NW Fan favorite Ed "Short Fuse" Herman makes his return to the Octagon on Sat June 4th when he takes on Tim "Crazy" Credeur at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale, which takes place at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas and airs on Spike TV. Short Fuse (19-7) is coming off a loss due to a knee injury sustained during his fight against Aaron Simpson at UFC 102 in Aug 2009. Credeur (13-5) also has not fought since 2009, losing his last bout to Nate Quarry at UFC Fight Night 19. Herman spoke to Spaniard on Wednesday about the impending fight with Credeur, his new gym in Colorado that he opened up with Ryan Schultz, and more...

NW Fightscene: Tell us about what you've been through since your injury to your knee at UFC 102.
Ed Herman: I've been through a lot. Just the initial injury in August of '09 and then re-injuring it last year. Its been close to two years. I've been keeping myself busy though. Been in the gym either doing physical therapy or training pretty much the whole time. [Had the] opportunity to move out to Colorado and open my own gym with longtime teammate Ryan Schultz. So there's a lot of good things that have been happening.

NWFS: You're fighting Tim Credeur and both of you have been down for a while. How much do you think cage rust will play into the fight between you guys?
Herman: I don't think its going to matter since we're both coming off such a layoff. Bas Rutten said it once, there's no such thing as cage rust if you're still sparring hard, which I've been doing... so I don't think its going to affect me.

NWFS: You've moved away from Team Quest  and opened up a new gym called Trials Martial Arts in Colorado. Talk about the gym and your training there. 
Herman: Its up North of Fort Collins, just an hour North from Denver. Its going really good. We got a 5000 sq ft facility. We got some guys fighting out of there already. One of our students just won his first amateur title for the gym. Its pretty awesome. Our kids program is growing real well. We got all kinds of options. Beginners training, high level stuff, grappling, kickboxing, Burns fitness which is our style of cross fit. So were rocking man. Its nice to be out in Colorado. I've been down at the Grudge [Training Center] mixing it up with those guys so I got some good training in, as well as training up at my gym with my students. And had some guys come out for my camp as well.

NWFS: What's that like being on a team to being the head coach? 
Herman: Its nice. Its kind of hard not having a coach like Robert [Follis] there all the time telling you what to do, making sure you're in line. I've got to arrange my own workouts and scheduling. But you know, its good... I brought out Chris Leben for a week. Him, Greg Thompson, and Aaron Stark came out. So I had some guys out there to push me, as well as some of the students I have in town. And Ryan looks out for me too. I've always looked up to him as a coach a little bit. So he's been there to push me at the same time.

NWFS: Lets get back to the fight coming up. You've got to be super, super excited to get back in there.
Herman: I'm super excited to have the second opportunity to resurrect my career. Get in there and throw down against a good opponent. With it being Tim, he's going to come to fight which is awesome. Those are the kind of fights I like. We're going to get in there and scrap. I cant wait to get out there. I think I'm more excited for this fight than I've ever been.

NWFS: He's got a real strong jits game. What do you think are the keys to win Sat night when you go in there? 
Herman: I think I overpower him just about everywhere. I can control where the fight goes. If I want to keep it standing I will. If I want to take it down I will. As long as I play it smart on the ground, I should be fine. He's pretty good off his back. But I've been in there with some of the best in the world so I don't feel like he's going to throw anything at me that I haven't seen.

NWFS: What are the next couple days going to be like for you?
Herman: Normally I'm a little more nervous right now. Every time I talk about the fight or think about the fight I get that little nerve going. But I feel more excited and just frickin' pumped to be here. Next couple of days are the worst. The waiting game and cutting the weight always sucks. I'm ready to fight right now. I'm ready to stop thinking about it and cutting weight and all this BS, and just get in there and fight. I can't frickin' wait for the next couple of days to go by.

NWFS: The fight is on the TUF Finale card. How important is it, if at all, to fight on this card being that The Ultimate Fighter is where you got your UFC start?
Herman: I think its kind of cool. This is like my second chance, my second opportunity, to make my career take off... Being on the finale, I get the opportunity to be on live TV as well as on the main card. If it was a big UFC pay-per-view, I may not have made it on the main card. So I think its awesome that I'm on this card. Gives me that chance to fight on the main card so people can see me again. I can get out there and show the fans I still got what it takes to put on an awesome fight, like I feel that I always have done.

NWFS: Any shoutouts to anyone?
Herman: Yeah, of course to all the Northwest fans and everyone who stood behind me over the years. I really appreciate it. I hated leaving the NW but I had to do it to make the next step in my career. I want to thank Dethrone, RevGear, all those sponsors who have been backing me up. And everyone for standing behind me.

NW Fightscene would like to thank Ed for taking the time to speak with us. Catch him live on Spike TV this Sat June 4th as he takes on Tim Credeur on the main card of The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale in Las Vegas. More info at UFC.com.

Ed is online at ed-herman.com, twitter.com/EdHermanufc, & on Facebook. 

Ed and Ryan Schultz's gym, Trials Martial Arts and Fitness, is located at 2649 East Mulberry St. (Suite #A12 & 13) in Fort Collins CO and online at TrialsMMA.com.