Sean McCorkle: Big pay, easy fights and cockiness

When “Big Sexy” Sean McCorkle (Twitter: @BigSexyMcCorkle) inks a fight contract nowadays, he sees dollar signs rather than a chance to go the distance.

It’s just the way of the world, the former UFC fighter revealed in a Tuesday interview on MMA Beatdown on the MMA Diehards Radio Network. First entering the big leagues in 2010, McCorkle went 1-2 in the UFC and soon received a pink slip for his lackluster record. Now back in bush competitions, the fighter said making a living means entering the matches he’s most likely to win.

“This isn’t a competition or fun for me,” McCorkle said. “This is a job. Why would I want to fight someone who’s 10 out of his last 12? If you’re going to pay me $6,000 to fight a guy who sucks and $8,000 to face a guy who’s good, I’ll take the guy who sucks and win the money.”

McCorkle made his pro debut in 2005 and quickly racked up nine victories. Standing 6’ 7” and weighing 265pounds or more, MMA’s resident mastodon made short work of Mark Hunt in his UFC debut. “Big Sexy” nearly broke Hunt’s arm with an armbar. After that, he came up short against Stefan Struve and Christian Morecraft and was sent packing.

“Fighting guys at the UFC level is no fun at all,” McCorkle said. “If you enjoy hurting people or enjoy being hurt there is something wrong with you. People are always like, ‘do you hope for a war?’ I hope the guy coming across the cage slips and tears his ACL before the fight even starts.”

McCorkle maintains a key problem during his UFC tenure was his struggles making weight. Naturally more of a superheavyweight, the fighter said cutting down to the heavyweight level is a devastating process.

“It is an absolute nightmare for me to make 265,” said McCorkle, who estimates he’s more often in the 290-300 pound range. “I have a certain dollar amount where I won’t do that to my body if it’s less than that amount of money. To cut that extra weight I have to lose it all in muscle and it’s no fun at all.”

Since leaving the UFC, McCorkle said he’s fought with more mass and better results. Currently 3-0, he is scheduled for a match each month through March. The man mountain’s next battle is scheduled for Saturday and will pit McCorkle against 4-0 Mike Gordon at “North American Allied Fight Series – Caged Fury 16” in Morgantown, W.Va.

“I’m guaranteeing it in under a minute because once I get him off his feet it is over,” McCorkle promised. “I’m finally fighting guys with winning records, which is an oddity for me outside the UFC. When you’re fighting at some of these smaller regional shows, some of these guys wouldn’t beat me if I was drunk.”

McCorkle said such trash-talking is merely part of his personality. Though anything can happen once the cage closes, the fighter admitted he likes nothing better than verbally burying an opponent before their brawl.

“Most people think I’m a dick, but it’s really just supposed to be funny,” he said. “No one can be as cocky as I pretend to be.”

(*Editor’s note: Mark Hensch wrote this story.)