Chad George Finds His True Calling at LXF 2

Chad George is fighting his final professional mixed martial arts bout in July. The 37-year-old picked Shawne Merriman's Lights Out Xtreme Fighting's LXF2 event on July 6 as his last showing. He's walking away from fighting at an age when most fighters are still seeing what they have left. However, for George (17-8) it's not a question of what he has left but what he has to give to the generation behind him.

"On Sunday, I've got 22 of my jiu-jitsu students competing," George said with excitement when talking about why his LXF 2 match will be his last. George took some time to speak with Sherdog when his flight was canceled before he was set to corner Cooper Gibson, who won at Combate America's event in Hidalgo, Texas, last Friday. For George, it's a choice between being selfish and chasing his own Ultimate Fighting Championship dreams or helping those he teaches and coaches at California Mixed Martial Arts.

As a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black-belt, part of the responsibility of mastering the art is to pass it on and that is something that George found himself drawn to as he was going through his own career. "Everything we do is a journey," George said. "It's not about the result we are pushing towards, there's going to be a positive and there's going to be a negative but it's what you take from that and how you move forward from it."

George said he also takes time to go to schools and speak to the younger generation, "I'm very big on breaking things down," said the fighter. "Trying to analyze information so I can help people technically or even just overcome things in their own stories." That is a trait that could carry over well as a fight analyst in the future.

While helping the fighters and coaches prepare the CMMA team for what lies ahead in their future competitions, George is also preparing for his final fight. He is set to face Hector Valenzuela at LXF 2 and with Merriman's promotion being one of the staple places for California MMA he feels it is fitting to close out his career there.

Edward Carbajal serves as the lead MMA analyst for Frontproof Media and holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a brown belt in Ishin Ryu karate. He has covered combat sports since 2014 and has been a fan of MMA since the first UFC. You can follow him on Twitter @Carbazel or at his website TheBlogBoardJungle.com.