The Professional
A Pro
Jason Probst Jun 13, 2008
Like any other subculture, the fight game has its own set of
uniquely defined castes, linguistic shortcuts to convey where
competitors stand relative to the crowd.
In mixed martial arts, terms such as champion, gatekeeper, contender and tomato can are readily used to describe where a fighter stands in the pecking order. For better or for worse, fans and media alike use these to sum up a guy's worth.
But in the case of Yves
Edwards (Pictures), an ideal definition would be the
"The Professional."
The Professional is the guy who shows up on short notice, yet is almost always in shape, sometimes injured, but, regardless, is a tough out. The Professional is too talented to be relegated to the status of gatekeeper, has beaten too many tough guys to ever really be counted out and often has the kind of hot-and-cold streaks in his career that make him a bookmaker's nightmare.
The Professional is well rounded, cerebral and has seen every possible wrinkle thrown into the mix, almost always designed to screw him -- whether it's the size of the ring/cage, contract details, weigh-in times, hotel accommodations -- such trivial details rarely if ever work out in his favor. He takes all the equipment with him he can stuff into a gym bag, before hitting the road, or air, en route to the fight.
Trusting nothing, assuming less, and always relishing the opportunity despite knowing he's often being brought in to lose, The Professional knows he is a marked man, a target signed to the dotted line, so somebody else can trade in on the reputation he's built. The Professional takes all this in stride because he has to. It is a mark of pride that they have to stack the deck to hang the "L" on his record. Certainly, EliteXC has a perfect situation with the highly marketable Noons, whose good looks and well-spoken manner could be a potent combination.
Fighting a hometown Hawaiian for his title is kind of like force-dunking The First Lady's face into the punch bowl during a Presidential barbecue at Crawford Ranch -- you'd better be prepared for a battle.
The Professional always knows that, despite the disadvantages of rarely being the hometown guy or favorite, at the end of the day, it comes down to him making the most of it. Because you never know. Because he's done it before when few expected him to. Even when he's beat, he often gives you a better run for your money, and trouble throughout.
That's exactly what Edwards is planning Saturday when he challenges K.J. Noons for the EliteXC 160-pound title. Battling in Noons' native Hawaii, Edwards, 34-13-1, faces the champion, a relative neophyte with a 6-2 record, branded as one of the new faces of the organization. In November, Noons took the then-vacant belt with a stoppage over Nick Diaz (Pictures), bloodying up the former UFC veteran with a series of well-placed strikes in a breakout performance.
"I'm looking at this fight as a really tough one. I've heard things, and you get on the Internet and you hear, ‘Oh, Yves will kill this guy,' or, ‘K.J. destroyed this guy.' K.J. beat up Nick Diaz (Pictures), man," Edwards said. "So for anybody that doesn't have faith in K.J., you know, that still stands. That still holds true. He beat up Nick Diaz (Pictures). So that's a guy that I have to fear for. I think I've been focused a lot on this fight. I'm prepared for it."
The two trained together approximately nine years ago and have expressed mutual respect. On a recent media conference call, Noons said he expects a tough fight.
"I feel like I've come a super long way on everything," Noons said when asked about his ground game, which is still a question mark. "I don't know where Yves is going to take the fight. But I train every fight as if, you know, that's what the guy has to do is take it to the ground. So I prepare physically on the ground so I won't get submitted or that I can submit, or I can ground and pound, or I can defend ground and pound. So I work on it a lot. I'm definitely prepared for it."
Edwards agreed it could be a live one.
"This should be a really good fight. We did work out back in the day," Edwards added. "But I don't think either one of us is going back to that time and thinking, you know, I need to key in on these things from that time. It was too long ago.
"The biggest thing is having world-class guys all the time, every single day. The thing for me with American Top Team, I don't have to make phone calls and worry about who is going to show up and try to round up a crew to get together for the day."
Teammate Cole Miller (Pictures) likes what Edwards has brought to ATT, as well.
"It's a lot of fun working with a guy like him," Miller said. "He is one of the all-time greats. His strengths are his striking and ground and pound. His ground and wrestling are very impressive, as well."
Edwards, with six wins in 10 UFC appearances, has been a staple of the 155-pound division for years. The native Texan also has racked up frequent flier mileage in his career, competing in Japan, Russia and every time zone in the continental United States. And he's fought in Hawaii. For Edwards, duking it out with a local boy in front of the appreciative Honolulu crowd is the quickest way to win them over. His last bout, a crowd-pleasing knockout over Edson Berto, was an artistic masterpiece.
Hopping on one foot to defend a single-leg takedown as Berto worked to spoil his balance, Edwards stuffed Berto's head down and knocked him out with a slam-bang knee to the dome. It was his second stoppage win in EliteXC and earned him the title shot he's hoping to capitalize on. Despite all the years fighting and various organizations he's competed in, the words "world champion" would have a nice ring to them.
In mixed martial arts, terms such as champion, gatekeeper, contender and tomato can are readily used to describe where a fighter stands in the pecking order. For better or for worse, fans and media alike use these to sum up a guy's worth.
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The Professional is the guy who shows up on short notice, yet is almost always in shape, sometimes injured, but, regardless, is a tough out. The Professional is too talented to be relegated to the status of gatekeeper, has beaten too many tough guys to ever really be counted out and often has the kind of hot-and-cold streaks in his career that make him a bookmaker's nightmare.
He's the kind of guy managers think twice about before risking a
prospect against, unless they are feeling particularly
confident.
The Professional is well rounded, cerebral and has seen every possible wrinkle thrown into the mix, almost always designed to screw him -- whether it's the size of the ring/cage, contract details, weigh-in times, hotel accommodations -- such trivial details rarely if ever work out in his favor. He takes all the equipment with him he can stuff into a gym bag, before hitting the road, or air, en route to the fight.
Trusting nothing, assuming less, and always relishing the opportunity despite knowing he's often being brought in to lose, The Professional knows he is a marked man, a target signed to the dotted line, so somebody else can trade in on the reputation he's built. The Professional takes all this in stride because he has to. It is a mark of pride that they have to stack the deck to hang the "L" on his record. Certainly, EliteXC has a perfect situation with the highly marketable Noons, whose good looks and well-spoken manner could be a potent combination.
Fighting a hometown Hawaiian for his title is kind of like force-dunking The First Lady's face into the punch bowl during a Presidential barbecue at Crawford Ranch -- you'd better be prepared for a battle.
The Professional always knows that, despite the disadvantages of rarely being the hometown guy or favorite, at the end of the day, it comes down to him making the most of it. Because you never know. Because he's done it before when few expected him to. Even when he's beat, he often gives you a better run for your money, and trouble throughout.
That's exactly what Edwards is planning Saturday when he challenges K.J. Noons for the EliteXC 160-pound title. Battling in Noons' native Hawaii, Edwards, 34-13-1, faces the champion, a relative neophyte with a 6-2 record, branded as one of the new faces of the organization. In November, Noons took the then-vacant belt with a stoppage over Nick Diaz (Pictures), bloodying up the former UFC veteran with a series of well-placed strikes in a breakout performance.
"I'm looking at this fight as a really tough one. I've heard things, and you get on the Internet and you hear, ‘Oh, Yves will kill this guy,' or, ‘K.J. destroyed this guy.' K.J. beat up Nick Diaz (Pictures), man," Edwards said. "So for anybody that doesn't have faith in K.J., you know, that still stands. That still holds true. He beat up Nick Diaz (Pictures). So that's a guy that I have to fear for. I think I've been focused a lot on this fight. I'm prepared for it."
The two trained together approximately nine years ago and have expressed mutual respect. On a recent media conference call, Noons said he expects a tough fight.
"I feel like I've come a super long way on everything," Noons said when asked about his ground game, which is still a question mark. "I don't know where Yves is going to take the fight. But I train every fight as if, you know, that's what the guy has to do is take it to the ground. So I prepare physically on the ground so I won't get submitted or that I can submit, or I can ground and pound, or I can defend ground and pound. So I work on it a lot. I'm definitely prepared for it."
Edwards agreed it could be a live one.
"This should be a really good fight. We did work out back in the day," Edwards added. "But I don't think either one of us is going back to that time and thinking, you know, I need to key in on these things from that time. It was too long ago.
"The biggest thing is having world-class guys all the time, every single day. The thing for me with American Top Team, I don't have to make phone calls and worry about who is going to show up and try to round up a crew to get together for the day."
Teammate Cole Miller (Pictures) likes what Edwards has brought to ATT, as well.
"It's a lot of fun working with a guy like him," Miller said. "He is one of the all-time greats. His strengths are his striking and ground and pound. His ground and wrestling are very impressive, as well."
Edwards, with six wins in 10 UFC appearances, has been a staple of the 155-pound division for years. The native Texan also has racked up frequent flier mileage in his career, competing in Japan, Russia and every time zone in the continental United States. And he's fought in Hawaii. For Edwards, duking it out with a local boy in front of the appreciative Honolulu crowd is the quickest way to win them over. His last bout, a crowd-pleasing knockout over Edson Berto, was an artistic masterpiece.
Hopping on one foot to defend a single-leg takedown as Berto worked to spoil his balance, Edwards stuffed Berto's head down and knocked him out with a slam-bang knee to the dome. It was his second stoppage win in EliteXC and earned him the title shot he's hoping to capitalize on. Despite all the years fighting and various organizations he's competed in, the words "world champion" would have a nice ring to them.
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