Bellator 96's Ron Sparks wants to be remembered as heavyweight Chris Lytle

Bellator heavyweight Ron Sparks‘ opportunity to redeem himself for his first professional loss didn’t go exactly as planned. 

Scheduled to fight Kevin Asplund at Bellator 69, he told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) he was scratched from the card when an on-site medical worker used the wrong-sized cuff to measure his blood pressure, which incorrectly gave readings he was unfit to fight. 

“If you use a regular-sized cuff on anyone that has big arms like mine, it reads like crazy,” he said. “It was just bulls–t, but I wasn’t feeling good regardless. I had a double ear infection and I felt really sick. But once I got to the hospital and they used the correct cuff, my levels were completely normal.”

While annoying, Sparks doesn’t get too bent out of shape when such inconveniences take place. He still looks at his career in MMA as a hobby rather than a serious profession. 

It’s a trade that’s been good to Sparks, even though he has yet to face ranked competition.

“I own a construction company, so I don’t have to fight to pay my bills,” he said. “Not at all. I just love to fight. There’s nothing better than the feeling you get from knocking someone out. Everybody has a hobby, mine just happens to be punching guys in the face.”

And if his ego were ever to get too inflated, his son would be there to keep him in check. 

“He tells me, ‘You’re not famous until they turn you into an action figure,’” Sparks said.

At Bellator 96, the good-natured Sparks (8-1 MMA, 3-1 BFC) hopes he’ll get to do a lot of face-punching when he meets the undefeated Vitaly Minakov (10-0 MMA, 1-0 BFC) in the opening round of Bellator’s “Summer Series” tournament, which takes place on the Spike TV-televised main card of the event at WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Okla. (Preliminary-card fights stream on Spike.com.)

It’s the second time Sparks has tried to win Bellator gold. He most recently appeared in the promotion’s Season 5 tournament, where he suffered the first pro loss of his career by knockout to Eric Prindle. 

“I want to become Bellator heavyweight world champion more than anything right now, but if it doesn’t happen for me, I’m a grown man, my feelings won’t be hurt,” he said. “I can handle whatever life throws at me.”

Minakov comes into the tournament following a second-round TKO over Vladimir Starcencov at Bellator 79. The Russian has stopped eight of his 10 opponents in the first round, but that’s not something Sparks puts too much stock into. 

“Vitaly Minakov’s a tough dude, I’ll give him that, but he’s not Fedor (Emelianenko),” he said. “Fedor was just completely unstoppable at one time, but just like everyone else, they all get put down sooner or later. 

“Being undefeated weighs on you and I know where Vitaly’s at. I’ve been there. Once you get that first loss a lot of that anxiety goes away. Nobody likes to lose and I hate to say it, but it’s awful nice to have that monkey off your back. So really I’m looking to do him a favor in this fight by knocking him senseless.”

But even if he’s the one looking up at the lights at the end of the fight, Sparks said he’ll still be doing what he set out to do when he started strapping on MMA gloves and swinging for the fences. 

“I want people to remember me as one of their favorite heavyweights to watch,” he said. “I want people to know it’s going to be a war every time I step inside that cage. 

“I’d like to be remembered like a heavyweight Chris Lytle. People aren’t going to remember him as a champion, but they’ll always remember him as a warrior that put on one hell of a show. That’s how I want to go down.”

For the latest on Bellator 96, including the night’s full fight card, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.