Since the age of five, Karl James “KJ” Noons has known nothing the way he knows fighting. Whether in a ring as a boxer or kickboxer or in a cage as a mixed martial artist, if it involves sanctioned combat, then you can expect the 28-year old to be ready to put the gloves on.
“It was a family thing,” he said. “My great-grandpa was a fighter, my dad was a fighter, my uncle was, my cousins are, and I’m a fighter.”
With the credentials to back it up. 12-2 as a kickboxer and 11-2 in pro boxing, Noons finally found his home in mixed martial arts, where he has compiled a 9-2 record since turning pro in 2005.
“Everybody goes off to school, gets a regular job, and it’s just fortunate that MMA is so big now that you can make a living off of it,” he said. “If I wanted to go do kickboxing, I don’t know if I’d be too successful in being able to pay my bills, and the same thing in boxing, which is a very hard sport unless you’re the top dog.”
And having tasted each, he knows better than most what separates MMA from the pack. Perhaps most interestingly, he can break down the culture of the various sports, knowing from experience the difference between boxing and mixed martial arts.
“When you come to a boxing gym, nobody’s even gonna say hi to you until you earn your respect,” he said. “You get your ass kicked, you gotta walk out that door with your tail between your legs, so you gotta earn yours. MMA is more about the martial arts side. There’s a little more sportsmanship, and the martial arts side is where you have self-respect and respect others, treating others the way you want to be treated. There’s a dojo style with the kickboxing and karate, and that’s where the background comes from, so it’s a little bit different.”
So which does he prefer?
“I like both,” he said. “I like to walk into a boxing gym and be competitive and try to be the best. You gotta get pushed and whup some ass. And in MMA it’s cool too because you respect people, it’s a chill atmosphere, and it’s fun.”
For now though, there’s only MMA, a sport Noons said he got into “by mistake.” It’s a mistake his opponents probably wish he never made, as his six year career has included seven knockout wins, the EliteXC lightweight title, and victories over Yves Edwards, Conor Heun, and Jorge Gurgel. He’s also the last man to defeat Nick Diaz (via cuts in 2007), and in October of last year, the two got reacquainted at 170 pounds, where Diaz avenged his defeat with a five round unanimous decision win, one Noons didn’t necessarily agree with.
“I just wanted to win,” said Noons, who broke his hand in the second round of the bout. “And I thought I did enough to win. I hit the guy more times, I came forward, brought the fight to him in his hometown, but the judges saw it a different way, so whatever.”
On Saturday night in Dallas, Noons returns to the lightweight division to take on Jorge Masvidal in a highly-anticipated showdown. Given his foray to 170 for Diaz, is this a permanent return?
“(If I would have beaten Diaz) I would have bounced back and forth and tried to hold two titles,” he smiles. “I wanted to do 155, but they wanted to do 170, and I couldn’t turn it down.”
For now though, it’s 155 pounds and Masvidal, an eight year vet who has turned back the likes of Joe Lauzon, Edwards, Naoyuki Kotani, and Satoru Kitaoka. Noons is impressed with his foe’s credentials.
“He’s got ground, wrestling, kicks, a fairly good jab, and he’s not afraid to get in there and mix it up, so I’m looking at a good, solid, big, all-around athletic fighter,” he said of Masvidal.
But will Florida’s “Gamebred” stand and trade with the former boxer? Noons decides to go into a general assessment of the fight game, and you can probably pick out a specific answer somewhere in between the lines.
“Everybody says how easy fighting is, and how they want to be a fighter, and go spar, and I’m gonna stand toe-to-toe with KJ,” said Noons. “Everybody can talk a lot and say you’re gonna do something, but I tell you what, once you get hit in the mouth with a punch from somebody or from me, things tend to change.”
And despite being known as a standup fighter almost exclusively, that hasn’t stopped Noons from beating top level fighters over the years, and since 2007, his only loss has been to Diaz. Yet his name rarely finds the conversation when it comes to the top 155 pounders in the world. Has he gotten his just due?
“Not really, and that’s why I’m willing to keep fighting, keep fighting whoever they put in front of me, and keep proving myself and showing people that I can be the best. They just need to give me the opportunity to go out there and do it.”
If he beats Masvidal, he will likely get that opportunity – a shot at Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, but he’s not looking that far ahead, right?
Wrong.
“You can’t avoid it,” he said. “I want that title and that’s what I do this for. So I gotta get past this guy and put all my energy and strength and all my focus into this fight to get to the next level. Of course I take it fight by fight, but I’m looking at the big picture.”
How big does it get for the brutally honest Noons? Real big.
“I’m even looking past Gilbert,” he laughs. “I want to unify the (Strikeforce and UFC) belts. I can beat (UFC lightweight champion) Frankie (Edgar), I know I can. And I’m even looking way past that. If Diaz beats GSP (Georges St-Pierre), what do you think that makes me feel like?”
Like a guy looking for a rubber match. Not surprising coming from this fighter.
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