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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Kendall Grove's had a long and tumultuous journey to his shot at Bellator's Middleweight Championship, which comes next week when he fights Brandon Halsey at Bellator 137.
The 32-year-old first came into the spotlight nine years ago when he won the third season of The Ultimate Fighter, but after his UFC release in 2011, he hopped around a number of regional organizations around the world. After rekindling a working relationship with fellow TUF 3 winner Michael Bisping, Grove made his way to Bellator, where he's won two of three fights to date.
His most recent win, a submission over former Bellator Light Heavyweight Champ Christian M'Pumbu, led him to next Friday's matchup against Brandon Halsey, and Grove is entering that fight with a serious chip on his shoulder.
"F*** him," Grove said flatly of Halsey when speaking to MMATorch Tuesday afternoon. "Hey, he's great, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying 'f*** him, I'm gonna run right through him.' No, he's going to be hard [to beat]. He's tough. He's a one trick pony. He has great wrestling. But f*** him.
"He's in for a rude awakening. He thinks he's going to walk right through me. My whole career's been people thinking that I'm a piece of shit, that I shouldn't be there, I don't deserve to be there. Well, come next week Friday I'm going to prove everybody wrong."
While Grove recognizes the talent of the undefeated Champion, he believes that's come via chemical enhancement, and had some pretty harsh things to say about Halsey looking ahead to potential future fights in the organization.
"He doesn't do good after the third round, second round. I don't think he cuts weight good," Grove said. "He's juiced out of his mind; that's my personal opinion. Well it's kind of fact. But hey, god bless you, whatever you've gotta do to be a champion. But, I'm gonna f***ing smash this kid, because I have experience, I've been in there with some of the best in the world, and I've been training with some of the best wrestlers in the world in MMA right now.
"My confidence is on a f***ing high right now, so f*** this guy, he thinks he's going to walk right through me," Grove continued. "He thinks I don't even belong in there. He's looking past me and asking for fights with Tito, Phil Davis.
"Thank you. Underestimate me you f***ing juiced out white boy."
Grove thinks he's going to capture that title next Friday on Spike TV, and though he knows he needs to follow through on that before looking ahead, he'll be ready for whatever Bellator puts in front of him.
"Whatever Bellator wants. As a Champion I feel you should fight whoever they put in front of you," Grove said. "First things first, I haven't won it yet. I've got to still go out there and perform. Like I said he's tough, I'm not saying it's gonna be easy for me, but I feel like I've trained my ass off to where I can come out with that victory whether it's in the first or the fifth round. I'm gonna fight my ass off. I have the conditioning to go 100% for 25 minutes straight.
"There's only one way to find out, and we're gonna find out May 15, Pechanga, live on Spike TV."
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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