Brodie Farber looks to bounce back from knockout loss

Written by Ralph Gonzalez   |   Tuesday, December 09 2008

Brodie Farber wants UFC fans to think of him as a solid fighter, not as the guy on the wrong end of this devestating high kick KO from Rory Markham (Photo: UFC)

It sucks to be on the receiving end of a high light reel knockout loss. Brodie Farber (13-4) knows about it all too well after losing in his UFC debut to Rory Markham in the first round of a fight that was turning in Farber’s favor. “All I remember is me coming forward and hurting Rory. I was coming on strong,” said Farber. “The next thing I remember is walking towards the lockers and having things explained to me.”

While the amazing human body somehow manages to erase this type of traumatic event from its hard drive, the details are forever recorded on video for the fans to watch on youtube.com and other media servers around the world.

It’s true that the fight was turning in Farber’s favor after he landed several hard strikes on Markham who found himself retreating. To his credit, Markham threw a perfect high kick that landed on Farber’s neck which cut off the blood supply to the brain. Farber was knocked back unconscious before he ever hit the floor. It made for dramatic footage.

For the Grass Valley, California native it had a whole different meaning. “It was a depressing loss for me. I know I could’ve done a lot better with the right amount of training,” said Farber. “It was such a huge opportunity and to lose that way bummed me out because I know I’m better than that.”

Farber hadn’t fought for months before the fight materialized. “I only had a month to train when I got the call in Northern California from the UFC but it wasn’t something I was about to turn down,” continued Farber. “During the process of training I dislocated my shoulder so I had a hard time sparring and grappling,” he said. “I had a problem holding up my right hand because of the dislocation and that’s what cost me the fight since I wasn’t able to block the kick that landed but I give Rory his respect for landing the kick.”

Despite the loss, matchmaker for the UFC, Joe Silva, was impressed with Farber and brought him back to the Octagon against the very difficult Luigi Fioravanti (12-4) on Wednesday night’s MMA event, UFC Fight Night: Fight for the troops. “It’s an honor to perform in front of America’s soldiers,” said Farber. “I plan to put on an exciting show for them. I prepared like I’ve never prepared before.”

Farber spent time in Thailand training at Tiger Muay Thai, refining his skills and further honing his craft. “It’s all about going to the source to get the top training and that’s all I did was train,” said Farber. “I refined my technique and made some corrections. I feel like I got better at what I knew. Especially using elbows.”

Eventually he made his way back to North County Fight Club’s training facility, “The Compound”, where he finished off his preparation. He refuses to dwell on the loss to Markham. “The loss just makes me work even harder and strive to do better,” said Farber. “I would love a rematch somewhere down the line. If we both win and everything comes together, it’ll happen. But let’s face it. Right now, I’m not in a position to ask for a rematch.”

The 28 year old father of a nine year old girl briefly thought about giving up the sport he loved. He started at a Sambo gym in Northern California when he couldn’t find a boxing gym around. He began grappling and striking and was hooked.

But as much success as he found at small shows in Mexico it didn’t seem to be paying off. “There was a point when I wasn’t making much money and I was feeling down and out so I put some real thought into possibly stepping away from the sport,” said Farber. “I thought long and hard and I realized that this is what I wanted to do and that I want the sport to be a part of my life. I’m also at the point where I can make some decent money and I would’ve regretted it if I didn’t give the opportunity 100 percent.”

The other options weren’t attractive. Farber spent some of his teenage years working as a logger for his uncle anywhere from 60 to 70 hours a week. It made him realize that sawing down trees wasn’t going to be part of his future. “It was an incredibly tough job and that’s when I decided to go back to high school and finish up since there was no way I wanted to do this,” remembered Farber.  

Farber is striving to be the best at a 170 pounds and a fan favorite. “My goal is to always get better. I plan to go to Brazil after this fight and work on my grappling. Then I’m going back to Thailand,” he continued. “I know the importance of giving the fans their money’s worth and we owe them the best preparation possible. They can always count on any fight I’m going be in to be an exciting one.”

He has a special message to the fans who’ll be watching on Wednesday night: “I want to tell them that they should watch me and know that I’ll always be putting it all on the line. Win or lose. I’ll always leave everything out there for them. That’s my duty as a fighter.”

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