Issue 181

August 2019

"Big Pretty" looks back at a brutal upbringing and explains how he came by his famous nickname.

You fought for six different fight promotions in your first eight pro fights. What are the benefits or the drawbacks of becoming an MMA world traveler so early in your career?

I am comfortable in any situation. My upbringing prepared me for this type of action. I never get flustered. I am always comfortable. I go in there and do what I always do – I dominate, no matter if it’s without sleep, on a different continent I am only there for one mission. By the blessings of God I have been very successful in those missions.

What is your favorite story from all of your time spent traveling to fights around the globe?

My third pro fight I fought in Inoki in Japan on New Year’s Eve. Everybody thought I was crazy in preparing for that fight. They are 18 hours ahead of us so, in preparation for that fight for the month leading up to it I completely changed the schedule of my life, for a month straight, to be on their schedule so I could prepare for battle when I got there. 

A lot of things I have done along the way in my career people have called crazy. Now I am seeing it even in my nucleus, that people that once said what I was doing was crazy, they are doing it now, what I did two or three years ago. Its state of the art. I guess that how it works, the person who is state of the art is called crazy in the beginning and then the next thing you know everybody is doing it. 

You majored in Sociology and played football at San Jose State. With that background, what drew you to officially compete in MMA? 

I have been competing since I was a little boy. I have been fighting since I was little. It was a natural evolution. The only reason I played football was to fulfill a promise I made to my late, great grandmother to tell her that I would graduate college. My mind was already set since I was a little boy. I knew that it was for me because I had an adopted brother who was doing MMA at AKA when I was 15. He brought me in one day and it was during a Jon Fitch Jiu Jitsu class. I just sat there. I soaked it up. I didn’t even do the class. I was too intimidated back then to do the class. I sat there and I watched and I went home and practiced for hours and hours with my adopted brother. That’s when I knew I could do it. I knew I could be pretty good at this and I guess I was right. 

What was your first day of official training like at AKA?

My first day at AKA I walked through the doors and I didn’t know shit. This is how you know they are the real deal. The first day I was sparring Cain, DC and Luke. Coming from football, out of shape with no resources, no nothing. I got knocked out twice that day! (laughs) I lived and I learned and now I’m good, baby. These guys didn’t understand it back then but my upbringing prepared me for those moments.  

Your grandmother bestowed you with the ‘Big Pretty’ nickname. What is the story behind it?

I was the poorest, most swaggy-less kid. It was the smile. It was the personality. That’s where it came from. She said to me one day "You know what? No matter what anybody tells you, you are a big pretty motherfucker." That’s how it came to be and it just stuck with me.

You spent your formative years in the foster care system. You have experience some pretty awful things in that time. What change would you like to see in said system?

I think people are starting to figure out not to get fooled by my smile. I grew up in the Lion’s Den with stealers, dealers and killers. The only thing I can do now is smile. People are starting to realize what happens when the smile leaves my face. The awareness we need to bring to the system is the codependency thing. It’s a pay to play system. Each kid is worth $40,000 a year to the system. The money is aspect. Money is the root of all evil. If we look at the simple statistics, the statistics should be embarrassing to the executives.

The system needs to be burned down and built up fresh. Kids are coming up missing. Kids are going homeless. It’s a catastrophe what’s going on there. I was just one of the quote unquote lucky ones. I don’t like to use the word luck. I believe in divine intervention and I am here on purpose. I am here so I can be talking to you about this. My spirit was full enough and my shoulders are broad enough to carry this wisdom to get to you. That’s why I am here.

Most kids who grow up with titties in their mouth, no offense to anyone, they never had to ask why? Especially on a daily basis. They don’t have to say up all night and wonder where they are going to be tomorrow. They aren’t hearing a kid getting raped in the next room. They don’t walk out in front in the morning and see a dead body in front of the home. A lot of kids don’t have to deal with this. That’s why I believe that the weight put on the shoulders of a lot of these kids in these systems is just too heavy to bear.

I’m here. I am here to take this shit over. I’m not here to play. This is the fight game not the like game. I am here to dominate. I am here to dominate and get my message out. This issue is bigger than me.  

The term "work in progress" sometimes has a negative connotation but can also be seen as a positive thing. Are you building brick by brick to become something greater than we can imagine right now?

No one ever stops becoming until the day that they die. I have to keep improving and keep on getting better. I have to continue to build myself spiritually, mentally and physically and physically comes last. I’m just building, man. It’s a work in progress. You see the way I fight. I am a spiritual fighter. I fight with my spirit. Guys are in there competing in a sport. This is not a sport to me. I don’t even like to use the word fighter. I am a martial artist. I am an artist and Picasso ain’t got shit on me. I’m in there for one mission and one mission only-to draw a picture of domination.