UFC's Ed Herman Ready to Fight at TUF 13 Finale After Nearly 2 Years out of Cage

Nick CaronMay 15, 2011

With all of the injuries that have hit the UFC recently, fans and the organization itself would agree that it’s a welcome change to see someone like former The Ultimate Fighter finalist, Ed Herman, coming back from a long layoff due to an injury of his own.

We last saw Herman at UFC 102, all the way back in August 2009. It was on that night, in a fight with Aaron Simpson, that Herman’s career changed forever.

“I tore my ACL. It was in the first round when Aaron shot in on me and kind of wrapped his leg around mine, and in doing that, it hyper-extended my knee, and I think that’s where the damage was done,” he told me. “I was able to finish the round, but if you watch the fight video, you could see that I was definitely limping as I went back to the corner.”

Indeed he was. The knee looked absolutely horrible, but true to his occupation, he fought through it as much as he physically could.

“The referee came over to me and said, 'You blew out your knee.' I said, 'No way man, I’m fine,'" Herman described the incident. “I came out in the second round and I walked forward just fine. I guess you can walk forward fine with a torn ACL, but moving side to side is the problem.”

He threw a kick and collapsed to the canvas in excruciating pain and the referee called the fight immediately.

The ACL, a ligament in the knee, is one of the worst parts of the body that can be injured on an athlete. Herman’s was in bad shape and needed immediate surgery, which would thankfully be covered by the UFC.

But as he recovered from the surgery and got back into the gym, lightning struck twice and the ACL was torn once again, this time in a place where the UFC didn’t have to cover him.

“The UFC took care of everything, paid all the medical bills, for both injuries. The really cool thing was the second one, because they didn’t have to do that,” he boasted of his organization.

It’s true. With the injury taking place outside of the Octagon, the UFC had no legal obligation to pay for anything. Only a morale one. But for the organization that now offers its fighters major medical coverage, it seemed like a no-brainer to help out a guy who put his body on the line for them.

Herman was excited to hear that the company was making the new insurance, though.

“There’s a big deductible with the UFC insurance, but it takes care of major injuries, which is the important thing. If you have something really bad happen, it’s worth it to pay that deductible because you know the UFC is going to cover the rest and you’re going to be seeing all the best people.”

But after moving out to Colorado with his friend Ryan Schultz where the two started their own gym called Trials MMA, Herman is excited to get back in the cage after nearly a two year absence from the sport.

“Things are going great, the knee feels great. I’m just ready to get back in there, you know? I had to go back bar tending for awhile and people were going up to me, patting me on the back, saying, 'You were the guy who used to fight in the UFC, right?' I smiled and everything, but it hurt a little bit. I wanted to come back as soon as I could.”

Herman will step back into the cage at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale in June where he will face Tim Credeur, who has gone 3-1 in his UFC career. Credeur is a very talented fighter, but “Short Fuse” plans on mostly sticking to his usual game plan with some minor adjustments.

“You know, you do kind of change things based on the guys you’re fighting, but I think Chris Leben said it best when he said, “You dance with the lady who got you there.”

“I’ll probably change things up a bit because Tim is great off his back with submissions,” he explained. “He’s a black belt, and I’m aware of that. But at the same time, I’m not afraid to go to the ground with him. I’ve been in fights with some of the best guys in the world off their back and I’ve been caught by some of them, but I’ve caught some of them, too.“

Though Credeur is known for some impressive submissions, he’s also the kind of opponent that Herman wants to face—someone who could have a memorable war with him.

“I’m excited to fight Tim, though, because he’s a guy who’ll fight me. He’s not going to run away in the cage like Michael Bisping.”

“But I definitely look at this as a must-win. There are so many good guys in the UFC, and with them buying Strikeforce, it just makes things that much more competitive. Guys aren’t guaranteed their spots. I look at it as, I mean, if I don’t win, maybe I don’t deserve to be in the UFC.”

The injury he suffered caused Ed to re-examine his career. Now 30 years old, he realizes that his time in the sport is becoming increasingly limited.

“I think what’s changed for me since I fought last is that I’m older and I think I’ve learned how to train smarter. That’s what you’re going to see. I’m still the same Ed Herman, but I’m a smarter Ed Herman,” he proclaimed.

“I think that the goal is always to get back in there and fight as soon as possible after fights. I’m getting older and I need to get as many fights under my belt as I can. There’s only so much time, you know? If I get out of there without any injuries, and if I get a quick win, I’d like to be back in there as early as six to eight weeks, fighting again.”

That timeline would put him on track to fight again sometime in August at any one of the three events that month. But there may actually be a better time for him to fight again not long after that.

“There’s an event coming up here in Denver and I’d love to be on that card,” he revealed. “ I think it’d do a lot for me and for the gym here. We’re only about an hour out of Denver, so I think it’d be great for us to represent locally.”

Though he doesn’t have a specific opponent that he is is dying to fight, Herman does have a few names in mind.

“I’d love to fight Michael Bisping, not because I don’t like him or anything, but because he’s got a lot of hype surrounding him right now and it’d be good for my career.”

“Other than that, I’d love to fight Brian Stann, since he knocked out my buddy Chris Leben. I’ve trained with Brian before and he’s a great guy, it’s nothing personal, but he knocked out my friend. After Chris beat Simpson, he gave me a shout-out, which was awesome. I’d love to do the same thing.”

He would also like to avenge some previous losses.

“I’d love to fight Demian Maia again, I’d love to fight Jason MacDonald, Kendall Grove. But really, there’s so many guys in the UFC, that I just want to fight.”

And fight he will on June 4.

In the meantime, fans can wish Ed luck in his comeback fight by following him on Twitter @EdHermanUFC. He recently cracked 1,000 followers and is looking to add more, with the UFC recently announcing that they will be doing some incentives for fighters who are most active on Twitter.