Tuesday, October 20th 2009, 10:40 am
OKLAHOMA CITY-- Justin McCorkle starts his day like any stay-at-home dad, making bacon-and-egg sandwiches and waffles for his family.
But it's not his culinary or domestic skills that he's most well known for, it's his skills in mixed martial arts that could make him the next "Ultimate Fighter."
McCorkle and his wife Lee were married last year. However, Justin was laid off from his job at an oil company a few months ago. To make matters worse, the McCorkles had just moved into their new home.
"I've never not had a job since I was 14-years-old," Justin said. "I've definitely never been unemployed that it wasn't by choice."
Justin claims he filled out hundreds of job applications, each one with a little less hope than the last.
"He was stressing out, he wasn't getting responses back," Lee said. "And the ones he was getting back were jobs that he wouldn't make enough money to pay the bills."
Lee convinced her husband to increase his mixed martial arts training to full-time. She offered to support the family financially until the time that Justin could.
Justin's had quite a bit of success locally since then, and now he's got much bigger goals.
Later this week, he's flying to Los Angeles to audition for Spike TV's "Ultimate Fighter," a reality show where fighters live and train together for six weeks, with the winner being named the "Ultimate Fighter."
"People live their entire lives, only to die with regret," Justin said. "I've always said I don't want to be one of those people."
"We try to take every day as it comes, and not think too far in advance," said Lee. "But that's an exciting possibility."
It's a possibility that'll have to wait a little while longer, at least until Justin gets the breakfast ready.
October 20th, 2009
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