Ed Ruth talks Penn State wrestling, 5-round main events ahead of Bellator 186

Ed Ruth might be returning to his old stomping ground on Friday, but it won't be as a Nittany Lion.

Nearly three years after he traded his Penn State wrestling onesie and headgear for trunks and four-ounce gloves, the 27-year-old will look to add a victory in the cage to his decorated resume when his former college hosts Bellator 186 at Bryce Jordan Center.

Ruth is the only wrestler in school history to win the NCAA collegiate title three times - achieving the feat between 2012-2014 - and compiled a gaudy career record of 136-3 before signing with Bellator in May 2015. He now takes a professional slate of 3-0 with three knockouts into his homecoming date with UFC alum and 16-fight veteran Chris Dempsey.

Speaking with theScore ahead of Friday's return to Penn State, Ruth dished on the step up in competition, his status as a three-time NCAA wrestling champion, and whether Bellator's non-championship main events should be extended to five rounds:

You're headed back to your alma mater, not as a wrestler, but as a fighter. How does it feel to return under completely different circumstances?

Yeah, it feels different in terms of what I’m doing, but as far as being in front of a crowd and the whole competition, I feel like with the whole match format that we have, where we’re going against other teams, other colleges, it feels a lot like that. You go out there and go against one person, and then one day, you’re back to the grind.

In your first few fights, you were matched up against foes with comparable experience. Did you ask for a step up in competition for this fight? How did it come together?

I try to trust in what (my managers) have to say. Whoever it is they believe I’m ready for, then I just kind of believe in that and run from there. They’ve been doing it longer than (I have), and I don’t want to tell them how to do their job. But at the same time, it’s just like, with this fight in itself, just the fact that I’m on the main card and it’s back at my alma mater, I think they already understood that I should have somebody that’s just a little bit more seasoned.

As a competitor, is there any part of you that wants to remain the only Penn State wrestler to have won the NCAA title three times?

Yeah, I’ll always feel that way, but at the same time, there’s a lot of guys that I want to do it, just because I’ve been there, I’ve been training with them, and those are the guys I want to do it. I’ll just throw a name out there, Zain Retherford.

He was a guy that I wanted to be another three-timer, because when he came out, he was training on the team and I got a chance to wrestle with him and you know, he could just feel it. I kind of found myself just rooting for him, also a couple other guys on our team, I think they had like five guys win it this year, but Zain Retherford was one of those guys that I wanted to be in the "three club" with me.

Who's the toughest wrestler you ever faced and why?

I would have to say Jake Varner 'cause he’s just an absolute genetic freak (laughs), I would have to say Casey Cunningham, mostly all the coaches on the staff.

Since Bellator 185 (Mousasi vs. Shlemenko), there's been a growing demand for non-title Bellator main events to go from three to five rounds. What's your take on it, three or five?

I only say three rounds because of the sport that MMA is. Putting to guys out there to bang on each other for a half hour, even leading up into a championship fight, it can be a bit much. I feel like the three rounds would be pretty good, but even if we do have five rounds, I would still say that works in my favor because I’m big into conditioning. I like going the distance, that’s one of my things. So even if we did go five rounds, I would love that.

Will any family or friends be sitting cageside on Friday?

I’ll probably have, like half my family up there. (laughs) My dad’s side is huge. There’s probably gonna be a good little section in there for the Ruth family.