Born into fighting family, Earl Small now aiming for the top ahead of CFFC 113
For Earl Small, the decision to start fighting wasn't really one he had to make it all. It was simply expected from the start.
"My father and my grandfather, they're all fighters," Small said. "I'm actually a Romani child Gypsy, so it's kind of just birthed into me. I just grew up fighting.
"My family were a bunch of fighters, just a bunch of bareknuckle crazy fighters, and it was almost like birthed into me naturally. My pops put me in wrestling as a child, and he watched UFC and was like, 'Yeah, my son needs to do this sh-t,' and he brought me into a jiu-jitsu school one day. I picked up on it. I was great at it, and here I am."
For Small, fighting was just a way of life for as long as he can remember, and it certainly wasn't viewed as anything taboo. Instead, Small gained respect for those who knew how to properly throw hands.
"It wasn't seen as a bad thing to me," Small said. "It's kind of just in the culture. It wasn't seen as like a criminal thing to do; it was more like a righteous thing to do.
"You know, a fighting man was somebody you looked up to, and it's funny because that kind of is what it is today. You admire a great fighter, somebody who can, you know, put it together. You respect them, and that's kind of what it was in the culture I grew up in."
That shared love of fisticuffs eventually turned into a passion for watching mixed martial arts. While the 28-year-old Small was born after UFC 2, he eventually watched all the early action from the sport's trailblazing promotion.
"I don't remember too much as a child, but if there was any explicit advisory of 'don't watch this,' that got kicked right out the window," Small said. "I was watching blood, guts, gore, fist fights, nudity, all that stuff as a child.
"I watched all of the UFC. I didn't watch the first ones live, but we rewatched them and yeah, I loved all that stuff."
Small continued with his jiu-jitsu training and is now a lead instructor at 302 BJJ in Delaware. While he credits the art for changing his life and now enjoys instilling that discipline in others, he knew there was something left to be fulfilled, as well. After taking a two-year hiatus from MMA competition beginning in 2018, Small returned to the cage in 2021, taking a pair of fights under the CFFC banner that year.
"Seeing my friends and my teammates go to the UFC, that's really motivating, and it makes you want to do it," Small said. "You're like, 'Damn, I'm out here putting in the work, helping these dudes go to the league, helping these guys rack up these regional belts, regional wins, and I'm getting better. Why the f-ck aren't I doing this sh-t?'"
Small (4-1) returns to the cage for Saturday's CFFC 113, where he'll take on fellow prospect David Gladfelter (3-1) in the night's co-main event, which streams live on UFC FIGHT PASS from Parx Casino in Bethlehem, Penn.
Small said he was already familiar with his opponent when the bout was announced but has done even more exhaustive research leading into fight week.
I respect Dave a lot; I think he's a really tough dude," Small said. "I know he's experienced. He's got a lot of amateur fights. He's got like one less professional fight than me, but I've watched some jiu-jitsu matches of his. I've watched kickboxing stuff. I even dug as deep to see that he has, like, swimming experience. He's like a competitive swimmer, so, you know, all of these things make a man.
"I want to know what this dude eats for breakfast. I want to know what f-cking cartoons he watches. It'll help paint that picture in my head to put this gameplan together for me to put these hands on him."
Small's last outing saw him suffer a split-decision loss to a then-undefeated Miles Lee. While disappointed with the result, Small said it's just "water under the bridge." Now, Small is expecting an impressive rebound effort on Saturday night, and it's time to start making his way to the sport's biggest promotion.
He hopes a memorable effort at CFFC 113 will start that chase in earnest.
"I love to please the crowd," Small said. "I'm always being goofy. I do draw back from my team and my students. I know that they're watching me, so I want to make this a fun time. I want to be a crowd pleaser, so if I can go out there and hit some crazy sh-t, go for crazy sh-t, put on a theatrical show and whoop somebody's ass, then I'm going to do it."
