130 Fight Card: Kendall Grove - 'I Have to Win This Fight'

UFC middleweight Kendall Grove might very well be fighting for his career at UFC 130. With a 2-3 record in his last five fights, it's extremely important for Grove to come out on top tomorrow night. He will be taking on Tim Boetsch, who is making his debut at middleweight, but Kendall feels that his growing family is helping him mature enough to be able to handle the pressures of fighting. He relayed this to Mike Straka in a recent interview:

"I have four kids, I’m getting married soon, I just bought a house, and my family means everything to me," he said. "I’m 28 years old and I’m a local Hawaiian boy and I had my fun in my youth, but now it’s time for me to settle down and do my career right, do my family right and I think one of the biggest parts of having a successful career is having a strong family base at home who supports you. That’s what I found in the last year, when I have a strong base, it’s been nothing but positive for me."

He knows how important this fight is to his future in the UFC, but he's also fighting for something bigger than that, according to him:

"I have to win this fight," says Grove, "Not only for my career but for myself. I want to come in here and do what I do best, utilize my reach, my elbows, my knees and my God-given talents. My Jiu Jitsu is what got me here and I think this guy is made for me. He’s a wrestler but every time he’s been taken to the ground he’s lost so that’s one of my strategies, but I really don’t go into fight with too stringent a game plan, I play it out as it comes and I’m prepared for any situation, wherever the fight goes."

He also discusses his admiration for bantamweight Miguel Torres in the article, who is now a training partner of his. Grove recently joined the Tri-Star Gym in Montreal. He believes that his style can evolve in a way that will sustain a longer career by training there, similar to the way it's helped Torres recently:

"The sport’s evolved a lot and you have to improve your game," he said. "Like everything else in this world you have to evolve with it, and if you don’t, you’re screwed. You’re slowly weeded out, so the better the sport of MMA gets the better we as fighters get, because we have to."

Grove and Boetsch will meet on the Spike TV portion of UFC 130 tomorrow night, which airs at 8pm EST/5pm PST.