As fighters go, Chris Lytle is uncommonly honest with himself. He’s one of the few guys in this sport who, when asked about his goals, doesn’t give you some boiler plate answer about a title shot. He’s in his mid-thirties, in one of the UFC’s deepest divisions, and he’s coming off a loss. He knows there probably isn’t much time left, so he wants to make the best of the opportunities he has to put on a show.

In this candid interview Lytle talks about some hard lessons learned in the fight game, why he’s perfectly content to fight a guy like Kevin Burns on a Spike TV TUF Finale card, and what advice he has for the new crop of fighters who will be just breaking into the UFC on Saturday night.

You’re a veteran of this sport fighting on a card with a bunch of young guys just trying to break in. What advice would you give them that you wish somebody would have given you?

I would tell them not to let this be the only thing in your life. This has to be your main focus and it has to be important to you, and that’s great when you win but when you lose it’s devastating. If this is the only thing you have it will burn you out over time. You have to understand that there’s more to life than your fighting career. It has to be the main thing you spend your time on, but it can’t be the only thing you spend your time on. I would say that’s the main thing I’d tell these younger guys who have been looking up at this sport and looking up at where they want to be since they were young. It’s a great sport and I love it, but it’s not the only thing in life and you can’t forget that.

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