Between the ages of 20 to about 25 I was really into mixed martial arts. It was the funnest way for me to workout and vent any frustrations I had about life while also making some great friends a long the way. Even putting a mma mouthguard was exciting to me, as it meant it was time to do something I loved. I can honestly say that it impacted my life in the most positive of ways, not so much because MMA is always a good thing, but because of the people who I trained with. The first person that I have to really thank for being a part of this community at all is my friend Ricardo. We were working together at a Macaroni Grill in Aliso Viejo, and he would tell me about the UFC, that was around the time of the famous Forrest Griffin/Stephen Bonnar fight and we both watched it at a wing place nearby. He told me about the Chuck Liddell versus Randy Couture pay per view coming up and about a local fighter named Mike “The Joker” Guymon who was holding classes at a gym at the Irvine Spectrum called “Bodies in Motion” (not the most intimidating of names). It didn’t take much, but Ricardo Convinced me to try it out with him. The thing I ever learned in that class was something that Ricardo has always been great at: Wrestling. For 1 hour in some small padded room inside of a giant overpriced gym, I learned how to level change and do a double leg takedown. I was immediately hooked & a brand new world was opened up to me.
for the first 20 some odd years of my life I was allergic to physical activity, I really didn’t do much of anything to be completely honest. Getting into MMA was something that helped me through some issues that I had, it wasn’t always perfect, but it was good for me at the time. We all eventually moved to a gym called “Joker’s Wild Fighting Academy” in Lake Forest, where the training got more serious and my passion for the sport blossomed. This is where I really met a lot of the people who would be my motivation throughout the years. Joker was a great trainer and a friend who I loved being around, he made our little fighter family something great. When I did the Festival of San Fermin (The running of the bulls) in Pamplona, Spain I was representing Joker’s Wild even there. See if you can spot me (there might be something else going on in the picture too):
Of all the professional fighters that I had the pleasure of meeting at Joker’s Wild there was one that I really brought a sense of optimism to the team, his name was Mark “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” Munoz. At the time, he was making waves in the now defunct WEC promotion (which was absorbed by the UFC). Mark eventually moved into a new space close by, a huge space dubbed “Reign Training Center,” many of us followed. I remember a time when there weren’t enough mats to cover the floor, and the place smelled kind of like paint. We rolled out old wrestling mats with the Laguna Hills High School logo on them, and tried our best not to run into the metal bars that were lying around the area, waiting to be put up for banana bags. For the next couple of years I would go 3 or 4 times a week improving my skills and working through some issues that I have had. I met some great people there too, it wasn’t the same small gyms that I had been accustomed to, but it was just as much of a family. It was a space for many of us to just enjoy each others company and work out our frustrations with life. While I haven’t trained seriously in several years, I always looked back on those days fondly. I think about my years there every time a fight is on TV and about the relationships that I cultivated there. Mark is now entering a new stage in his life, a stage where Reign is no longer a part of the equation and while I am sad that the gym is closing down I am happy that he is moving forward with his family. I may not have trained in several years, but the time that I spent at Joker’s Wild & at Reign were irreplaceable. There are so many people to thank and show appreciation to, I know I can’t remember them all. But to those people who I met over the years, thank you, I’ve never been so appreciative of people punching me in the face, choking me, and putting pressure on my joints.
Andre, Mark, Joker, Raja(The man responsible for anything awesome & unorthodox I did with my stand-up game, you’re the best coach!), Ricardo,Albert,Rob Najar, Tim Mckenzie, Marcel,Genvieve, Krzysztof, Arian,Abel, Danny, Luke Adams: You were my teachers, trainers, and guides during my time in the sport, and I you’ve given me something that I could never have on my own.
Rick Marshall (Thanks for teaching me the lockdown), Stephen, Tavio, Ant, Dave, Andy , Austin, Kenji, Kristi,Keola, Alain, Mike Thai, Jay, Bielecki, Derek, Mike Segura, Johnny “Tattooed Terror”, Big Gus, Rachael, Burley, Adrian, Mike Van Etten, Darius, George, King, Ali, Wee-pee, John Baker, Jason Bress, Kevin Bright, Broce, Ryan Gonzalez, Bam Bam, Tyler, Ty, James and many many more: training with you throughout the years and learning with you has been a real pleasure, thanks for the memories.
I know there are so much more, forgive me if I couldn’t think of you name off the top of my head.
