Missouri. California. Florida. At various times in his fighting life, Jason “The Kansas City Bandit” High has called those states home, at least for a few weeks or so. Currently, he’s in his hometown and namesake of KC, getting ready for the flight to Las Vegas and his Friday Strikeforce bout against Todd Moore.
This is business as usual for High and his fighting colleagues.
“It’s really tough to leave my fiancé and my daughter for four weeks,” said the welterweight standout. “That really sucks. Other than that, it’s pretty routine for me.”
He’s not exaggerating. The cool, calm, and collected 29-year old isn’t one to get rattled by frequent flights, crying babies in the air, airport security, or any of the other annoyances that are stones in the shoes of travelers. And with trips to Japan, Canada, and Guatemala on his passport in pursuit of fighting glory, he’s seen more than most. So to return to the US to fight for Strikeforce, that’s almost like a bonus for him, and one many believe is a little overdue, especially since he was released from his UFC contract in 2010 after just one loss against Charlie Brenneman.
He’s not one of the many who were shocked though.
“I wasn’t too surprised,” said High. “At that point I lost two straight. Everyone was pissed, but I was like ‘life goes on.’”
The loss to Brenneman came on the heels of a knockout defeat at the hands of Marius Zaromskis in the finals of the Dream welterweight Grand Prix in 2009, but High refused to let the first two fight losing streak of a career that began in 2005 deter him.
Returning to action five months after his lone UFC fight, High – who also competed for the Affliction promotion – decisioned Jordan Mein, a victory made even more impressive considering Mein’s recent stoppage of Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos. He then sandwiched first round finishes of Keto Allen and Rudy Bears around a decision win over Japanese star Hayato “Mach” Sakurai, prompting a call from Strikeforce earlier this year.
In June, he completed the first fight of his deal with the organization, reintroducing himself to television fans with a win against Quinn Mulhern. In other words, it’s a good time to be Jason High, but he’s not jumping too far ahead just yet.
“I just want to keep winning,” he said. “That’s the most important currency in this sport. I’m doing pretty well, I’m getting good training camps and I’m feeling a lot better about everything, but once you start looking ahead too much, you kinda lose sight of what’s in front of you. I know it sounds kinda cliché, but it’s really true and it’s good advice. Take one fight at a time and eat what you have on your plate before you start looking ahead. You start looking ahead, that’s how you start getting in trouble.”
Moore is just the kind of fighter that can cause plenty of trouble in the cage. The WEC and Dream vet has walked his own rocky road to Friday night, and he also notched a victory in his first Strikeforce bout in June, winning a close one over Mike Bronzoulis. High, a former University of Nebraska wrestler, is well aware of the danger a well-rounded competitor like Moore can present.
“I think he’s a guy that’s decent everywhere, and sometimes those are the toughest fights,” he said. “But I feel good. I feel more confident in my skills, and I feel like against pretty much anybody I can handle the fight wherever it goes and be effective. I feel really good in my career at this point.”
And though it will be a tough fight for the competitors, for the fans, the matchup promises to be an exciting one, and that’s what High knows will take him to the next level, not his past performances, but the present one.
“Maybe the people who are into the sport, and some of the media know, but the casual fan wouldn’t know who Sakurai is or care about it; they just know what your last fight was, and that’s all they really know,” he said. “But it doesn’t bother me that much. That’s the way combat sports are. People only want to hear about your last fight and what have you done lately, so it doesn’t really matter to me. That’s just the way it is. You can’t care about the stuff that you’ve done in the past forever.”
Jason High certainly isn’t. He’s moved into the new era with an active Twitter account – @KCBanditMMA (“On Twitter I just speak my mind,” he said. I think it’s fun.”) – and he’s not expecting that his past success is going to help him on Friday or in the future. What matters is now, and if he has to travel, tweet, and train harder than ever to get to where he wants to in this sport, that’s exactly what he’s going to do.
It’s the life of the fighter.
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