February 6th, 2010 was a big night for Jarrod Card (11-3-1). It had been almost a year since his 5 round war with Bruce Connors at XFC 8 in Knoxville, Tennessee. That night “Wild Card” walked out of the cage as the XFC featherweight champion of the world. It would be almost another year before Card would step back into the cage and do what he loves to do.
Following that victory, Card found himself a free agent after contract negotiations fell through with the XFC, and while looking to stay active in his fighting career, he was injured training for his next bout. After rehabbing his shoulder, which turned out to be a stage 3 separation for over nine months, Card was ready to get back into the cage.
He did just that this past Saturday on February 6th, facing off against the very experienced Aaron Williams (17-13) at “Atlas Fights: Cage Rage 3” in Biloxi, Mississippi.
The fight with Williams would end up going the distance, with Card winning the bout by decision, but even more importantly, the fight was an opportunity for Card to “tune up” his game, having recently re-signed with the XFC and facing a title defense in March with the Tampa based promotion.
The win was a hard earned one, but Card expected it to be difficult considering he had spent almost a year away from the sport rehabbing his shoulder.
“Getting back in the cage was great but I had a little doubt with the timing, cardio and my boxing,” Card told ProMMANow. “Most of my training partners got deployed leading up to this fight.”
Card will be defending his XFC featherweight belt on March 19th at “XFC X: Night of Champions”, against “The Iron Man” Jason Wood, and will be coming into his title defense with a different philosophy from the past.
“The title defense will test my character as a champ,” said Card. “I’m going into the fight with the mindset that I am the underdog, and that I want to take the belt from Jason.”
Card is excited to be back with the XFC and is looking forward to showing his fans what the “Wild Card” is all about on March 19th.
“I am thankful that the XFC gives me the chance to shine and support the XFC organization,” said Card. “I am grateful that the XFC is allowing me to defend my title, it’s my time to shine!”
[…] “I’m going into the fight with the mindset that I am the underdog, and that I want to take the belt from Jason,” Card said in a recent interview with Pro MMA Now. […]