Kerr vs Lawal

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Mark Kerr: “I was an embarassment”

Posted on Friday, August 28, 2009

He was once known as The Smashing Machine; a former PRIDE and UFC fighter who injected fear into everyone he fought with his devastating double-leg takedowns, a diesel-piston of a right hand and murderous ground ‘n’ pound. But recently even Mark Kerr admits he’s been a complete joke and an embarrassment, as he told MICHAEL SCHIAVELLO exclusively for HDNet Fights.
“This is my stepping stone to redemption,” says Mark Kerr, one day out from his fight against undefeated King Mo Lawal on M-1 Breakthrough in Kansas City. “I know I have had some terrible fights and with many people I will never redeem myself but I am going to try and it starts here.
Kerr weighed in for the Lawal fight at 263lb, though he says with more preparation time he could have gotten down to 250 and aims to get to 235 within a year. Though taking the Lawal fight on only two weeks notice following the withdrawal of Lawal’s original opponent – Don Frye – Kerr says he’s not in Kansas City just for a pay day. He’s here to fight and to prove that he is not the spent force fans think.
“I know everyone has written me off,” Kerr told HDNet exclusively. “I know people think I am a joke. I don’t blame them. It has been hard for me to sit and look at myself in the mirror. I mean I wouldn’t be a fan of me the way I have fought in recent times. I would never expect a fan to want my autograph any more. But the truth is that I have shifted my mentality to be healthily obsessed with the sport, not overly obsessed as I once was.”
It is an honest Kerr who openly admits that his last few fights have been nothing short of horrific.
“Disgusting,” he says, shaking his head when I ask him about his performances of late. “I was disgusting and I’m embarrassed with how bad I was.”
Offered a chance to fight on M-1’s nationally broadcast Breakthrough main event, Kerr is adamant that he wants to redeem himself for the fans and the MMA community in general.
“I’m serious about this. I wouldn’t have taken the fight if I wasn’t. I was training for a fight in late September anyway and this M-1 fight meant I just had to ramp up the training. Ideally if I’d had another few weeks to prepare I could have gotten down to 250 but I feel good. There is no pressure on me. If I get knocked out, well, that’s what is supposed to happen, right? If I win then I shock everyone. I want to show that I am not done yet and I am not a joke. I am not just a subject of laughing matter. I mean I’m not stupid, I know what people think of me lately and they have every right to think of me as a laughing matter because I have been just that. But no more.”
The 40-year-old Kerr may be a long way removed from “the Specimen” who was so feared during his prime, but he is determined to get back on track and show the MMA community that he still has a lot to offer.
“I’m looking long term. I’m looking to redeem myself. Within a year I feel I can get my physical self back and can be competitive enough to have a least a couple of fights in the big leagues. I mean eventually they are going to run out of opponents for Brock Lesnar, right? I want to be in a position where in a year or so they consider me for a fight like that.”
The road to redemption starts in Kansas City against Lawal. Kerr says he respects the undefeated up and coming Sengoku star but has a gameplan to give The King his first loss.
“Mo is pretty, isn’t he? Pretty guys don’t like getting punched in the face,” Kerr smiles.
When asked for his thoughts on Kerr and the gameplan to keep his undefeated record intact, a confident Lawal smiles and says: “I’m going to make him react to what I am doing. I’m going to show my stand-up and if he wants to go to ground and wrestle I’ll do that. He was a great wrestler in the old days but times have changes. I respect him, he has a good right hand, a good double leg and a good single but this is my first MMA fight in the USA and I don’t plan on losing it.”
Editor’s Note: This article was authored by HDNet Fights play-by-play announcer Michael Schiavello and originally appeared on HDNetFights.com.