Apr 25 Going Pro

Every athlete dreams that one day they can step out of their field of dreams and bring it from a dream to a reality.  Going pro has different meanings for different people. To some it will mean success with fame and riches, but to others it’s a lifelong dream. It’s the sport! The thought of performing in front of thousands of people can make some people cringe, but for me it’s a huge thrill!  The dream I speak of, is going pro in mixed martial arts aka: cage fighting.

Some may wonder why would someone want to put themselves through the punishment of dieting, training and sheer insanity six weeks before every fight, it’s simple, the love for the sport! The title explains it all, for me, my dream of going pro is being accomplished. I’ve been training in mma for three years and it hasn’t been easy. Three amateur fights and one knee injury, it’s hard to understand why I want to keep going.  It’s the fun of learning new techniques and honestly I don’t mind getting hit. When should I go pro?. Well it’s really the coach or coach’s decision along with mine. I never felt ready until I changed gyms to train with some of the UFC and other original pro and champion fighters. When you see the dedication they make you have an understanding and a determination to keep at it. You want to follow in their footsteps but still make your own.

My story starts about three years ago when i finally woke up one day and said I’m going to commit to a dream.  At that time, I was working an office job and smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. On my way to work I said screw this and threw out my cigarettes and started looking for a gym. Luckily, there was one close by to home and I started training that night. Once I started, I couldn’t stop.  I was there two hours before and one hour after class everyday to clean and help out. In my mind there was no stopping me; seven days a week wasn’t enough. That’s when shit hit the fan. While training I tore the cartilage in my knee, I didn’t stop, kept training through the class. The next day I couldn’t walk. When I found out I would have to stop training for four weeks, it was heart breaking. After the third week I got back into the game to prepare for my first fight.

During the time preparing I could feel my knee swelling and mobility becoming an issue. I used an elastic wrap, which did the job for me. My coaches decided I should probably see a specialist, so of course I listened, and the only option was surgery. I decided to fight and train until then. In the span of   1 ½ years I had competed, and won two fights with a messed up knee. The only people who knew about my knee were my teammates (we kept it a good team secret). While fighting and training, the home sweet home (gym I had been training at) closed and the search continued for a new home.

Finally I found a gym; TKO was the place to be! They had new mats, full cage and lots of weights on one side and   on the other, Howard and Otis Grant!  Howard Grant ,former Olympian, former Canadian Lightweight Champion, former world boxing contender, and one of the world’s top boxing trainers and his brother  Otis Grant!  A former Canadian Middleweight Champion, former Super Middleweight Canadian Champion, former 2 time NABF Middleweight Champion, former WBO Middleweight Champion of the world! It’s a fighters dream come true, best of both worlds. I also had a fantastic pro trainer Stephan Potvin, who was a pioneer in mma. He was able to take my training to a new level for my third fight and teach me so many tricks I could use to overpower my opponent by using my weight and strength. These were the people I needed to surround myself with, to be able to become a pro! These people had already been down that road, they were able to build me up and make me stronger.

While preparing for my pro debut after winning my third fight, I was offered to train at Tristar gym.  In the past I had bad feelings about moving gyms, but when I thought about the advantages of switching to a heavier group of people, it favoured me. The bonus is that i could still train with my coach at TKO.  Oh yes before I forget to mention, TKO (my second home) closed down so we had to train at the Grants gym. We shared the space between boxing, mma, ju jitsu and muay thai. It was great to see the boxing while I would wait for the class to begin, I never thought by watching I could learn.

In life, I noticed that you can never put all your eggs into one basket. I was prepping so hard for this fight that life seemed to have stopped. Work and bills took a cold shoulder, debts started piling up.   If there was a golden path laid out for any fighter it would be perfect, but there’s not! Sometimes it sucks, when you put everything you have into getting ready for a fight and the week before the fight date something happens, for me, I crashed my car and had a concussion.  Things change.

The hard part was to tell everyone and my sponsors that I was unable to fight.  I felt like I let them down. I know that I will be back, and I will continue to follow my dream with the sponsors or without them, it’s just part of my life. Sometimes we are sent a curve ball and need to figure out how to deal with it, good or bad. As they say, life goes on! Always follow your dream, that’s what gives life in living, going pro! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Tags: Going Pro \ MMA