Crane returns to rage in cage

Mixed martial arts: Glendale resident will fight at Rage in the Cage event on Feb. 28 in Phoenix.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009 - Grant Gordon - Glendale News Press

GLENDALE — As far as layoffs in the fight world go, three months isn’t much of one.

But in his quest to get back to the big leagues of mixed martial arts, Alberto Crane is looking to get as much experience and pile up as many victories as he can.

“I just want to stay active,” said the Glendale resident, who will square off with veteran Eric Regan on Feb. 28 in the main event at Rage in the Cage 123 in Phoenix.

Crane (11-3), a two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran, is riding a three-fight winning streak, all of them coming via first-round submission.

His last bout was a Dec. 6 defeat of Brad Nordquist for the King of the Cage promotion.

Having welcomed new-born twins to his family around the time of the fight, as well as opening up Legacy Mixed Martial Arts in Encino, Crane, who fought five times in 2008 and four times in a span of roughly five months to end the year, took a bit of a respite.

He admits he took a slight layoff from training to focus on teaching at Legacy, but currently finds himself just as dedicated as he ever was.

Regan (11-12) has a wealth of MMA experience, having fought UFC veterans Melvin Guillard and Efrain Escudero. Of his 23 fights, 21 have come under the Rage in the Cage banner. Regan, though he’s lost five of his last seven fights, is coming off a second-round submission win of Rudy Baez on Feb. 6.

“He’ll just fight wherever,” said Crane, who will fight in Arizona for the first time in his career. “He’s been in a lot of fights and has nothing to lose. A guy like that is always dangerous. But it won’t happen with me, I’ll be prepared.”

Also on the card, world Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion Romulo Barral, Crane’s friend and co-proprietor at Legacy, is fighting in just his second MMA fight, taking on Adrian Valdez.

Crane is no stranger to Valdez, having defeated him at a Rage in the Cage card in August. Valdez will move up to middleweight (185 pounds) to fight Barral, who is well-known in jiu-jitsu circles, having submitted undefeated UFC prospect Damien Maia in a 2006 jiu-jitsu tournament.

Crane is also moving up a bit in weight, taking on Regan at 165 pounds, 10 pounds heavier than the lightweight limit in which he traditionally competes.

The former King of the Cage lightweight champion doesn’t intend on making a permanent move up. Instead it was simply a case of not wanting to cut a great deal of weight for the bout.

“I’ve got a lot of things on my plate, so that’s one less thing,” Crane, 32, said.

Currently, Crane is spending his time training, in addition to Encino, in Cerritos and Pasadena.

While he’s still striving to better his all-around MMA game, Crane is still regarded as one of the top jiu-jitsu players in the sport. Whether that leads to a fourth straight submission win, of course, remains to be seen.

“Everybody knows my background,” he said, “but you never know, we’ll see, anything can happen. It’s MMA, anything can happen."