By Michael David Smith
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Seven months after making his mixed martial arts debut, former NFL star
Herschel Walker says he hasn't lost any of his enthusiasm for MMA and will be back in the cage fighting for Strikeforce this year.
"I have a little one, so my number one focus is my child, but after that my focus is on fighting," Walker told MMAFighting.com. "I'm training at AKA with some of the best trainers and some of the best fighters and as I get closer I'm trusting them to make the decision to tell me when I'm ready for my next fight. This is a very serious, very tough sport and I want them to tell me when they think I'm ready."
Walker said he won't fight on Strikeforce's next card, October 9 in San Jose, but that his training partners tell him he's making sufficient progress that he should be ready to step in the cage again in a couple of months.
"I'm far along from where I was when I first started," Walker said. "This is like anything: If you want to do it you've got to work at it. No matter what type of athlete I was, I came into this sport green and I'm still green. I know I'm not going to be fighting for a belt like [training partner and No. 1 UFC heavyweight contender] Cain Velasquez, but I've been very, very blessed, first in football and now in mixed martial arts."
People think this sport is all blood -- but it's really about the most technical sport there is.
-- Herschel Walker
Walker fought a little-known opponent named Greg Nagy in his MMA debut, and he said he wants to challenge himself against tougher competition in the future. But he also said he's going to be realistic about his own skill level.
"I want to step up," Walker said. "But at the same time I'm a young fighter and you've got to respect this sport. I take it very seriously and I want to fight better competition than I did when I fought Greg -- and I also hope Greg is looking to fight better competition than me. We're beginners and we need to be smart about putting in the work in the gym and then listening to our trainers and getting ready to take on the next level of opponent."
Walker's status as a football star makes him one of the most famous MMA fighters in America, and Walker said he's hopeful that he can help spread the word about the sport and its athletes.
"I think my fame can be helpful to mixed martial arts and I hope that helps, because I love mixed martial arts, whether it's Strikeforce or the UFC or smaller promotions," Walker said. "People think this sport is all blood -- but it's really about the most technical sport there is. So much of it is about technique."
Walker said he doesn't know whether his next fight will be on CBS or Showtime and doesn't particularly care. But he does hope that his involvement in MMA will expand the sport's popularity and make it easier for entry-level fighters who don't have his fame to make a living and fight in safe, well-regulated competitions.
"I don't get into all that stuff," Walker said of his potential to draw TV ratings. "All I do is train and then when the time comes that I'm ready I'll go out there and do it. There are so many competitors in this sport who are struggling, they don't have insurance, and I hope this sport gets to the point where every fighter is taken care of. If I can help this sport get to that point, that's great."
Two years ago Walker revealed that he had been treated for dissociative identity disorder, and he remains passionate about promoting mental health. Walker has become a spokesman for
University Behavioral Health, and he wants to increase awareness of mental health disorders and encourage people to seek help if they need it.
"There's no shame in asking for help," Walker said. "You're not less of a man, you're not less of a person if you ask for help. You really discover freedom when you go out and get help."
Walker believes it's past time to eliminate any stigma attached to mental health treatment. He said he knows from personal experience that young men, especially, are sometimes hesitant to get the treatment they need because, "People might fear that they'll be seen as weak."
On the football field or in the cage, no one could accuse Herschel Walker of weakness.
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