By Ken Yates
After being on Spike TV’s reality show The Ultimate Fighter, living in the TUF house and ultimately fighting his way to the top to be crowned season 8 Ultimate Fighter champ, Kendall Grove is on his way, making a name for himself inside and outside of the cage. When Kendall is not training intensively for a fight in the octagon, he is at home in the Islands running his own gym. Fight Hub TV caught up with him to talk about what his life is like and the experiences he has had in the sport of MMA.
FIGHTHUBTV: How has having a family changed your outlook on the fight game?
KENDALL: Honestly once you have a child it’s not about you anymore at least that’s how it should be and for me it’s not about me anymore.
FIGHTHUBTV: When and why did you decided to open up your own gym?
KENDALL: Basically at the same time I found out I was going to become a daddy. I was living in Vegas and my girlfriend at the time said congratulations your going to be a father so I wanted my child to experience my culture.
FIGHTHUBTV: Where do you train when you have a fight coming up?
KENDALL: My last 3 fights I’ve been training in Maui and sometimes in Hilo at B.J Penn’s Training and Fitness Center. I have been flying guy’s in to help me train as well.
FIGHTHUBTV: In your most recent fight with Goran Reljic at UFC 116 you looked disappointed, what where some of your thoughts about that fight?
KENDALL: I guess I was telling myself I don’t believe in decision’s even though I believe in my heart i did enough to win that fight I really want to finish fights. I was just glad that I came out of that fight with no injuries and will work harder to finish my next fight.
FIGHTHUBTV: Has winning the Ultimate Fighter opened any doors other then being in the UFC?
KENDALL: Yeah, I have been able to travel a lot and have been to a lot of different places to do appearances, sign autographs. Also I have been offered to do commercials and even some acting but that’s not my thing.
FIGHTHUBTV: Has being a MMA fighter always been a dream for you?
KENDALL: Not my whole life, in the beginning I wanted to be a pro football player or some kind of pro athlete, but after high school I never made that transition. But I was into wrestling and from there it kind of went hand in hand with fighting.
FIGHTHUBTV: Do you have any fights coming up?
KENDALL: At this point I don’t have any confirmed fights coming up but there is a possibility that I may be fighting in December but as I said nothing is confirmed.
FIGHTHUBTV: Is there anything you would like to say to your fans?
KENDALL: Yes! Definitely, and I’m not just saying this to win people over but, people in my camp and people in my life even people in the UFC said that I have some of the best fans, loyal fans and I thank them tremendously for always being behind me also the people that want to see me fail thank you, without them I would be nothing so I want to thank them and send them my biggest gratitude for thinking of me and sticking with me. ALOHA and THANK YOU!
In closing we would like to thank Kendall Grove for taking time out of his busy schedule to do this interview and wish him success on any and all future fights.
