UFC vet Terry Martin recently left MMA to return to his first love of boxing. He got phase two of his professional fighting career off to a good start with a 1st round TKO victory over Ricardo Upchurch in Chicago Friday night. The Chicago Sun Times had a profile on Martin prior to the fight:

UFC veteran Terry Martin won’t have to worry about catching a knee to the face or a rear naked choke the next time he fights.

Martin, who’s from Chicago, will try his hand at pro boxing and will make his debut Friday night as part of an ‘‘8 Count Productions’’ card. Martin will face Ricardo Upchurch at the Odeum Sports and Expo Center in Villa Park in a scheduled four-rounder. He’ll fight at the 190-pound cruiserweight level, which should alleviate a problem he had making 185 pounds with the UFC.

‘‘Boxing was my first love,’’ Martin said. ‘‘I started in mixed martial arts after wrestling in college at Northern Illinois University.

‘‘It was a logical progression, but I’ve always had boxing in the back of my mind to get back to. Now’s a good time to get back to boxing, my training and sparring have been very good and I have no problem making weight. At this point I’m more excited about boxing than I am in MMA.’

MMA star Terry Martin tries his hand at boxing

Here’s his BoxRec entry:

Terry Martin @ BoxRec