John Howard is fighting "The Ultimate Fighter" product Uriah Hall at the UFC's debut on Fox Sports 1 on Saturday. Howard is a Boston native, and is proud to fight in front of his home crowd on Saturday. Howard is also proud that he was able to break the nose of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the men suspected of involvement in the Boston Marathon bombing.
Tsarnaev trained at Howard's gym in Boston, and once sparred with Howard, who is returning to the UFC after he was cut in 2011. Howard explained how the sparring went to MMA Fighting.
"I am proud to say that I am the guy, to all my Boston people, we had a rough sparring match one time and he tried to knock me out. I knocked him out, I broke his nose," Howard said. "Every time I see his picture on the news, you see his nose was broken. I was the one who did it. I just want my Boston people to know that he did that coward stuff, but before he did that he got a little Boston beatdown."
Tsarnaev was killed while the Boston police tried to apprehend him for his role in the bombing that killed three spectators and injured 264. He also was suspected of killing a police officer on MIT's campus. His brother, Dzhokhar, is currently awaiting trial.
Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
? Chael Sonnen may have mastered the hype game, but he's still in it to win it
? Joe Lauzon embodying ultimate fighting spirit in pursuit of fight-night bonuses
? WWE?s Darren Young reveals he's gay; John Cena expresses support
