ICF 13 Post-Event Interview with Mark Crawn (9/9/09)

The final fighter I was able to speak to after the recent ICF 13 event was Mark "The Future" Crawn. Crawn was my other pick for Submission of the Night Honors with his first-round triangle choke win over Kevin Barton.

(Picture from Fight Ribbon's event album.)

Here is what Mark had to say about his fight and his recent battle with cancer:

Brian Furby: Mark Crawn, big first-round submission win over Kevin Barton [Barton is the ICF 205 Amateur Champ, but this was a non-title fight], how did you feel going into the fight?

Mark Crawn: I felt awesome. Trained hard for the last nine weeks, after I got rid of the cancer. All I’ve been doing is training, training, training.

Brian Furby: I’m familiar with your situation but I know many people aren’t – why don’t you tell us about your recent battle with cancer?

Mark Crawn: I got diagnosed with testicular cancer, I found it about a week before my last fight with Jason Cocagne, and I went to the doctor the week after and they told me it was cancer so I went and got it removed and been on track since then, working hard.

Brian Furby: How quickly were you able to get back into training after that?

Mark Crawn: They told me to take six weeks off because I could get a hernia or something like that, but I did about a week-and-a-half [off], and then at the two-week mark, I had to get out and do something so I went at it [training] again, kept it a secret from my wife, but I was sparring full contact again in two weeks.

Brian Furby: So your first fight back – what did you think of your performance compared to your last fight before the surgery?

Mark Crawn: I think my game is way better. I’d say my jiu jitsu is probably 100 times better than it was then, and it’s only going to get better because I don’t take a day off. I train three times a day and I do everything 100%.

Brian Furby: So is the plan a rematch with Barton for the title?

Mark Crawn: I’ve talked to a lot of people and I think I’m ready to go pro. I’m ready to get paid.

Brian Furby: Anybody you want to give a shout out to?

Mark Crawn: I definitely want to give a shout out to West Virginia MMA, Fight Ribbon, Revgear, The Navy, On Point Athletics, and Fight or Flight Athletics, all for sponsoring me and taking care of me. And of course I want to give a shout out to my wife and thank God.