Sean Salmon - MMA's Mystery Man arrives in the UFC

When you’re sitting on the couch with a remote in your hand, fighting probably looks like an easy way to make a living. It’s not. It may be the toughest method of earning a buck, and though most fighters won’t say it out loud, going through the daily grind of training, dieting, and sacrifice is the type of torture you would wish on your worst enemy.

Sean Salmon is a professional fighter, complete with the heart to step into the Octagon this Thursday night against Rashad Evans, the skill necessary to compete at this level, and the understanding of a family that allows him to risk everything in order to fight. But for Salmon to get the one missing ingredient, the desire to push through the pain and persevere when the outlook is at its bleakest, he looks to Marcus Forster.

“He was one of slower guys, speedwise on our high school wrestling team but he would always try to win every single sprint even though he knew he didn’t have a chance,” said Salmon of his best friend and teammate. “He would just outwork everybody. He would be the last guy running and if people kept beating him, he would make you race him until he just wore you down and you couldn’t run anymore. He had that type of drive inside of him.”

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Sean Salmon's Fight Night Diary

Arriving in Florida

My brother (and trainer) Danny and I landed in Florida at 1 p.m. yesterday. We were picked up at the airport and taken to the Hard Rock. We checked our bags with the bellhop and were escorted to the makeshift UFC office in a big ballroom. First, they had me check my weight (stripped down); I imagine that they are trying to gauge who might have weight issues during the week. After that I had to sign paperwork and releases for the fight. They had everything lined up, so the process that could have taken forever was rather quick.

We finished there and went to check in. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was given a suite and the connecting room. I don't know if that is a perk of being in the main event or if they do that for everyone. Once Danny and I got settled, we found a nice Italian restaurant and had a quick late lunch, went back to the room and slowly started getting ready for a workout.

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