UFC on Fox 1: Ricardo Lamas Fighting in Honor of His Grandmother

When you are a fighter, you fight for different reasons. In some cases, you fight for pride, respect and the desire to be a world champion someday. For Ricardo Lamas (10-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) who faces Cub Swanson (15-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) in UFC this Saturday on Fox at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA, he is fighting for family.

Lamas lost his grandmother on Saturday after a long bout with cancer. Lamas is fully focused on Swanson and has the utmost respect for his former WEC counterpart.

"Think he's a good fighter, a good guy," Lamas told me. "I don't know him that well, but I do remember watching him fight before I even got into the WEC. I thought he was an exciting fighter and I enjoyed watching his fights then. It's pretty cool I get to step in there with him."

Sometimes people that are close to you get very scared and apprehensive when your profession is fighting, but Lamas' late grandmother wasn't one of those people.

"I never hear her saying anything or question why I am fighting. Actually the last time I was able to talk to her, she was just wishing me luck on my fight. Saying like, 'God bless you, be careful and go in there and do your best.' She was very supportive."

With a lot weighing on his shoulders and the significance of the card, Lamas has more than enough motivation against Swanson.

"Definitely, I fully want to dedicate this fight to her in her memory. I'm going to do everything I can to win and make her proud and everyone else proud. But at the same time, I'm going to try to stay calm and not let my emotions get the best of me. Because sometimes, that will actually work against you negatively and kind of drain you. I'm definitely going to try harder, if not harder than any other fight I've been in."

You can listen to the entire interview with Ricardo Lamas here.

You can follow me on Twitter @fightclubchi.