steverowbotham Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 My brother recently made his Professional MMA debut in front of a sold out Corral Center in Calgary. As a two time national champion in Olympic Freestyle Wrestling, National Greco Roman Gold Medalist, and OFSAA Freestyle Wrestling champion, a transition into MMA seemed inevitable, but at the young age of 18. Mike has never been a violent person, I can remember just one fight outside of the gym, and he didnt pick it, although he certainly won it. Mike is just a competitor, and after succeeding in wrestling and being a true fan of mixed martial arts, he decided to give it a try. He has been coaching others with their wrestling, and before training had begun, with his wrestling credentials, he was offered a fight with Hardcore Championship Fighting, an up and coming Canadian MMA promotion, signed to fighters like Renato 'Babalu' Sobral, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, David Loiseau and Aleksander Emelianenko. Mike's first fight was against a 24 year old kickboxer named Tim Smith. The following is a highlight video from the fight Mike lost this fight by Split Decision. His wrestling dictated the fight, but his inexperience left him not knowing what to do once he got the takedown, as Tim worked actively from the bottom with punches and submission attempts, earning himself a victory. Mike was dissapointed with the decision, as were many of the fans, however, he has since joined a gym to train in MMA, for his upcoming fight ... May 10 in Calgary for Hardcore Championship Fighting. The promotion was very pleased my Mike's performance, but ACL surgery has kept him from fighting sooner. Hope you enjoyed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverowbotham Posted March 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 he fights at 185 pounds, but dropping to 170 for his next fight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Clemens Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Cool video Steve. Congrats to your brother and we'll pull for him to win his next fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhare Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Mikes a great guy, hope he rips em up in may!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarzan's Jane Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Not sure how I feel about that...a little rough to take first thing in the morning haha I guess like anything, if you have a passion for it, why not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazyhook Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Steve is he fighting on the next HCF card in Hull Quebec? If so let me know, I will be heading to that show great fight! where does your Bro train? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silveradosheriff Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Highlights looked like a good fight.....let your Bro know that OFC is cheering for him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattletrap2 Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Wow! I know nothing about this stuff, but it sure looked as though Mike dominated the fight! I guess you would have to see the whole fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffw Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 He did really good in my opinion for his first mma fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverowbotham Posted March 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Steve is he fighting on the next HCF card in Hull Quebec? If so let me know, I will be heading to that show great fight! where does your Bro train? He was slated to fight at the Hull show, but had to pull out for ACL surgery, its been a long time coming through wrestling, he's also got a torn miniscus, so he wont be fighting until they're may 10 card in calgary, the HCF debut of Babalu! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlesn Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Good luck to him! I'm a huge fan of the sport and think that only the best of the best athletes in the world can compete in it. His wrestling base should serve him well. Guys like Matt Hughes and Randy have shown how far a greco-roman background can go. If you go to sherdog and look at the records of a lot of the top guys, you see their one or two losses out of many often occur in the first 3 bouts. As they get that ring/cage experience, they get better. Hope he makes it to the UFC someday. Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverowbotham Posted March 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 I've been a big fan of mma since I was young, and I cornered Mike in his fight. One thing that surprised me is how friendly the overall atmosphere is. The fighters have no ill will towards one another, as a matter of fact, most of the fighters hung out with eachother after the fight at the post fight party, discussing what each person did right or wrong. Great sportsmanship, its not a bunch of punks, these guys are athletes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kulik Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Hi Steve I remember talking with you after the fight, your brother did great, once he gets some striking under his belt he will be more rounded, the boys at Tri-Star in Montreal know the striking game! with wrestling skills on his side which is 3/4's of MMA he'll do great! looking forward to seeing him fight! A lot of people are really surprised to see fighters actually freindly to each other, it stems from the martial arts background where respect is taught from day one. later Steve. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhare Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 As rough as it looks its one of the #1 sports for sportsmenship. I have fought 2 pro fights and still keep in touch with both guys I fought not to mention tons of other I met at the events. Ive trained with people from all sorts of team and most welcome you in the door of the club. It really stinks that us Ontario guys have to travel to other provinces just to get in the cage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richyb Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Hey ... your brother looks great in the ring ... landed a couple nice ones, too bad the other guy didnt see the stars ...Im sure he will do very well in the sport ... Great to see a hometown guy competeing in a sport so exciting as mma. ( im also from barrie) ... .... Hey troutguy how did you make out in your 2 pro fights ? I am also fishing simcoe and having some good luck ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillbilly Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 The kid is an animal and has a mean left, im sure he'll go far. hillbilly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverowbotham Posted March 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 thanks everyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deano Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 One of the main things to learn is how to finish a fight. When I watch a fight and see a guy who seems to dominate the whole fight, but doesn't know how to end it, I feels he deserves to lose if the other guy can end it. It's not just a slugfest, it's like chess, who has the best moves. He looks promising, learn to finish the fight and he'll go far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverowbotham Posted March 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 One of the main things to learn is how to finish a fight. When I watch a fight and see a guy who seems to dominate the whole fight, but doesn't know how to end it, I feels he deserves to lose if the other guy can end it. It's not just a slugfest, it's like chess, who has the best moves. He looks promising, learn to finish the fight and he'll go far. Like I said, he had no training in anything other than wrestling and has now joined a gym. But evem guys known to finih fights, still go to decisions ... Fedor, Liddell, Cro Cop have all fought to decisions, it happens sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinker Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 From the clips it looks like he dominated the whole fight. Is there anywhere to see the whole fight? He'll only get better! Hes got a heavy left, that's for sure......ouch! Sinker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverowbotham Posted March 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 i have the whole fight, but i havent put it up yet, ill let ya know when i do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverowbotham Posted March 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 Mike has confirmed his next fight as May 10 in Calgary. No opponent has been named as of yet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazyhook Posted March 15, 2008 Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 Steve, does your brother train in Barrie? if so PM me if you can thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverowbotham Posted March 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 He trains in Thunder Bay with Leading Edge gym, and wrestles with Lakehead U. Although we are from Barrie, so he does train when he is back home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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