U of MMA Fighter of the Month: Joe Wagaman

A Marine Corps veteran, a Broncos fan, and a mixed martial artist, 32 year-old Joseph Wagaman has lived a testing life as he now pursues his dream as a fighter.

  Inside the cage, Wagaman appears as just more full throttle entertainment for any fan of MMA, but outside of fighting, he is a complex individual. The backstory of this Colorado native is one that makes his appreciation for fighting even stronger, as he has gained perspective beyond his years.

   After growing up in Colorado Springs for the first 14 years of his life, Wagaman’s father had his naval air station (from Florida) transferred to California. Moving out west, Wagaman was a high school wrestler that was used to the combat. Right out of high school, Wagaman followed his father’s path and joined the Marine Corps himself. From age 19 to 23, Wagaman served as a Marine, and with everything gained from the experience; he feels the mental edge has directly translated to fighting.

    “I got to see a lot of things that helped be grow up, and I gained a sense of direction and responsibility,” Wagaman said. “When you defend your country, and have to be part of something bigger, you learn to push yourself through a lot more than you thought was possible. The corps tested my aptitude on a lot of things, and taught me to adapt and overcome.”

   Upon his return back home from service, it was a year later that Wagaman began his quest as a fighter. Now a 155-pound fighter out of Team Quest, Joe “Werewolf” Wagaman (3-2 amateur) is a soft-spoken and quiet figure. That is until he gets in the cage.

    “I’m pretty quiet, and mellow. I just speak how things are,” Wagaman said. “I try to stay low key but when you see me in the ring, I look more like the werewolf.”

   Seeing the “Werewolf” at work is an invigorating sight with his animalistic attack and killer instinct that earned him a first round knockout over Ken Sells in Aug. 2011. For Wagaman, his mental approach is a crucial component to his fighting game. In his decision victory in July 2011 over Quincy Davis (3-2) at U of MMA’s Fight! event in Los Angeles, Wagaman displayed an incredible ability to both take punishment, and push forward with kicks, combinations, and sneaky takedowns into dominant positions. The werewolf finished both the second and third rounds with ground and pound from the top, and worked his wrestling game into the later parts of the fight to wear his opponent all the way down.

    “I try to put myself in situations when I fight. I keep my mind clear and focus on more of what I can control,” Wagaman said. “I don’t think about my opponent”

   Unlike the common aspiring MMA star, the Team Quest lightweight looks up to a figure that isn’t a UFC fighter. His hero? None other than movie star, and former governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

    “He started out as an immigrant, and almost nobody took him seriously because of his accent but he’s made huge movies, become governor, and he just has that mentality that has brought him to accomplish so much,” Wagaman said.

   The father of three girls, Kylie (6), Eva (3), and Zoey (2), Wagaman finds himself spending most of his time with his kids when he isn’t fighting or training. A fourth Wagaman baby is due in Sept.

    “My wife and kids are definitely a big part of what motivates me to get up and train every day,” said Wagaman.

   It’s no question that Joe Wagaman is resolute inside the gym every day and when steps into the cage for battle, but what about when the gloves come off? The Team Quest amateur team manager, Steve Egg, has worked with Wagaman for a year, and has gotten to know what the lightweight is truly made of.

  

    “Joe is a hardworking family guy,” Egg said. “He has a true desire to win, and he doesn’t stop.”

   In October, Wagaman suffered his first career knockout loss against Brian Pate in Epic Fighting: Southern California Championships. The acrid taste of knockout loss is something that fighters want no part of. In fact many fighters say that the fear of being knocked out has at one point or another led to a knockout loss. The reality of the sport is that anyone, in any fight, at any level, and at any moment can get knocked out, yet fighters can improve exponentially after their first sudden defeat. Both disposing of the daunting and unknown sensation of being knocked out, and experiencing what physically and mentally led to his demise has been paramount in Wagaman’s growth as an athlete.

    “Now in training I take everything more seriously,” Wagaman said. “I have seen that I have the potential to go professional, but I know that means I must train like a professional. That fight also taught me a lot about how to mentally process big time pressure.”

   Looking forward after a tough loss, Wagaman’s manager believes he is ready for the future.

    “He’s ready,” Egg said. “[Joe] took the time to realign his life after his last fight, and now he is 100 percent ready to go through a few more amateur fights and then turn pro.”

   Egg believes three more amateur fights stand between the 32-year-old and the jump into professional mixed martial arts.

   For every athlete there is a different story. The upbringing of any person molds them as a competitor and a human being. For a 32 year-old fighter who has seen death, birth, and the raw side of a knockout, fighting is just a piece of the Joe Wagam

IFA brings Matt Mitrione’s job closer to home

Julien Solomita | Staff Writer/Journalist

 Watery red eyes crack open after the shudder of touchdown wakes Matt Mitrione from his unsatisfying airplane rest. He treks his behemoth body off the plane’s cramped cabin, only to revisit the same airline two weeks after getting in as much training at the Blackzilians as time permits.

  After years of traveling around to different training locations, Matt Mitrione has been partially relieved of the stress of traveling.

  “It is crucial to be able to have a gym in one spot,” said Mitrione, UFC Heavyweight and Indiana native. “Now I can finally sit down and train in a gym that has mats that I know aren’t going anywhere. It feels good.”

  A six time UFC veteran, heavyweight Matt Mitrione struggled to stay put in one training camp for years and was forced to travel around the country to get his work in. Mitrione (5-1) now owns a gym, Integrated Fighting Academy (IFA), and is finally able to train for his fights at home, yet even with the new gym, there are certain trips that take Mitrione away from his home making family time a coveted gem.

 Between Boca Raton, Southern California and other spots across the nation, Mitrione was salvaging any and every minute of mat time he could find as his primary training, even when there was no mat at all.

  “For a long time we had no place to train, so we would train in Chris Lytle’s firehouse,” he said. “They would pull the ambulance out and we would box on the concrete floor. We would have to make sure that we didn’t step into the drain [while training].”

  With the many high profile MMA athletes that Mitrione has met over the years, IFA is able to serve as host to some of the games best. When he does have to go on the road, the Indiana heavyweight still has training options open all over the country.

  “I have trained a considerable amount with guys like Tyrone Spong, Alistair Overeem, Jake Shields and Ryan Bader,” he said. “These guys have a similar touring schedule to me, and we have been crossing paths quite a bit. Anytime I’m in their area or they are here, we find time to get on the mat and train.”

  IFA is open to the public, and with Mitrione and his supporting cast teaching a number of martial arts classes, the gym sees a lot of action. Mitrione is happy about being able to market his gym with his UFC accolades.

  “Sometimes, people come in here because they see me on TV and they want to grapple and box with me, and they just are in her trying to get better,” he said.

  On the road, there are many daily variables that a fighter has to deal with. With so many different fighters trying to elevate their game, training at numerous different gyms left nobody to look out for Mitrione but himself.

  “People protect me here,” he said. “Nobody is coming in here trying to hurt me or trying to make a name off me and that means a lot.”

  For “Meathead”, the hardest part about still having to go on the road is parting from his kids. Being a father has placed a reaching hurdle in Mitrione’s path.

  “You have to talk to them on the phone and Skype with them, and seeing them on the computer screen is nothing compared to being able to cuddle with them in the morning,” he said. “It’s rough.”

John Alessio reflects on long career, aims for a win in UFC

Julien Solomita | Staff Writer/Journalist

In mixed martial arts, a scoreboard doesn’t measure a fighter’s progress, but rather each drop of blood and sweat shed on the mat. Fourteen years and 49 fights after his journey as a professional fighter began; John Alessio (34-15 overall, 0-4 UFC) is making one last run at a coveted UFC victory. “The Natural discussed his career with me on Fighting Solo Radio.

  “It’s a weird thing that I haven’t gotten that win in the UFC,” he said. “It’s something that I think about all the time, and it frustrates me. I need to win this fight to stay in the big show and that’s why I’m going to be pushing so hard this camp to bring a tremendous pace and put it on Shane Roller.”

  The Canadian lightweight was part of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) pre-Zuffa long before his return to the octagon in 2012. Coming back to the UFC, Alessio joins a new breed of fighters.

  “It’s cool to have been in the sport this long and still be a relevant fighter,” Alessio said. “From day 1 to today, every fight was to get back into the UFC. It’s been a battle for years, trying to get back in and im finally here. Now the work gets real hard, and this is where the fun stuff starts.

  There are very few athletes in history that have competed on a professional level across generational lines.  Those who did were often the some of the world’s greatest, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Jamie Moyer etc. Alessio is on this elite list, and has seen firsthand, the difference between two generations of fighters.

  “The UFC is definitely different now than it was before,” he said. “Back then, it was all about being the bigger, stronger guy. Now it’s about who the more skilled guy is. The sport has progressed so much, and the guys are just so much better now, and they are training everything. Now you won’t last if you aren’t cross-training (training across multiple disciplines).”

  Alessio, although taking a long break from the big show, never strayed away from the world’s best talent. The Vancouver native fought for 12 different promotions after three losses in the UFC, one against the promotion’s first welterweight champion, Pat Miletich. When he was away from the UFT, “The Natural” remained a part of team Xtreme Couture and continued to train with UFC talent in Las Vegas.

  “It definitely helps you judge where you are. The whole time I thought, ‘these guys are in the UFC, they are doing well and I do well against them in training, so why aren’t I in the UFC?’” he said. “It is definitely a confidence booster, knowing you can hang with the UFC guys.”

  After remaining on the mat with Zuffa affiliated athletes while away from the promotion, the roles have recently been reversed. Alessio, now in the UFC, credits some of his lesser-known training partners for his day-to-day progress in the gym.

  “Some of the guys that people don’t even know of, the up and coming guys, are the training partners that help me out the most,” he said. “It’s the guys behind the scene that mean the most in training. I could spit some names out but that would mean nothing. These guys get in there and bang with us UFC guys all the time and get no credit and don’t get paid for it.”

  With experience on his side, Alessio remains in premier physical condition, and now looks to nab a win in his 50th professional trip to the cage when he faces Shane Roller at UFC 148 on July 7.

  “Shane Roller will be more willing to trade than Bocek was and it will be interesting to see how he approaches this fight,” he said. “I’m going in there for the kill, again. I’m going for that knockout.”

  The two lightweights will face off at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on July 7. This card features the middleweight championship between Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva.

Eddie Bravo out to change the game once again

Building another bridge between jiu jitsu and MMA, Eddie Bravo introduces combat jiu jitsu.

Julien Solomita | Staff Writer/ Journalist

    MMA is growing at a pace consistent with the sport’s ever improving talent pool. With so many different aspects of a mixed martial artist’s game coming into play in every bout, the ability for a fighter to utilize his or her strengths in a fight is what separates success from frustrating failure in this intricate sport. Many ground specialists that have made the switch to MMA find certain roadblocks that prevent them from playing their game in a fight. While it is difficult for MMA fighters to bring fights into their comfort zone and attack with their strengths, it is very possible in almost every scenario. The founder of 10^th Planet Jiu Jitsu and creator of an unconventional no-gi style of jiu jitsu designed for fighters, Eddie Bravo is now bridging the gap from jiu jitsu to MMA in attempts to revamp a sport within a sport.

    Bravo joined me on Fighting Solo Radio and we discussed his new project. It is called combat jiu jitsu and it is simply a grappling match with strikes allowed once one fighter has gone to the ground. Elbows and punches to the head and body, kicks and knees to the body, and up kicks are all permitted as long as one competitor is on the ground. Until the fight reaches the ground it is purely wrestling with takedowns and no striking. Bravo believes this new sport will serve the purpose of filling a void that exists between MMA and pure grappling.

    “There is a hole in between MMA and grappling,” Bravo said. “The hole is combat jiu jitsu, right there in the middle. It’s not quite MMA but it is way more brutal than standard jiu jitsu.”

    Making the leap from jiu jitsu directly to MMA is no easy task, in fact many grapplers turned fighters struggle with having to begin fights vulnerable to strikes. Bravo thinks that not only will the sport serve as a middle ground for grapplers transitioning into MMA, but that seeing world class grapplers compete in jiu jitsu with punches will test them in a way that 10^th planet has built its style off of.

    “There are so many amazing grapplers out there that will never do MMA,” he said. “Before combat jiu jitsu we would never see how [these grapplers’] jiu jitsu looks when someone is trying to smash them.”

    For Bravo, the objective for this new concoction is simple.

    “The goal is to have a sport thrive that will prepare grapplers better for MMA than regular grappling does,” Bravo said. “It is also a sport for people that don’t want to do MMA at all but do want to punch on the ground.”

    A prime example of a jiu jitsu expert failing to employ his grappling in an MMA fight was on the first live fight of The Ultimate Fighter season 15. Cristiano Marcello, a fourth degree BJJ black belt under Royler Gracie, fought against Black House MMA’s striking specialist Justin Lawrence, and was unable to employ his ground game. Bravo mentioned this fight to highlight the importance of a grappler knowing how to effectively pull guard in a fight.

    “Obviously Cristiano is amazing at jiu jitsu but he couldn’t get the fight down, so he was left to strike with Lawrence,” he said. “Pulling guard is not mastered enough by jiu jitsu guys. Most guys aren’t willing to pull guard, but you have to pull guard, you have to have faith in your guard. [As a grappler] if you don’t have that third option you are going to hit a (expletive) wall.”

    Now fully sanctioned under the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) with the help of U of MMA (a popular southern California amateur MMA promotion) president Turi Altavilla, combat jiu jitsu is set for its debut. On May 20 at the Nokia Center for U of MMA’s ‘Tomorrow’s World Champions’ event, combat jiu jitsu will share the stage with three matches to take place in the MMA cage. Bravo envisions the sport moving from the cage to an open mat (similar to the venue of grappling tournaments), in hopes that the sport will become it’s own entity.

    “When you put combat jiu jitsu on an open mat, that is where it is going to shine,” he said. “This is just the beginning, we are just testing it out.”

    Until then, Bravo is simply aiming to get his new sport off the ground.

    “Right now we are just trying to get it through the door, just to have some matches and some history,” he said.

Three 10th planet grapplers are set to christen the combat jiu jitsu canvas. Brown belts Jeremy Shields and Justin Milos, and blue belt Jared McCourt are all awaiting the announcement of their opponents for May 20.

You can follow Eddie Bravo and Julien Solomita on Twitter

Johnson making best of rough situation

After going through the weirdest possible scenario for a fighter, Demetrious Johnson has set his sights on the future.

It was just a few short weeks ago when Johnson was told he was victorious in the inaugural UFC flyweight bout against Ian McCall, and had his hand risen in front of the Sydney crowd. Only he hadn’t won the fight, and later on in the night, Dana White famously told the fighters a draw was the correct decision and the wrong outcome was announced in front of millions.

I had a chance to chat with Demetrious on ‘Fighting Solo Radio’. Soon after Dana White called him in, Johnson suspected the post fight meeting to regard something entirely different.

“The first thing that went through my mind was when we were fighting, someone in the crowd booed us and then Ian flipped him off,” Johnson said. “Next thing you knew we were called in the office, and I thought Dana was going to take away our Fight of the Night Bonus.”

Johnson was fully concerned with the possible repercussions of McCall’s post fight behavior, and remembered the importance of representing MMA and the UFC internationally.

“We’re trying to be great ambassadors for this sport, and the last thing we need is someone out there flipping off the crowd on national television,” Johnson said.

After losing a decision to Bantamweight Champion, Dominick Cruz, the AMC Pankration wrestler has cut down to 125 pounds hoping for this weight to be his new home. In testing out the waters of the UFC’s newest weight class, Johnson has learned from his mistakes and is preparing for improvements in his return to the octagon.

“I came in really light (two pounds over) and after weigh ins, I didn’t carb back up. My body wasn’t running right, and as you could see in the third round (against McCall) I could move, but I had no juice on my punches,” Johnson said. “I’m going to get my diet correct and be a different fighter June 8.”

As a fighter who has relied heavily on his overwhelming speed for his whole career, Johnson is now at a weight where he will be matched more evenly in the strength department. Johnson is happy with the new weight but knows what skill remains most important.

“I’m blessed with a little power, but I’m gifted with a lot of speed,” Johnson said. “Speed is my power.”

Rebounding from this has been just another speed bump for “Mighty Mouse”, who is now in full preparation mode as the rematch with McCall nears.

“I’ve been working on my overall game,” Johnson said. “You got to be ready for everybody you can’t just sit there and focus on one thing. If you improve your whole game you’ll be ready for the next opponent. “

UFC on FX on June 8 is when the two flyweights will go at it again, as they headline the free card. The winner will be awarded a title shot against Joseph Benavidez who took down Yasuhiro Urishitani. A location has yet to be announced.