KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Ed Herman exhales as he tries to pinpoint the moment it all began – if one singular moment even exists, that is.
He thinks some more.
“It’s kind of a long story,” Herman nonchalantly concludes, a modest downplay of a journey that, in fairness, warrants a few hours to tell abridged.
Over the past two decades, fighters have debuted and retired in the UFC. Champions have peaked, declined and disappeared over time. Over nearly 17 years, only one constant has remained as a UFC athlete. One fighter has stuck around longer than the rest.
That’s Ed Herman.
He’s the UFC’s current “iron man” at 42.
Andrei Arlovski debuted in 2000, but his UFC career is divided by a five-year run outside the promotion. Herman rides a longer continual stint under contract with the UFC than anyone else.
When he steps in the cage Saturday at UFC on ESPN 44, it’ll be 6,139 days since his UFC debut June 24, 2006.
When Herman debuted, Tim Sylvia, Chuck Liddell and Matt Hughes were among UFC titleholders; George W. Bush was halfway through term No. 2; and the first iPhone still was one year from release.
Even to this day, Herman hasn’t fully wrapped his head around it all.
“I still don’t think I’ve thought, ‘Hey, I’m going to do this for a living or fight for 20 years,’ or anything like that,” Herman said. “I was just going with it. It took my life over.”
Tough times, but a tougher person
Herman grew up in Vancouver, Wash., a city on the north bank of the Columbia River. He still lives there today. Herman’s father was a collegiate wrestler at University of Iowa and University of Northern Iowa, so a foundation was laid early during an upbringing Herman describes as “rocky.”
“I grew up kind of in a broken home a little bit, so there were years where I didn’t wrestle,” Herman said. “I wrestled in high school for two years. I did OK, but I didn’t have my life together outside of school to really be successful on the mats. It’s kind of like how it is as an adult in fighting. You’ve got to have your sh*t together outside of the cage to have it together inside of the cage.
“After high school, I kind of f*cked up and didn’t end up getting to go to college and wrestling like I wanted to. I was kind of up to no good for a few years.”
A bit of an aimless wanderer, 20-something Herman sought positivity, which he found through the doors of Team Quest, a booming gym gaining international attention.
That’s where Herman built a relationship with the legendary MMA coach Robert Follis, whose impact still radiates through students, even six years after his death.
A few standard jiu-jitsu classes in, Herman elevated to the professional classes. Before long, Herman was mixing it up with some of the best fighters in the world.
“Robert Follis took me under his wing. He was a good mentor – a really good mentor,” Herman said, his voice quivering. “He was what I needed at that time – the same as Randy (Couture) and Matt (Lindland). Those guys brought me in like a brother – just all the guys. There was a brotherhood there and a family that I needed at the time. Guys like Dan Henderson would be around training.
“I remember sparring with Tim Sylvia. He was the heavyweight champion in the UFC and I had maybe just turned pro. B.J. Penn would come in and kick my ass. Bas Rutten would come in and yell at me … John Hackleman. We just had a who’s-who list of guys. Yushin Okami was always around. Obviously Chael Sonnen was one of my main training partners.”
Physically, Herman progressed with flying colors, but strides he made in human maturation proved to perhaps be more important.
Those, Herman likes to chalk up to Follis’ influence.
“I remember Robert was a goal setter, so he had me write down my goals, like, ‘Yes, I want to be in the UFC.’ That was my goal by the time I turned pro, for sure,” Herman said. “He had me write my goals, like how long I wanted it to be before I got here and there.
“I was like, ‘I want to be in the UFC in two years.’ He was like, ‘I don’t know if you’ll be able to do that, but let’s go with it.’ He’s like, ‘I want you to write your first check out.’ So I drew a check that was from the UFC, signed by Dana White for like $10,000.
“He was always having us do stuff like that to visualize our goals, which helps. It’s cool stuff. It’s kind of cheesy, but it’s those little things you look back on. I think I made it to the UFC right at that two-year mark.”
“Short Fuse”
Herman received “Short Fuse” billing for nearly his entire career – professional and amateur. It was a nickname he was not responsible for christening, however.
The first time it left the ring announcer’s lips was in Everett, Wash., in 2002 ahead of Herman’s second amateur fight. It was a complete shock.
“My first fight, I came out and was like, ‘I’m going to be ‘Iron Man’ Eddie Herman.’ That sounds cool, right?’Maybe I even came out my first fight like that,” Herman recalled. “My second fight, I’m walking out. I think it was FCFF, which was Chael Sonnen’s show. Chael and Chris Leben had gotten together, and probably Nate Quarry, and were like, ‘We’ve got to announce him as ‘Short Fuse.’ So they had me announced as ‘Short Fuse’ without my consent.
“Of course, I probably wasn’t very happy about it at the time. Even Robert didn’t like it. He’s like, ‘You need to change that.’ He was all deep, like, ‘You have to get away from that bad temper we’ve been working on.’ But it just stuck, man.”
UFC president Dana White described a failed attempt to get Herman to fight on hours notice against a new opponent after multiple fights fell off the same card in 2020: “Ed Herman’s nickname is ‘Short Fuse’ for a reason.”
Herman confirmed that was the case, at least at one point in time.
“If I had a bad practice or a bad round, I would throw a fit sometimes,” Herman said. “I’d throw my gloves or punch the locker. I got kicked out of practice a number of times. It was just stupid, red-headed temper stuff I had to learn how to deal with. The guys teased me and called me ‘Short Fuse.’ It fired me up and made me even more mad. Of course, those are the kind of nicknames that stick, right? … I’m still a little bit short-tempered at times, but I’ve got a hell of a lot more control these days as an adult and a father. It’s just one of those names that stuck.”
“The Ultimate Fighter’s” third time the charm
As “The Ultimate Fighter” producers convened in late 2005, a familiar face walked through the doors of the Las Vegas conference room. A face that they enjoyed but passed over in the two previous seasons due to weight class concerns.
“Season 2, I applied as a heavyweight,” Herman said. “They flew me out again. They were interviewing me and they’re like, ‘How big are you?’ I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m 215. Blah, blah, blah. I’ll kick any heavyweight’s ass. I don’t care.’
“Dana actually busted in the room and was like, ‘What the f*ck? Get on the scale right now? How big are you? I love your attitude, but there’s no way you’re a heavyweight.’ It was pretty funny. He’s like, ‘We’ll bring you back next season. We’re doing middleweights again.'”
With a buzzed haircut and earrings, Herman wore a black t-shirt and jeans as he thrice pitched himself. Herman did everything to combat the jests from the producers and succeeded.
“I’ve fought at 205,” Herman exclaimed emphatically. “Are you kidding me? Do you know who I am? Yeah, I know Forrest (Griffin). No way. I’d take his big old ears and wrap them around his head. I’d put them both on their back.”
The audition ended with a room full of laughter, after a producer complimented Herman’s attitude and asked if he had balls.
“Pretty big ones,” Herman said. “I’ve got these extra (large) underwear. … I’ve got the biggest heart of any of these guys who know me – Nate, Chris, Randy. I’ve got a bigger heart than anybody.”
Quarry and Leben were part of the legendary Season 1. Another Team Quest teammate, Josh Burkman, was featured in Season 2. When the Season 3 calls went out, Herman was granted the opportunity – but it came with a choice.
“They said, ‘You can be on Season 3 or we’ll give you a contract to simply be in the UFC,'” Herman recalls. “My first fight would’ve been Joe Riggs at $3,000 to show and $3,000 to win.
“I was like, ‘Well, how much do I get if I win the show?’ They’re like, ‘$12,000 to show and $12,000 to win.’ I’m like, ‘Well, I’m going to win the f*cking show, so I’m doing the show.'”
The series aired from April to June 2006 and featured Michael Bisping and Matt Hamill among others. Coaches were Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock.
In the house, Herman submitted Danny Abbadi, then Rory Singer to align himself with Kendall Grove in the middleweight tournament final.
That loss, a split decision in the live finale, still stings.
“I still think I won the show,” Herman said. “… That burn stuck with me all night and still does. I still wish I had that damn trophy on my mantel.”
Although not as monumental as the “TUF 1” final between Forrest Griffin and the Stephan Bonnar, the aftermath followed a similar script. Impressed with Herman in defeat, UFC president Dana White called him back into the cage after the decision and awarded another six-figure deal.
Throughout the bout, his mother and stepfather, who were set to marry in Las Vegas days after, were shown cageside. Crushed by the initial decision, elation flowed through tears when White pulled the audible.
“At that point in my life, that was all I cared about besides …,” Herman paused, absent the answer he reached for. “… That was all or nothing for nothing for me. That’s what I was working for. … I had nothing else. I had family, but I came from kind of a broken household. I had no education really to fall back on.”
One constant in the passage of time
With 26 UFC fights, Herman is an inadvertently assumed, first-hand historian. He’s a rare constant in an ever-changing fight organization.
“There are kids that have been training since 2 or 3 that are in the UFC,” Herman said. “I’ve been on cards with fighters who are 21 and said, ‘Man, I remember seeing you fight on TV when I was like six 6’ It’s pretty insane.”
The competition level changed noticeably, as did the business – from the UFC sale to the implementation of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
“They used to have more of a small company sort of feel,” Herman said. “It’s definitely changed a lot and gotten to be more corporate. I understand that’s how business works. Businesses grow and things changed. Back in the day, everyone on the roster used to get a present from the UFC. I remember getting a tablet one year that had my name inscribed on it. This was back in 2006 or 2007.
“You’ve seen a lot of guys who were world killers, and after USADA, things changed a lot for them. They couldn’t take a punch any more. They couldn’t stay healthy. Apparently, I was the only clean athlete before that.
“Chael always tells me, ‘You’re the only dumbass who wasn’t on steroids.’ I’m like, ‘F*ck. I was just young and dumb and good on natural abilities.'”
Multiple times, Herman considered retirement. In the late stages of his career, Herman’s perspective as a father and coach helped him remove unnecessary pressure and breathed new life. Since 2019, he’s 4-1 and having the most fun ever.
“Three ACL surgeries in and I’m still rocking and rolling,” Herman chuckled. “… I wonder why I’m still doing this sometimes, myself. Obviously, I’m doing it to make money for my family, the rest of my future, future investments, things like that. But when you go out there and get your hand raised in front of all those screaming fans, there’s no adrenaline rush like that, that you could find anywhere, no matter what the hell you do.
“That’s one of the reasons I do it. Sometimes, I forget that until it happens again. Then, it’s like, ‘Oh, my gosh. This is why I do this.’ It just feeds you.”
Herman’s bout Saturday vs. Zak Cummings at UFC on ESPN 44 is the final one on his current deal. He hopes he sticks around longer than that.
“They’re not re-signing a lot of guys at the end like they used to,” Herman said. “I felt like they always re-signed when you had one left, before you were a free agent. … I would like to stay with the UFC and do one more contract. I really would. I’ve got to go in there and prove I’m still relevant, though. I’ve got to put on a show and kick some ass. That’s the way the business is. If I don’t stay with the UFC, maybe I’d retire, but there are also other organizations out there.”
An indestructible “Iron Man” billing
If five to 10 years ago, fans were tasked to choose a fighter who would remain with the UFC the longest, Herman may not have been on the tip of tongues.
Herman never challenged for a UFC title and wasn’t on every card’s posters he fought on, sure, but if you take a closer look than statistics, Herman explains the math adds up.
The sum is special, the perfect combination of smarts and abilities, luck and misfortunate, heart and determination: a fighter’s fighter.
“I’m one of the baddest motherf*ckers in the world, for one. I’ve said that since the beginning,” Herman said. “I’ve had a lot of injuries. … I haven’t been as active as some guys who have been around as long as me or even guys who weren’t.”
Herman transitioned from student to teacher over the past two decades. He is a coach at American Top Team Portland and recently launched promotion CageWarriors Northwest.
“I’ve just been a student of the game,” Herman said. “I’m always staying in the gym and always coaching, too. I’m always coaching, working on technique, chasing these younger guys around the gym. They’re keeping me on my toes.”
In 2023, the “iron man” nickname from years’ past rings with newer truth, an ironic prognostication. It’s doubtful the “Short Fuse” nickname goes anywhere. But after all these years, Herman can finally call himself “iron man” – a designation his friends will not be able to jokingly change.
“Maybe it would’ve stuck after all,” Herman laughed.
Herman, the teenager who “f*cked up,” couldn’t find direction after rough early years, didn’t go to college and went all in for a pipe dream fist-fighting sport where making living wages was unheard of – he went through the MMA ringer and came better as a competitor and a person.
Progress is what Herman will embody in various aspects, whether there’s one fight left or 100.
“You can never stop improving,” Herman said. “I’ll never stop that.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 44.
