When fighters decide to leave the game, they almost always do it under terms that force a hard-bitten reckoning with reality. Injuries, dwindling skill sets and paydays, personal turmoil and apathy are just a few of the vexing factors that play roles in the decision.
Now a practicing attorney based in Denver, the fighter nicknamed “T-Money” returns to a career he put on hold to pursue his legal dreams. His comeback begins on Friday in Denver against Tony Cantrell in the main event at Fight to Win “The Professionals.”
With the re-emergence of the 155-pound class, sparked by the division’s return to the UFC in 2006 and the rise of World Extreme Cagefighting, Strikeforce and Bellator Fighting Championships, being a lighter weight fighter means more options than ever. Glover, 31, sees it as a viable route to pursue once more.
“I had some good momentum. There weren’t any Bushido cards on the horizon,” he says. “There wasn’t a 155 championship in the UFC. The other card up my sleeve was to apply to law school, and at the end of the day, law school made more sense.”
Since then, a lot has changed in Glover’s life, both in a personal sense and in the game he left behind. He graduated from the University of Colorado law school, passing the bar exam -- the bane of many a law school graduate -- on his first try.
“I’ve been doing a lot of business law, and I just found the side of MMA and the contracts with business very interesting. I enjoy all things related to business law, like doing deals, working with corporations and helping them grow their businesses,” he says. “I really like the idea of taking someone’s idea and helping them grow and find a way to have a sustainable, quality way to do something they like. If you have a good attorney in your corner, you can do something with confidence.”
His Web site, www.tyroneglover.com, makes light of the fact that he is a professional fighter and an attorney, proving a dose of good humor is probably the best prescription for dealing with a decidedly rare paradox. For in both worlds, the existence of the “other” Tyrone Glover is somewhat surprising to denizens of each. While in law school, his past as a fighter followed him despite his best efforts to remain just another student. “I kept it on the down low, but law school is like junior high; it’s a big rumor mill. It’s really small. I think someone found a YouTube fight of me and Din, and it went viral in the law school,” he says. “People were watching it on laptops in class.”
Glover, who has not fought in more than five years, anticipates a stout test from the little-known Cantrell.
“I know Cantrell is scrappy; he likes to stand up. We have about the same number of pro fights, [but] he’s been active and [had] two to three fights in last year,” Glover says. “I was undefeated, but he’s been more active. All things considered, it’s a pretty good, equal match. I’ve really tried to concentrate on my game plan and not worry about him. I just want to blow all the ring rust out of there. I feel good, like it hasn’t been five years. It’s like my re-debut, but if my performance is as I intend it to be, I hope it gets me some really good momentum to take advantage of all these opportunities.”
Fight to Win promoter Seth Daniels has known Glover for several years, and the two have become close friends. Daniels, whose promotion also holds grappling events, wants to keep Glover busy with a couple more fights in the organization before hopefully landing him on a big show.
“There wasn’t much thought behind whether or not to use Tyrone,” Daniels says. “He was my no-gi [grappling] champion, so when he said he wanted to fight MMA again, it became my top priority.
“He’s an amazing person and phenomenal fighter. We are planning on getting him three fights this year,” adds Daniels, who has had Glover in his corner while competing in his own grappling matches. “He’s going to make a run at it. He had some bad experiences fighting in the past. He’s one of my friends, and I’m hoping he likes it and has fun. We want to do two more fights in 2011, get him up to 7-0 and get him in the UFC.”
Since he left MMA five years ago, the sport has changed considerably. A deeper talent pool than ever exists, with athletes training smarter, not just harder. Glover cites the increasing presence of professional strength and conditioning coaches who train other top athletes. They are now the norm in MMA. Back when he was starting out as a California high school wrestling standout, it was more a case of taking what one could get.
“My first real revelation was when I had taken some jiu-jitsu lessons. It was the summer after my junior year. We were both white belts. I had come off a high school wrestling season, and I went after this guy 150 percent for a good solid hour, and he tapped me probably every minute,” Glover recalls. “I couldn’t imagine this guy. Every move he could make, he could finish me with something … and not to just get dominated but to get utterly dominated. I wanted to learn how to do and add that to my wrestling game. Guys like Urijah Faber, Jake Shields, guys I wrestled with in high school, they were open to learning jiu-jitsu, too. It was a really cool atmosphere at that time.”
Glover, along with Faber, James Irvin, Scott Smith and Jeremy Frietag, formed the original nucleus of the Capital City Fighting Alliance, one of the earlier and more prominent fight teams in Northern California. Mike Roberts, who managed the original group and currently handles several of its members’ careers today -- including Faber, Irvin and Smith -- had high praise for Glover and was excited to hear he was coming back to MMA.
“Of all the guys I’ve managed, I would say Tyrone was the most talented guy of everybody I’ve ever been with,” says Roberts, who estimates he has managed 30 fighters over the years. “Tyrone was the most athletically skilled, super intellectual guy. He worked as hard [as] or harder than anybody. He’s also one of the smartest guys you’ll ever meet in your life -- straight smart or book smart. He could probably be a brain surgeon if he wanted to.”
Roberts remembers the tough times in the mid-2000s when fighters had limited options, especially in the lighter weight classes. The market for sponsorships and other revenue streams, which are integral to a full-time fight career, were in short supply, and, compounding matters, even the game’s better fighters had trouble making the sport a viable full-time vocation. Today, a fighter with a win or two in the major promotions can be assured a dependable six-figure income through purses and sponsorships if he has a decent manager. Back then, that kind of money was limited to a decidedly select few.
“Most of the guys back then when Tyrone was fighting had 8-5 jobs, and the only time they could train was after work at 6 p.m.,” says Roberts. “Tyrone was undefeated, and it came to a point where, at that time, when he quit, nobody was making any money. He’s one of the coolest people I’ve ever worked with. I’m really glad to hear he’s going to fight again.”
The last five years and the game’s evolution have not been lost on Glover, either.
“We’re getting to see how these top-level athletes are training, and it’s just an eye opener. That’s why you’re seeing guys like Georges St. Pierre,” he says. “Part of it’s, like, he’s stronger and faster, but he’s training smarter, too.”
Like most fighters preparing for a match, Glover sharpens the various skills in different places. However, the main source of his inspiration to return comes from his sessions at Grudge Training Center, where the cast of notable regulars includes Nate Marquardt, Shane Carwin, Brendan Schaub and Elliot Marshall. He has returned to the heart of the game, watching their stories unfold day by day, fight by fight.
“Being in that camp, they have so many active guys,” Glover says. “Someone always has a fight coming up.”
Glover was one of four fighters -- K.J. Noons, Nick Ring and Jake Draves were the others -- to win the Pride Fighting Championships United States auditions in 2005, and he has a plan.
“My camp has taken a lot of guys into the top 10 and top five in the world. They have a really good grasp of the landscape out there. Before when I was fighting, you had to make a lot of up-front decisions about your career, and now I have the luxury of picking the fights that make sense and let them tell me when it’s time to step up,” says Glover, who plans to continue practicing as an attorney. “I’m just really going to focus on training, take advantage of these new resources, and when these guys tell me certain fights make sense, then that’s what I’m going to do.
“I love my career, but more than anything, I love the way I think about everyday things I encounter,” he adds. “I think about my future. Law school has taught me to think in a certain way, and it’s a way that made me results-oriented. I feel confident in going forward. It’s made me even more excited about being back in MMA.”
Glover did not want to go through life pondering the what ifs.
“Just seeing how much positive energy there was in the sport, I was just feeling I was on the sidelines and not a part of that,” he says. “I really had to take a good hard look. It really came down to a quote I remember, and it’s that ‘The biggest shortcoming of a man isn’t that they aim too high and fail. They don’t aim high enough and succeed.’ I definitely feel like I have a foundation now, and it’s something I have a passion about.”