Mixed martial arts evolves, grows in Tri-Cities

By Laura Kate Zaichkin, Herald staff writer

RICHLAND -- The door to a Richland building with a sign that reads "square dance" often gets jammed shut.

It takes a push -- sometimes a hard shove -- to enter the small white building on Columbia Park Trail.

"If you can't get through the door, you don't need to be here," Sergio da Silva of Pasco yelled recently to those outside struggling to enter.

Inside, it's no do-si-do. But the people punching and kicking across a black mat and breathing heavily through their mouth guards are engaged in something of a dance.

"This is more like a human chess match," said Adrian Wise of Kennewick, who co-owns Tri-City Mixed Martial Arts at La Mecque Dojo with da Silva. "This is definitely a thinking man's fight."

Mixed martial arts -- or MMA -- has gained popularity across the nation and in the Mid-Columbia since the founding of the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 1993. And it has gained steam in the last couple of years as the martial arts hybrid has become even more ingrained in popular culture.

"It's becoming so much more mainstream," said Ryan Calhoon, owner of Walla Walla's Calhoon's Martial Arts and Fitness. "It's everywhere now."

MMA includes a variety of fighting techniques from martial arts traditions, such as boxing, muay thai, wrestling, boxing, kickboxing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

"I think MMA is as real as you can get in a sporting format," said Calhoon, 36, who has trained in MMA for the past 10 years after participating in traditional martial arts for eight years.

"I was looking for something more real and functional."

Local coaches say the main difference between MMA, which started as a way to find the most effective martial arts for real unarmed combat situations, and traditional martial arts such as karate or tae kwon do is that hybrid fighting has continued to evolve.

"(Traditional martial arts) turns into arts martial vs. continuing to rechallenge its effectiveness," Calhoon said. "For an art to remain martial art, you still have to keep growing it. With MMA, there's always something new."

Josh Busby, a 20-year-old Walla Walla Community College student, says he began fighting as a response to bullies and participated in "backyard brawling" until seeking a more professional outlet at Calhoon's.

"My friends kept telling me I'm a good fighter," he said. "But my street record wasn't getting me anywhere."

Busby said since he began training more than a year ago at Calhoon's -- which is equipped with a ring and a cage -- he's found a more positive outlet that's not as violent or unorganized as backyard brawls, which often take place in party atmospheres, he and Calhoon said.

Fighters and trainers say they are fighting a negative stigma that surrounds MMA, often referred to as a "blood sport" or "human cockfighting."

"We hear that repeatedly," said Wise, 36. "That's the most negative viewpoint that we can hear. It's insulting.

"The general public really needs to understand that these guys work out mentally as well as they do physically."

A lot of MMA training includes strategizing and thinking through scenarios, fighters and coaches say. And unlike boxing or muay thai, MMA competitors have an opportunity to tap out of fights before being rendered unconscious.

"It really is a lot softer," Wise said. "It looks a lot more vicious."

The growing popularity of MMA has attracted more local spectators and those interested in the sport.

Pay-per-view Ultimate Fighting Championship (a popular Las Vegas-based MMA organization) tournaments often are shown at area bars and The Ultimate Fighter reality TV show is about to enter its ninth season.

Also, more people are showing interest in MMA training, with interests ranging from a fun way to exercise to wanting to go pro, and local fights are attracting more people from a variety of backgrounds, local experts say.

"There's these professional people who a year ago wouldn't have gone (to local fights)," said Calhoon, whose facility helps organize quarterly fights in Walla Walla. The last few fights have attracted local doctors and bankers, and there's less police participation in the crowd lately, he said.

"People are becoming more educated and seeing there's science behind it," he said. "They've started to appreciate what's going on a little bit more."

Tri-City Mixed Martial Arts put on its first fight in October and attracted more than 500 spectators, said Wise and da Silva, 37. They're expecting even more spectators and fighters from Yakima, Vancouver, Wash., Oregon, Idaho, Spokane and Sacramento, Calif., to attend their next tournament Dec. 20 at the Benton County Fairgrounds in Kennewick.

"These guys don't fight for anything but pride, really," said Ashley Montelongo of Kennewick, who recently became interested in MMA and now helps organize the business side of Tri-City MMA's events. "It's totally not a street brawl. (As you watch) it starts to look more like a sport."

And for many, the growing popularity of the sport and Ultimate Fighting Championship has made careers as MMA fighters more appealing.

"There's a huge potential and opportunity to make a career in MMA now," Calhoon said. "It's seen as a credible, legitimate career now."

Bill Spurlock of Kennewick began MMA training nearly two years ago after seeing it on TV and has won three out of four amateur fights in the 205-pound weight class.

"There's a little talk about me going pro," said the 24-year-old, who trains at Tri-City MMA about three hours a day, four times a week. "It's hard, though, you know? It's hard now. To go pro -- it's a full-time job."

High-profile fighters can make hundreds of thousands of dollars per fight, but beginning professional fighters make $200 to $1,000 a fight, Calhoon said. Those who enter pay-per-view fights as undercards can make $2,000 to $8,000, while main cards can make $15,000 to $50,000, he said.

"For every one person who's earning that kind of money, there's hundreds and hundreds of people who aren't," Calhoon said. "It's a matter of being seen at the right time by the right person."

No one on Calhoon's or Tri-City MMA's fight clubs has made it to the professional level, but local competitors such as Spurlock and Busby -- who must wait until he's 21 to go pro -- intend to earn amateur titles and keep fighting their way to the top.

"I'll take it step by step," said Busby, who is undefeated. "It's one of my passions. I plan on being a champion one day of the UFC."

* Laura Kate Zaichkin: 509-582-1521; lzaichkin@tricityherald.com

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Sunday, Dec. 14, 2008

Mixed martial arts evolves, grows in Tri-Cities

By Laura Kate Zaichkin, Herald staff writer