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Kyle Morrison · (09-15-2013)

XWF Inside The Ropes Interview: Kyle Morrison

Kyle Morrison: "I went to college at SMU or Southern Methodist University, in Dallas. Made decent grades, I wasn't going to be Magna Cum Whatever but I did well. B's and C's, although I always got A's when it came to history. World history, U.S history, just stuff with names and dates, it always intrigued me. I always will joke with people if I wasn't so good at knocking people out, I'd probably be a history teacher somewhere."

Kyle laughs and then takes a sip of water

"Well, my freshman year at SMU, I kept hearing word around campus about all the different tryouts. You had football tryouts, this was when that football team was still rebuilding from the "death penalty" scandal. Basketball tryouts, soccer tryouts, you name it. I was never much of an athlete when I was younger, basically just a fighter."

"Well, one of my buddies from school, his name was Javier Rodriguez, he was like "Hey, man, I'm trying out for the wrestling team, ain't you into that WWF stuff?" Of course, he was one of those guys who didn't really watch it and just knew I liked it, but ya, then I was standing there thinking, "Well, I do love to compete" and I knew enough about amateur wrestling or Greco-Roman wrestling from my history classes that it did kinda intrigue me as a guy who was a fan of both pro wrestling and also UFC was just getting somewhat popular at the time, so I thought "Hell, why not?"

"So ya, I was on the wrestling team at SMU for my time at college, and it is where you could say my road to MMA and eventually the XWF really kinda took off. I learned how to wrestle, how to takedown, all of that good stuff, and the stuff that I would eventually get to use elsewhere. And it was a way I could throw people around without having to worry about getting arrested or in trouble. I had a pretty solid record there at SMU. I won quite a few tournaments, and I actually made it all the way to the NCAA Semifinals in my junior year at light heavyweight."

"Wrestling has always been a part of my life, from watching the pro sport, the WWF, the NWA, WCW, all of those, watching it with my brother, wrestling with him in the living room and the backyard. All the way to learning about the amateur sport from history classes and also a lot of curiosity and my friend getting me into it. All of that helped to spark my passion to compete and keep looking for ways and opportunities to use it, and of course that would eventually lead to me trying to and eventually getting into an MMA gym and so forth and then now, here in the XWF."

"SMU isn't only where I started down the road that eventually led me to my career in combat sports, it is also where I met the woman who I would eventually call my wife."

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"I met Trisha Richardson at the start of my junior year. First day of classes. It was Earth Sciences or some kind of science class. Not one of my favorites, but anyways, I'm sitting there, and this gorgeous brunette walks in and I was floored. She sat down in the seat next to me, and I thought I was like 7 years old again. I didn't know what to say, but I managed to say hey, she said hey back and it just went from there. Day after day, we'd talk more and more, and we'd start having lunch together, and exchange phone numbers and texts and all that stuff, and we got closer and closer and I mean, it was love at first sight. As cliche as that sounds, it really was."

"We told each other everything, we tell each other everything, I mean nobody had ever made me feel so comfortable or so open. There is no one I would rather share my life with than this woman. And we made that official on December 5th, 2009."

"She is my rock, and the mother of my kids. I got two sons, James, 3, and Michael, he just turned 1. And we just recently found out that we are expecting our third child together. My family is always supportive of everything I do, from my MMA to now my pro wrestling."

"I admit that some days, it can be rough to physically be away, but I am usually there at least half the week as I do my wrestling training at home in Dallas, and the other half of the week I would be in New Mexico at Greg Jackson's gym doing my MMA training, and then I fly to the show wherever that is, at least that is the ideal week, sometimes if I have to I will trim down my MMA by a day but then I'm shadowboxing or something all the time anyways, so I am always gettin' some kinda practice in."

"I know I ramble on some, but honestly, if people don't like it, they ain't gotta listen. The fact is, this is who I am, my family, my work, all parts of who I am."

"I've mentioned my MMA training, I continue to try every week to fly out and spend a couple days a week out in New Mexico to train with my MMA coach; he is one of the best MMA coaches in the world, Greg Jackson. I remember coming out of SMU, I was sitting around the day after graduation thinking...

"What do I do now? No wrestling team? Where was I going to get my challenge from now? Well, like I've mentioned, I was big into UFC, and all the time, I kept hearing of this guy, Greg Jackson, or that these good fighters were trained by this guy, so I looked him up, and me and Trisha went on a summer road trip in 2010, from Texas to Cali, and while we went through New Mexico, one of the towns was Alberqueue, and me and Trisha decided we would stop by this gym and I was blown away."

"I got to meet him and I told him about my wrestling background and that I had a passion for fighting and loved MMA and basically, if he was willing to take a chance..I had the cash to sign up for his classes, I would prove to him I'd be worthy of being promoted to being a part of his camp, and I thank God everyday that he gave me the chance to be in his classes and eventually a part of his camp. And then the day came when Greg Jackson called me into his office and told me that he had my first professional fight and that is when my MMA career officially began.."

End of show, Part 3 (conclusion) coming tomorrow

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