Back from hiatus, Markham eyes strong showing at Adrenaline

Two years ago you'd be harder pressed to find a fighter as much on a roll as Miletich Martial Arts welterweight Rory Markham.

After exploding onto the national scene with a 44-second knockout of highly regarded Mike Pyle at the International Fight League's first event in April of 2006, Markham went on to win his next four fights, proving himself one of the league's first breakout stars.

However, Markham's last fight of the year, a loss to Team Quest standout Chris Wilson, seemingly put him on a rollercoaster ride of injuries and inconsistency that saw him lose his most recent fight to unheralded Brett Cooper this past December.

Back after a hiatus, Markham's looking to shake his bad luck at this coming June 14 Adrenaline show in Chicago, Ill. against Taiwon Howard.

"It's a really big thing for me," he said of getting back on the winning path. "It's the worst thing to end off a year with a loss and then have some time off and not be able to go right back out there and show the fans that you are a lot better than that last fight.

"It's very important for me to win every time, but more so this time."

Even with a sense of urgency creeping up on him, Markham remains optimistic heading into Adrenaline.

"I feel great," he exclaimed. "Training camp went well and I'm starting to see the things I need to see to get my confidence in the right place before the fight."

According to Markham, although he's getting a chance to step out of the IFL and fight for another promotion for the first time in two years, he doesn't intend to change the formula that has helped him gain his recognition.

"It's the same old, same old for me," he said. "I'm going to go out there and oppose my will on my opponent.

"I'm not going to worry about (Taiwon's) game plan too much. I like to know a little bit about what they're about, then I like to go out there and impose my will and get him thinking about what I'm going to do, as opposed to the other way around."

With the fate of IFL looking bleak at this point, he intends to use Adrenaline to showcase what skills he can possibly bring to another promotion if the opportunity is afforded to him.

"I think the biggest thing with me is that every single time I fight there's excitement," stated Markham. "Any time you watch my fights, win or lose, I'm either coming back in a fight and winning it by knockout or putting on a fantastic show.

"I want to make sure that I'm worth the dollar value. I hope promoters keep me in mind because of my entertainment and abilities, and they can always be assured they're always going to get a great show from me."

After missing the first half of this year, he is hoping to finish out the remainder of 2008 strong and set himself up for further success.

"The purpose for me is to obviously get better," said Markham. "With getting better, and getting that belief you can accomplish your goals.

"Like for me, short-term is string a few wins together and look for some big fights for myself. I want to see how far I can take this game. I've been in it for five years, so it's time."

Firstly Markham must change his luck if he hopes to have fortune smile on him as it did just a couple short years ago, starting with the Adrenaline show in Chicago.

"There's going to be close to 18 fights, so it's going to be a full night loaded with top talent. If they want excitement, someone that's willing to stand, trade and put on first a foremost an entertaining fight, that's me."