It was a reminder fighting is for pride, and pride can be foolish. Of course, he hurt his tattoo hand during the bout. Matthews submitted Michael Gonzalez via second-round guillotine choke at “King of the Cage: All In” back in April. “After a few sparring sessions, I felt like, there’s no way I could lose this fight,” he said before noting Skrap Pack leader and Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez surprised him with heavy involvement in the eight-week process despite his newcomer status in the gym. He had just moved away from Sacramento and Team Alpha Male for his first camp under the El Nino Training Center in San Francisco. There was still the matter of the fight before filming. At the casting audition in Los Angeles, it turned out being a fighter helped secure his contestant fate. His wife, who submitted the initial application, insisted he try out. Matthews nearly didn’t respond to the producer’s call from “Ink Masters” because he had a King of the Cage fight scheduled. Whatever synergy he hopes for between tattooing and fighting is not without conflict. If his professions are meant to feed off each other, visibility from “Ink Masters” could land him on more of Spike TV’s programming via Bellator, or he’d be willing to be another tattooed reality contest on UFC’s reality Trojan horse “The Ultimate Fighter.” Matthews notched 16 years and thousands of tattoos worth of experience before stepping into a professional MMA contest for the first time four years ago. Even being out of shape right now, I feel 25, 27.” “I’d be OK with it in that case because, well, I didn’t call that shot. “I’d, honestly, have to be really, physically unable to fight to really just be like, ‘f- it,'” he said. As much as the second chance at running a tattoo spot means to him, working for his first significant opportunity in fighting is equally important. He likens everything leading up to Forever Forward Social Club’s opening to a hell of a training camp guaranteeing a fighter is ready for victory. Matthews is certain his business will be successful now because his mindset has evolved to expect it – not the treading-water philosophy of aspiring to simply maintain that drowned him before. Everything was clean, but if a soccer mom came in to get a tattoo, they’d turn around and walk back out.” “We were always tattooing, but it wasn’t necessarily a professional environment. “My shop was more of a party spot,” he said. He previously had a shop, Murder Ink., in Sacramento, Calif., so he wants to ensure his second effort prospers. You can be taught something by somebody – same thing as in the fight game.” “No matter how good you get, there’s something you can be better in. “Tattooing is a master-less art,” the 37-year-old said. At the tail end of his MMA endeavor, he’d go back to tattooing, but tattoos always have a way to pull him in. Before the “Ink Masters” opportunity, he was set to take a year off from tattooing to focus on his fighting career thanks to a three-fight win streak. The veteran realizes a spot on national television to showcase his tattoos is a rarity – a fortunate happening meant to be capitalized on. After all that was said and done, it was a good tattoo.” “I’m just thinking I’m packing the color in there. “I probably had the needle going into his skin a quarter of an inch, bro,” he said of his first try as a self-taught artist. Reaching a national stage for his ink is a far cry from the first time he put a needle to skin. After a get-together, his friend passed out, so Matthews grabbed his friend’s tattoo gun and studied it. Matthews started tattooing 20 years ago when money and female attention a friend received wasn’t lost on him. Matthews’ soon-to-be-complete vision will be called Forever Forward Social Club. All the familiarities of an ink shop – leather chairs, drawing desks and framed art – remain an unfinished portrait. He channels the positivity necessary to juggle two art careers – tattoos and mixed martial arts. “The Machine” doesn’t think about it because the law of attractions. “‘Aren’t you worried about breaking your hands?’ I get asked that all the time,” Matthews told (It’s a valid question for someone whose dual professions rely on a steady, focused hand. The Golden State circuit fighter left behind fight training for seven weeks to test his tattoo skills against other artists while filming the reality show. Through the door of a local art framing gallery with which Matthews’ tattoo business will share a wall, the heavily-tattooed, 6-foot-2 middleweight MMA fighter prepares to be operational in time for the premier of Spike TV’s “Ink Masters” Season 2 tonight on Spike TV at 10 p.m. One Mark Matthews (6-5) knows all too well. – There’s a realist battling with a dreamer – an artist’s conundrum.
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