The Doggy Bag: The Cheaters Sorta Prosper Edition

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I was a late comer to watching Strikeforce, so the first bout I ever saw with Pat Healy was his fight with Josh Thomson. He always seemed like a solid lightweight to me. It wasn’t until before the Jim Miller fight at UFC 159 that I got interested in his earlier career, and it really puzzled me. How did the guy who went out and dominated Miller ever lose to so many no-name fighters? How did he beat Carlos Condit to get to the UFC and then lose to Anthony Torres? I get that he made improvements, but this seems like a very, very dramatic turnaround for a fighter. -- Val from New Jersey

Brian Knapp, features editor: I’ll be 35 in a matter of weeks, and over the last five to 10 years, I’ve gained a whole new respect for the value of experience. Success and failure, triumph and tragedy shape and mold us in different ways. Time is indeed a great teacher.

Healy has always had the ability, drive and wherewithal to be a successful mixed martial artist. His victories over Condit, Dan Hardy and Paul Daley prove as much. I believe the inconsistent start to his career can be blamed on two factors: lack of experience -- he made his professional debut less than a month after his 18th birthday -- and not competing at his optimum weight. However, Healy would not be the fighter we see today without the struggles he endured earlier in his career. Those trials impacted him in ways only he knows.

Finding the correct weight is paramount to the modern-day mixed martial artist. Healy spent the first eight years of his career competing as an undersized welterweight, and while he enjoyed some success at 170 pounds -- he won the Maximum Fighting Championship title in Canada -- the weight class did not lend itself to consistency for a fighter who relies so heavily on wrestling and grappling to grind down opponents.

The lightweight division showcases Healy’s strengths, so it comes as little surprise that he has thrived there. In 10 appearances since downshifting to 155 pounds, he has compiled a 9-1 mark, with Thomson handing him his only loss. No shame there. Healy has pieced together a career-best seven-fight winning streak since the defeat, establishing himself as one of the world’s premier lightweights. The win over Miller, impressive as it was, may only be the beginning for the man they call “Bam Bam.”