Kendall Grove Still Has Much to Prove

Kendall Grove Still Has Much to Prove

Bellator veteran Kendall Grove still believes he has much to improve on in his fight game.

Mar 2, 2017 by Duane Finley
Kendall Grove Still Has Much to Prove
For 14 years and 39 fights, Kendall Grove has made a name for himself in the sport of mixed martial arts as the guy who will fight anywhere and anyone.

Grove has seen a little bit of everything in the fight world. First making his mark on smaller Rumble on the Rock and King of the Cage shows, Grove became a fan favorite during his time on Season 3 of The Ultimate Fighter. The 13-fight UFC veteran was released in 2011, but that did little to slow him down.

Since then, he’s compete across the globe for promotions such as ProElite, ShoFight and KSW, before finally making his way to Bellator in 2013. He’s gone 4-3 in the promotion to date, with all but one of the fights ending via stoppage.

Living up to the Hawaiian stereotype, the 34-year- old comes off as a laid back man of few worries in conversation. He swears regularly and laughs audibly at his own expressions. He’s a fun loving, deep thinker who is making the most of what’s left of his time in the sport.

All of this is to say that when Grove enters the cage against late-replacement fighter Mike Rhodes on Friday night at Bellator 174, it’s not likely the phase him. While Grove spent the entire camp training for All-American wrestler Chris Honeycutt, it’s doubtful anything Rhodes brings will be new to the married father of six.

“Assumption is the mother of all f***ups. I'm preparing for every situation,” Grove said. “This whole camp I've been working off my back and avoiding getting taken down. He's going to take me down, I accept that. When he does, we'll see what he can do.”

Thankfully for Grove, Rhodes is likely to present a similar game plan to Honeycutt, with both having wrestling backgrounds.

Grove entered mixed martial arts just as it was reaching its first wave of mainstream success, capitalizing on the UFC’s The Ultimate Fighter show to become a celebrity in the sport. While he never put together enough wins to warrant a world title shot, fans looked forward to seeing the lanky fighter compete because of his entertaining style. In many fights, an unreliable chin was ultimately his downfall.

He admits that as a young man, he didn’t take the sport as seriously as he should have, and attests that his 7-6 UFC run could have gone differently if he did.

“Growing up, I partied too much,” Grove admits. “I was living in Vegas and was a part of the party scene maybe more than I should have. Living in Vegas training for UFC fights I fell victim to temptation quite a few times. That showed in my performances. Some were wins and a lot of them were losses because I disrespected my sport by not being a disciplined fighter.”

Despite this, Grove lives without regret.

“I don't regret anything, it made me the man I am today and helped me get where I am today. Who knows where I would be if I went the other way?” Grove said. “I probably wouldn't be married, probably wouldn't have my kids. That's why I don't regret anything. As a fighter I'm up and down, but as a person I'm f***ing rich with life. I have a beautiful wife, six beautiful kids that are healthy and live right.”

While Grove has lost 16 fights in his career, few stung more than his most recent loss to former Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Schlemenko, who finished the Hawaiian in the second round after a competitive, back-and- forth bout.

“Looking back, I kill myself watching it because I was doing so good, I felt so good,” Grove said. “I made a simple mistake, I got too comfortable. Hats off to him, but I don't want to feel that again. I hate feeling that. I've felt it too much. I've felt it f***ing 16 times and it's not a f***ing good feeling, man.”

Grove is adamant that the days of disrespecting the sport are behind him and that he’s living cleaner and working harder than ever.

Of course, the cage will determine the truth. That’s part of what makes the sport of mixed martial arts so enthralling; it doesn’t lie. While an aging player can hide in a team sport behind a youthful or more skilled group of players, the cage allows no such blanket. Hard work equals hard work. No one knows that better than Grove.

“This sport will show you straight up that you are f***ing up, often at the worst of times,” Grove said.

If Grove is to prove he’s any more than journeyman, a win at Bellator 174 is essential.

By Shawn W. Smith