The crazy story of Kendall Grove losing his father
Kendall Grove: “I like to believe it was him that unscrewed himself and was like, ‘I’m good, son. I’ve got booze, I’ve got gambling, and every once and a while, I’ve got hookers.'”
What happens in the cage is crazy, and what happens outside of it is sometimes crazier still. MMAjunkie co-founders John Morgan and Steven Marrocco captured a moment that takes you to the mad heart of our sport.
Kendall Grove is 35 now, over a decade and 31 fights from winning TUF 3. He has six kids to support. On Friday he fights A.J. Matthews at Bellator 193 in Temecula, California.
‘Da Spyder’ is coming off a first-round submission loss to John Salter at Bellator 181 in July. Prior to the fight before that, a TKO loss to Alexander Shlemenko at Bellator 162 in October of 2016, Grove lost his grandfather and brother. Prior to Bellator 181 he lost his father, and had his ashes in a vial around his neck. And then as he waited to walk out, the ashes disappeared.
I almost teared up when I was about to tell you the story, said Grove. But I know I’m good, and I can do my thing the correct way. … I talked to my dad every fight. I can honestly tell you, I wasn’t mentally there.
I give my chain to [cornerman] ‘Big Pygmy’ … and my head’s not in the fight. ‘Where the f*** is my dad! Oh my God!’ I start looking around, running all the way down the hall. Salter’s music is going, and they’re like, ‘Kendall, what’s going on, bro?’ I was like, nothing. Let’s go.
Referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy stopped the fight when Grove went out.
I was like, f***, what happened? said Grove. [McCarthy] looked at me and gave me a nudge. I was like, ‘F*** it, I know what happened.’
I called my wife, and I was crying on the phone. She’s like, ‘That’s alright, baby.’ I was like, ‘I lost my dad! I lost Papa E!’ She was like, ‘What?’
I ended up finding him. His ashes are gone, though. I found the cylinder.
I like to believe it was him that unscrewed himself and was like, ‘I’m good, son. I’ve got booze, I’ve got gambling, and every once and a while, I’ve got hookers.'”
The vial is emptied of ashes, but Grove’s father will be with him Friday night, albeit in a different form.
