CFFC 43 preview: 'Motivated' Lyman Good ready to bring the fight to Jonavin Webb on Nov. 1

Former Bellator MMA welterweight champion Lyman Good (16-3) returns to the spotlight next Saturday (Nov. 1, 2014) as he faces the undefeated Jonavin Webb (7-0) for the Cage Fury Fighting Championships (CFFC) welterweight title.

CFFC 43 airs live on PPV via iN DEMAND and can also be ordered from GFL.tv for $19.95 throughout North America (international readers please check availability before your purchase).

Good talked to MMAmania.com about his start in MMA, getting exposure at a time when fights were becoming part of the broadcast TV landscape, and how he's preparing for the challenge Webb presents. For Good, training in MMA was a literal escape from bad influences in Spanish Harlem.

"My upbringing was pretty rough as far as growing up in a gang-banging territory full of a lot of gangs and drugs and violence and that kind of stuff. My mom initially wanted to get me to do some kind of activity just to get me out, because she didn't want me to conform or become part of it. She said 'Why not try martial arts? I'll do it with you, too.'"

Good had no amateur boxing or wrestling experience going into martial arts, but found himself naturally able to transition from playing other sports to the discipline of MMA.

"I fell in love with it. It was the one thing that made me happy at that point in my life. I grew up with a lot of anger issues and circumstances I lived with at the time. I didn't really have a lot to look forward to. I didn't feel like I had a future in anything. I fell in love and that was the end of it. From that point on, I religiously trained as if that was my escape from everything in my life."

The experience Good gained at Tiger Schulmann's Mixed Martial Arts led him to success on the bigger stage, reeling off 10 straight wins as a pro and capturing the Bellator welterweight title. It wasn't until Good ran into collegiate All-American and Olympic-level wrestler "Funky" Ben Askren that he first tasted defeat in a five-round decision.

"I'm not gonna go out without a fight," said Good. "You know if someone's going to beat me they're going to have to go through hell in order to do that. I did the best I could, there's nothing I can really say as far as having any regrets about the fight because I fought my best. To this day he's still very recognized, he's making a name for himself, in spite of whether people like his style or not. You still have to give the guy respect for coming into another sport, off of all he's done his whole life as a wrestler, (and) impose his will on others who are world renowned, as well."

Good comes into the CFFC title fight a winner in five of his last six fights, last knocking out Matt Secor at 4:21 of the first round in Morristown, New Jersey, this past summer. Without giving away too much of his gameplan for next Saturday, Good outlined a general strategy for Webb, a protege of grappling instructor Daniel "Gracie" Simoes.

"I'm motivated by the fact he is the current champ, but champion or not I would still fight him exactly the same. He's an opponent, he's somebody standing in my way. I know he's dedicated (to) the same cause. He's young, he's very motivated as well. (I'm) working on strengthening my ground game and wrestling, mostly a lot of wrestling, and polishing my stand-up. Just because I'm comfortable with my stand-up doesn't mean that I completely abandon it. I'm never complacent, I always feel I can be better and better and better at anything."

A complete audio file of the interview with Good is available HERE.

Be sure to check out Lyman Good's quest for the CFFC welterweight title on Nov. 1 at the Borgata Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Tickets are still available, check CFFC.tv for details and availability. The show is available on iN DEMAND PPV and GFL.tv.