I challenge anyone out there that reads this to come out and grind out a fight with me and see what happens – Kyle Baker

Photo via UWC.com

Kyle Baker is a fighter who’s been biding his time in MMA Purgatory.  The promising lightweight has won 8 of his last 9 fights, nearly all via some form of knockout.  Baker, who trains out of the MMA Institute in Virginia, scored significant victories over UFC veterans Drew Fickett and Chad Reiner in a five month stretch from the end of 2008 to April of 2009.  Because of those victories, Baker has had difficulties finding opponents on the local circuit.  Baker has only fought once since October of ’09 and he recently spoke out about getting involved with MMA and dealing with his current frustration during an appearance on the Verbal Submission radio show.  His passion convinced us at CageCraze.com to garner him our next Featured Fighter.

Baker got into the sport of MMA through his brother, Beau.  “He’d been keeping up on the sport a little bit and he saw how a bunch of wrestlers had been doing really well.  I found out you can make money to beat people up and I was like ‘sign me up.’”

At that point there weren’t any real gyms to train at in Harrisonburg so they set up a makeshift gym in Kyle’s basement.  “We’d practice jiu jitsu down there from some instructional videos that we’d find”, said Baker.  “We’d kinda break down some tape of the better fighters, watch it in slow-mo to see what they were doing for about 2-3 months we’d just do that.”

After winning his first amateur fight via triangle in just over a minute, Kyle and his brother decided to work on their striking at a nearby boxing club.  “The first time we went in there we sparred with some pro boxers on our first night even though we’d never had any schooling or anything”, said Baker.  “We hung in there but they beat the sh*t out of us for an hour and they were surprised when we showed up again the next day.”

Baker continued to evolve his style, never straying too far away from his wrestling base.  “I won a state title in high school and my brother won two”, said Baker.  “I wasn’t really flashy as a wrestler, I just kinda bullied people around.  Hang on their head, push them, underhook them and throw them around and I guess I just adapted that to my fighting style.”

Baker scored three submissions in his first three amateur fights but he says that after earning a TKO, he hasn’t even tried to go for a submission since.  “Once you feel the power of knocking someone out, you wanna do it every time”, said Baker.  ”It makes for more interesting fights anyways.”

In November of 2008, Baker scored a third round TKO over UFC veteran Chad Reiner.  He followed it up with a knockout of UFC vet Drew Fickett in less than two minutes just five months later.  Ever since those big victories, Baker has had to deal with a lot of grandstanding and politics in the MMA world.

Baker had a big fight scheduled for RIE’s Battle of the Burg II against Gideon Ray:

“It was supposed to be in my hometown”, said a frustrated Baker.  “I turned down a few opponents because I was trying to wait for the best opponent I could, another UFC vet.  I finally got a decent guy to fight…  I cut 30 lbs, got ready for the fight, trained for months and he just never even got on the plane, didn’t show up.  It was a pretty big letdown.”

Baker also tried out for season 12 of The Ultimate Fighter alongside his brother, Beau, making it to the final interviews.  He turned down several fights while waiting to hear from the UFC including a UWC title fight.  ”They never even gave us the courtesy of a phone call”, said Baker.  “We turned down a bunch of fights, it kinda messed the whole year up.”

Baker’s lone fight in 2010 was an opportunity to compete in the Shine Fights single night grand prix, but again he had to deal with disappointment.

“I was in that Shine tournament for that 50 grand”, said Baker.  ”I won the fight (against James Warfield) but I got a cut over my eye.  I think I needed like 25-30 stitches, something like that.  I felt like if I hadn’t got cut in the first round, I’d have been able to fight Fickett in the finals at the end of that tournament and showed what kind of fighter I am.  To prove the first time I beat (Fickett) was no fluke”

Baker was recently in talks to compete on the upcoming New Jersey card for Strikeforce but despite moving up in weight class, his opponent again turned down a fight with him.

“I was going to move up a weight class to fight some Gracie”, said Baker.  ”I’m a no belt and for a Gracie who’s a black belt, turning down somebody without a belt.  That’s how the guys with the connections get to the top.  They don’t fight guys that are dangerous where they have a chance of losing.  Hell, I would have had it written in to the contract that I wouldn’t hit him with closed fists for the first round.  I’d just slap him the first round.”

Dealing with the politics of the fight game has left a bad taste in Baker’s mouth.

“It’s frustrating”, said Baker.  “I thought this was supposed to be the toughest sport in the world and you’ve got your baddest dudes in the world in this sport.   It turns out from what I’ve been seeing lately that it’s full of a bunch of pussies.  Nobody wants to get their ass kicked.  That’s why we do this, to see who the toughest guys are.  You need sign a contract, put your name on the line or pick up another sport.”

Baker has big plans for 2011, and it all starts with getting an opportunity to showcase his skills on the large scale.  “I just wanna get on one of the big cards, whether it’s Strikeforce, UFC or Bellator and get a chance to break into a contender spot.  Any of the bigger promotions that are out there that have guys in the top 20 or top 10, I’d love to go out there and prove I’m one of those guys that should be in these big organizations fighting for titles and stuff.”

Kyle is ready to take on all comers.