Jon Murphy interview

Jon Murphy- One Step at a Time


By Evan South
Originally published by Full Contact Fighter
2007
fcfighter.com


It starts out as every fighter’s dream. You are 3-0 as a pro with your 3rd win over a UFC veteran and well on your way up the ladder. Next thing you know you drop your next 2 fights in less than a month and your dream quickly turns into a nightmare, 1 loss away from becoming a .500 fighter. This is the experience of up-and-coming heavyweight Jon Murphy.

8 days after defeating UFC veteran Sherman Pendergarst, Murphy took a chance to fight in an Extreme Challenge tournament that could have big show implications. Unfortunately, Murphy ran into a relatively unknown Houston Alexander. “I didn’t know who he was, nobody knew who he was. I really learned from that situation, I was too hesitant” said Murphy about his loss to now UFC star Alexander.

Looking to rebound, Murphy then fought Chase Gormley in King of the Cage. “He’s a monster” said Murphy of Gormley. “He was a heck of a good wrestler, college all-American from what I understand. He’s a big strong guy.” Murphy lost by decision in the 2 round affair.

Murphy had some thoughts on his losses. “One thing I was doing was I thought I needed more cardio. My natural weight is 250. When I fought Pendergarst I was about 230. I was kicking butt as far as cardio but it was sapping me of one of my biggest assets which is my strength and my power. I got back into a good strength and conditioning program and am back up to 255.”

Murphy had been as heavy as 285 back when he played college football. The fighter’s athletic background was a real mixed bag. He started college football in Syracuse, tried out with pro teams and played arena football as well. He also did amateur boxing and has a pro boxing license as well but has yet to box as a pro. So why would one give up a promising football career for MMA?

Murphy answers, “I loved the competition of football, the physicality and aggressiveness of it, but I didn’t actually love the game. Equating that with MMA, I love the game of MMA and everything that goes with it. I love being there (at the gym), I love learning, it’s my passion. Football wasn’t my passion. I think that’s why I didn’t excel past a certain point in football, I really didn’t grasp it as a love, it was more like something to do.”

Soon after his foray into football, Jon began his much discussed descent into alcoholism and addiction. Jon explains, “That’s really when the alcoholism came into play. I was starting to go out more and drink more. I was dealing with a lot of anxiety issues and anxiety is what really probably pushed me to drink. I was just afraid of a lot of things. Now I can look back and wonder what was there to be afraid of, it was nothing. So I had about a year where I didn’t know what I wanted to do, bouncing around, working different jobs.”

At the end of 2003 Jon got with his trainer Jeff Walcott and started competing in his first amateur MMA and boxing bouts, leading to his pro MMA career. Even with the 2 quick pro losses, Murphy was still promising enough to get noticed by ProElite’s new ShoXC program run on Showtime, and was signed to a 3-fight deal. Murphy made his debut a successful one by defeating Dave Huckaba this past August by KO in the second round. Huckaba was a last minute replacement for Murphy’s original scheduled opponent, Tony Bonello.

In describing the fight against Huckaba, Murphy explains about the now infamous “phantom” armbar that occurred in the first round, “He was on top of me, I swept him into mount and started throwing some elbows and fists and that’s when I went for the armbar. Technically it was a sound Japanese armbar, but without the arm. It looked like I was doing acrobatics.”

Continuing into the second round Murphy furthers, “The first round, the adrenaline of a big fight, the crowd, the fact that it was on TV played into my fatigue, but after the minute rest I was ready to go. I came out, backed him up with a couple jabs, went to the body, clipped him with a right hand and knocked him out cold with another big right.”

In his down time Murphy stays busy as a full-time student, working a 15 credit hour semester, as well as attending 12-step meetings as often as possible. Murphy had entered rehab last year and looks to stay on course. He is even growing out his hair simply so he can shave it off and donate it to the “Locks of Love” charity. What is next for the 30 year old heavyweight?

Murphy explains, “I would like to fight about every 6 weeks, that is ideal for me. I have a fight October 6 in Combat in the Cage against Wade Hamilton, who has had some tough fights against guys like Justin Eilers and Travis Wiuff.”

Unofficially Murphy may also be fighting on the next ShoXC card October 26th. ShoXC has a show set for that date but the full fight card has yet to be announced. Either way Murphy is making his climb to the top one step at a time.

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