GLORY 30: Tombstone engraver Abraham looks to carve a legacy

GLORY welterweight Richard Abraham spends a lot of time thinking about death.

The Chicago, Illinois native is a tombstone engraver by trade, spending his working days in cemeteries around Chicago and inscribing them with “names, dates, phrases, last words... whatever is requested”.

It is a family business, dating back to his grandparents and their involvement in the crafting of gravestones and monuments. Abraham is far from morbid however. Rather, he is an intelligent and reflective kind of personality, one who finds food for thought in his daily environment.

“I think my day job has a lot to do with my mentality. That, and some of the things I have experienced in life. I have been through some tough times. I lost my son, my first son, he was five years old, and I lost my mom at an early age. Then grandparents, aunts and uncles...

“This life is short, it really is. I truly believe life is a blessing and we need to get as far as we can get and enjoy it as much as we can. When our time is up it's up and there's nothing we can do. There's a saying I like, 'We only get one life – but if you live it right, once is enough'.

Abraham's take on his job is not only philosophical though. There is a very practical element. “I like it. It's peaceful, you're outdoors, you make your own schedule and if you're motivated you can make good money... plus you get three months a year off because of the winters up here,” he laughs.

Next Friday, he will take part in a four-man welterweight Qualification Tournament at GLORY 30 LOS ANGELES. He faces Casey 'Go' Greene of Los Angeles in the semi-final stage. The other semi-final has GLORY veteran Francois Ambang, fighting out of Virginian, against Daniel Morales, who is also from Chicago.

“Tournaments are fun but tough. Casey is a tough guy and he will make the fight rough. But I like the challenge. A fight to me is like a car crash and I think, if I am going to bang my body up then let's really banged up, get our money's worth,” he says.

“In the other bracket? Ambang and Morales are both good with their hands so I think that will dictate the fight. Ambang has more experience but Morales was a surprise when he debuted against Casey Greene in February, he outlanded him but lost the decision because the judges placed more value on Casey's power shots.”

Whoever wins next week's tournament will earn a spot in the next welterweight Contender Tournament. They are the tournaments which produce title challengers, so every participant next Friday is potentially just four fights away from a title shot.

Becoming welterweight champion is Abraham's goal in the sport, as he freely admits. But he wants to do it for himself, rather than any fame or recognition. The conversation returns to the subject of his day job and Abraham reveals that he has already planned what he wants his own gravestone to be.

“I want just a big lion, sculpted, and I want it to say nothing more than “Here lies an unknown soldier,” he smiles.

“Why? Because I believe I am a soldier of god. I don't need recognition and stuff like that. I just go about being me and taking care of the people I love, that's all I need.”

GLORY 30 LOS ANGELES takes place Friday, May 13 at the Citizen Bank Arena in Ontario, Los Angeles, California and airs live in the US on ESPN.