2010-08-02 21:13:17 +0000 #1
Quote:
- HEATH HERRING: FIGHTING ISN'T PRIORITY NO. 1
Thursday, July 22, 2010 - by Damon Martin - MMAWeekly.com
Just a few years ago, "The Texas Crazy Horse," Heath Herring was considered one of the top heavyweights in the sport of MMA. Facing some of the best the weight class had to offer, he was known as a tough competitor who could hang with the best of the best whenever he stepped in the cage.
It's now been almost two years since Herring stepped foot in the Octagon. The Las Vegas based fighter took Brock Lesnar to the only decision of his professional career, and then walked away from the sport to pursue other interests.
While he still trains and works out, Herring professes that he'll always love fighting, but the business took its toll out on him. When other opportunities arose, he wanted to explore those options.
"To be honest with you, I'm trying to stay in shape the best I can, (but) nothing's on the horizon," Herring told MMAWeekly Radio. "I'm not ruling anything out, but that's not really what's on the horizon just yet. I've got a couple little side projects I'm working on, that if they take off you wouldnt be able to commit full time to training."
What Herring has been concentrating on is a budding acting career. He's taken roles in several movies, and even has some television projects in the works that could see airtime in the near future.
"It's been going good actually," he said about the acting business. "There's always stuff going on. I've been staying pretty busy, have quite a few little things coming out. It's like anything else, when you're trying to make the switch over and hit it hard, it's never as easy as you think it's going to be. A lot of hard work and hanging out with the right people, and that's usually the best way to go with things."
At 32 years of age, Herring is physically more than capable of plotting a comeback in MMA if he wants to, but he's got enough going on outside of the fight world that it's no longer priority number one.
"Im not ruling it out. I'm definitely staying in shape cause things can pop up, and things that look like a good opportunity, something that I'm definitely interested in doing, then we'll jump on that," Herring commented about a return to MMA.
"But no, that's not the first order of the day when I wake up right now."
Herring explained that currently his lawyers are dealing with his UFC contract, and he wasn't able to comment specifically due to ongoing litigation. He explains that it goes beyond just the pay scale and other issues that have come up in the past, but Herring has also committed to never look back on his life with regret.
"You wake up and you're 32 years old and it's like 'what am I working towards?' Not setting anything aside full time or anything, don't have any health insurance, so you start kind of looking at the big picture of life and start trying to figure out what's the best way I can maximize the working time I have left?" said Herring.
"I don't want to wake up one day and be like 'oh man, I could have done this or I could have tried to do that.' I think maybe I saw the glass ceiling so to speak in MMA. Obviously you can go and fight for the title, but I just felt like with some of the opportunities I had that were given to me right now, and where I was currently in my contract and the organization I was with, I was just like I'm going to achieve a lot more success within this type of arena right now, so I might as well try to do something else, that I'm actually enjoying more."
Regardless of the fight game, Herring is committed to staying busy. He was set to star in an upcoming movie that was going to be directed by Corey Haim, but the actor passed away before the film could begin principle photography.
Still undeterred, Herring has several projects upcoming in both the film and television world, and that's enough to keep him happy. Right now, the fight world is not where the "Texas Crazy Horse" wants to rest his boots, and Hollywood has given him a new career path worth exploring.
www.mmaweekly.com/ab...leid=12108&zoneid=13
It's pretty clear the guy doesn't want to fight anymore. I say release him, he's wasting space on the Heavyweight roster, he's not that valuable, nor is he that good of a fighter anyway. On top of that, his record in the UFC is 2-3, so Joe Silva can cut him with good reason.
- HEATH HERRING: FIGHTING ISN'T PRIORITY NO. 1
Thursday, July 22, 2010 - by Damon Martin - MMAWeekly.com
Just a few years ago, "The Texas Crazy Horse," Heath Herring was considered one of the top heavyweights in the sport of MMA. Facing some of the best the weight class had to offer, he was known as a tough competitor who could hang with the best of the best whenever he stepped in the cage.
It's now been almost two years since Herring stepped foot in the Octagon. The Las Vegas based fighter took Brock Lesnar to the only decision of his professional career, and then walked away from the sport to pursue other interests.
While he still trains and works out, Herring professes that he'll always love fighting, but the business took its toll out on him. When other opportunities arose, he wanted to explore those options.
"To be honest with you, I'm trying to stay in shape the best I can, (but) nothing's on the horizon," Herring told MMAWeekly Radio. "I'm not ruling anything out, but that's not really what's on the horizon just yet. I've got a couple little side projects I'm working on, that if they take off you wouldnt be able to commit full time to training."
What Herring has been concentrating on is a budding acting career. He's taken roles in several movies, and even has some television projects in the works that could see airtime in the near future.
"It's been going good actually," he said about the acting business. "There's always stuff going on. I've been staying pretty busy, have quite a few little things coming out. It's like anything else, when you're trying to make the switch over and hit it hard, it's never as easy as you think it's going to be. A lot of hard work and hanging out with the right people, and that's usually the best way to go with things."
At 32 years of age, Herring is physically more than capable of plotting a comeback in MMA if he wants to, but he's got enough going on outside of the fight world that it's no longer priority number one.
"Im not ruling it out. I'm definitely staying in shape cause things can pop up, and things that look like a good opportunity, something that I'm definitely interested in doing, then we'll jump on that," Herring commented about a return to MMA.
"But no, that's not the first order of the day when I wake up right now."
Herring explained that currently his lawyers are dealing with his UFC contract, and he wasn't able to comment specifically due to ongoing litigation. He explains that it goes beyond just the pay scale and other issues that have come up in the past, but Herring has also committed to never look back on his life with regret.
"You wake up and you're 32 years old and it's like 'what am I working towards?' Not setting anything aside full time or anything, don't have any health insurance, so you start kind of looking at the big picture of life and start trying to figure out what's the best way I can maximize the working time I have left?" said Herring.
"I don't want to wake up one day and be like 'oh man, I could have done this or I could have tried to do that.' I think maybe I saw the glass ceiling so to speak in MMA. Obviously you can go and fight for the title, but I just felt like with some of the opportunities I had that were given to me right now, and where I was currently in my contract and the organization I was with, I was just like I'm going to achieve a lot more success within this type of arena right now, so I might as well try to do something else, that I'm actually enjoying more."
Regardless of the fight game, Herring is committed to staying busy. He was set to star in an upcoming movie that was going to be directed by Corey Haim, but the actor passed away before the film could begin principle photography.
Still undeterred, Herring has several projects upcoming in both the film and television world, and that's enough to keep him happy. Right now, the fight world is not where the "Texas Crazy Horse" wants to rest his boots, and Hollywood has given him a new career path worth exploring.
www.mmaweekly.com/ab...leid=12108&zoneid=13
It's pretty clear the guy doesn't want to fight anymore. I say release him, he's wasting space on the Heavyweight roster, he's not that valuable, nor is he that good of a fighter anyway. On top of that, his record in the UFC is 2-3, so Joe Silva can cut him with good reason.
