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2012 is going to be incredible!

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Just a quick update…

Greetings from beautiful, sunny Las Vegas, NV!  We hope your holiday season was amazing!  2012 is going to be an incredible year for FIGHT CHURCH.  The sport of MMA is exploding and things here in Vegas, the hub of this international sports phenom, are going nuts.  There are more and more MMA events, more and more MMA promotions, and more and more MMA athletes!  The MMA gyms are busting at the seams and many coaches are branching out and opening new facilities.

Here at FIGHT CHURCH we have our work cut out for us.  We are excited and thankful to be working in all 4 of the biggest gyms here in town, but are planning to double that this year by expanding to some of the other gyms that are growing.  We will be recruiting and training many more volunteers so we are able to work at as many events as possible. 

Our website will be undergowing some changes in the near future.  In 2011, we had plans to do more video and post more regular updates.  Unfortunetly, we were unable to post nearly as often as we would had hoped and video proved to be more of a challenge than we thought.  However, we are on track now and have even began filming some items.  We have a couple of things in the works and our goal is to post a few different things every week.  Be on the look out!

We are finalizing some very specific goals for this year and will be sharing them with you very soon.  In the meantime, we are super excited about this year and the opportunity to continue ministering to the MMA community.  Thank you so much for your support in 2011… Let’s Fight the Good Fight!

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I caught up with new Bellator Lightweight Champion Michael Chandler and was able to ask him a few questions…

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Recently I have had several people back home in Indiana ask me what an MMA Chaplain does.  Well, there are some tabs on this website that you can click on that will explain what we do, but over the next few weeks I hope to really “show” through photos, vodeo blogs, stories, etc.  Some of these will be posted, but I hope that they will also be share via e-mail, over the phone and on FACEBOOK per your request.  Please feel free to contact me and ask any question you would like about what we do, past events, our vision or whatever!

Let this post be a taste…

 I had a great day today out visiting the MMA gyms around the Vegas Valley building relationships with fighters, gym staff and other people in the MMA community.  I met new people and talked with folks that I have know for over a year now. 

I visited WAND, XTREME COUTURE and THROWDOWN.  I saw my friend Rodrigo who was about to teach his kid’s class at XC.  He is such a great guy!  I also stopped by a live brodcast of ESPN RADIO and chatted with the guys about MMA for a little while.  Then I discovered that just a few doors down was a business called FIGHT DENTISTS.  I popped in and had a great discussion with the owner and am excited about the future of that relationship!

I will be posting as much as possible so be sure to check back here often as you can.  I look forward to hearing from everyone.  My e-mail address is josh@fightchurch.com, my phone # is 702-494-8106, you can follow me on TWITTER @pjoshboyd and you can find me at www.facebook.com/pjoshboyd!

MORE ON MIKE “300” HAYES…

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MORE ON MIKE “300” HAYES…

Not too long ago we featured Mike “300” Hayes in a short segment.  I had the chance to talk with him the other day about his upcoming fight, his faith, and how he got here…

Mike Hayes started his journey of faith and his road to becoming a professional MMA fighter in the same place.  A few years back his life got off track, he found himself on the wrong side of the law and he ended up doing some time in prison.  Turns out this may have been just what he needed!

Mike told me that while locked up, he watched a MMA event on TV and became interested in this sport.  He felt confident that he was capable of competing.  With no prior training or experience he began to work out and train. 

Although Mike had been taken to church as a child by his parents, it was never something he thought much about or considered to be his thing.  Now in prison, with time on his hands, his priorities changed, a serious reevaluation of things was in order and Mike said the need for something different became very clear.  He began to read the Scriptures, attend Bible study group and seek the Lord.  Over time he grew both physically and spiritually!

Upon his release Mike continued his journey of faith as well as his training to becoming a MMA fighter.  When given the opportunity to test himself as an amateur fighter, he welcomed the challenged and was successful.  After going pro, Mike won his first 7 fights and holds a total professional record of 15 wins, 4 losses and 1 draw.

These days, Mike still trains with some of the guys from the very beginning, but two of his main training partners are fellow pro fighters Eric Dahlberg and STRIKEFORCE fighter Trevor Smith.  On the spiritual side of things, Mike has put together a great team as well.   He attends the Eastlake Community Church and surrounds himself with people who challenge him and keep him in check. 

In just over a week, Mike will Headline an event in what has to be the biggest fight of his professional career that has huge implications on his future in the sport.  Obviously, there is a lot to this story and there is no way I could ever do it justice, but hopefully you at least know that this is a great guy.  I am so excited to see how things continue to unfold for Mike.  And I am glad that our lives have intersected!

Please join with FIGHT CHURCH and pray for our friend Mike Hayes.  Also, check him out on Facebook, send him an encouraging message and support him any way you can!

Fighter Snapshot: Mike Hayes

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FIGHTER SNAPSHOT:  Mike “300” Hayes is a professional heavyweight MMA fighter with a record of 15 wins, 4 loses and 1 draw.  He is also a believer.  He will be fighting UFC veteran Sean McCorkle in the CFA 2 main event in Miami, FL on July 23rd.  I am going to try to interview him between now and then if his training and my schedule allows.  In the meantime, I asked Mike how important he thought a ministry like FIGHT CHURCH could be for guys like him who are trying to live a life of Faith and be a professional MMA fighter.  This is what he had to say…

“As a fighter, I struggle with the pull that the sport has away from my family, friends, and faith. It’s not easy to turn your head from the ring girls and female fans that surround you. Most normal church and ministry organizations don’t have a clear understanding of what a fighter goes through, so it’s hard to receive advice from them. This doesn’t even touch on Vegas. Obviously it’s the Mecca for the sport, and as athletes make it to the big fights there, they are also making more money. It’s called sin city for a reason….the temptations are enormous, and the added fame and money make it a very difficult, but necessary, place for a fighter to go.

 MMA athletes have a very unique audience to which our influence can be dramatic. I haven’t even made it to the UFC yet, but I did a charity event at a junior high school near Seattle about a month ago. The kids there all knew who I was and treated me like a superstar. I was shocked! It really made me realize that I need to pick and choose my words in the media very carefully because everyone is listening. It would be great to have an MMA chaplain to help fighters like myself to say and do the right thing, whether in Vegas or back in our hometowns. With the incredible platform to reach out to people that we’ve been given, I feel like I have a larger responsibility to focus on my words and actions so that I represent Christ the best I can. Looking forward to meeting you at some point, and doing my part in reaching out to people.”

Interview with MMA fighter Shamar Bailey…

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Well, here are some quick facts about Shamar, according to Wikipedia, “Shamar Bailey is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the welterweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, Bailey has made a name for himself fighting in the Midwest, and his 1-1 stint with Strikeforce. He was a competitor on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos.

The son of a pastor father, Shamar Bailey was raised in a very strict Christian household which moved him across state lines six times before his 20th birthday. Bailey was homeschooled until his senior year of high school when he elected to attend the local Greenwood, Indiana, public school. During his senior season at Center Grove High School, Bailey excelled on the varsity wrestling team, going undefeated over the course of the year.

After high school, Bailey attended college and majored in church-ministry.

Building on his impressive senior year at Center Grove, Bailey entered Division III Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Wisconsin where he continued to thrive on the mats, earning All-Conference three times and being named NCAA National Qualifier. The Church Ministries major returned to Indianapolis after graduation and began to train with Jake O’Brien and Chris Lytle to stay active as he mulled over an offer to move to Colorado Springs to train at the Olympic Training Center with the World Team training camp. Bailey began to feel more comfortable in the sport and decided to decline the invitation in order to pursue mixed martial arts and soon after, in 2006, Bailey had his first pro fight, a first round submission victory over Courtney Ray.

For the past four years, Bailey has trained with Integrated Fighting Systems while also working part time for the Indianapolis Fire Department with Chris Lytle. During this time, he has earned notable victories over John Kolosci and Waachiim Spiritwolf.

In 2011, Bailey had signed with the UFC to compete in The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos.

Bailey was picked first on Team dos Santos and second overall. In the first preliminary bout of the season, Bailey was selected to fight Nordin Asrih. Bailey used his wrestling to control Asrih on the ground and win a clear-cut decision.

In the quarter-finals, he fought Chris Cope but had lost via unanimous decision after two rounds. After the fight Shamar was visibly upset with the decision, saying numerous times, “he fought well, but not that good”.

Even though he lost in the quarterfinals, Bailey remained signed after the show. He made his official UFC debut June 4, 2011 on The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale card, fighting against fellow quarter finalist and teammate, Ryan McGillivray.   He won the fight via unanimous decision.”

Shamar’s Professional MMA record is 12 wins and 3 losses.

The night before the weigh-ins for the TUF Finale and Shamar’s fight with McGillivray, I caught up with him for a quick interview at the Palms.  The place was loud and buzzing with fight weekend energy! 

After a quick greeting, we found a place right off the casino floor to chat.  I didn’t waste any time and about Shamar’s “Christian upbringing”.  He told me that he was always encouraged to go into ministry and believes that being an athlete is his platform to reach younger generations.  He also said that any success in sports doesn’t matter if you don’t share it and use it for something.  I was impressed and happy with these answers!

So, I decided to just go for it, play the Devil’s advocate a bit and ask Shamar how he can justify fighting and his Faith.  Obviously, being involved in this ministry and a fan of MMA, I have had to answer this same question a time or ten over the last 10+ years.  I’m guessing he has been asked this question a lot as well because his answer was perfect.  He simply said there is no problem.  MMA is two professional athletes competing.  Then he added the fact that it is because he competes he has the opportunity to share his faith with others! 

During the filming of the Ultimate Fighter show, housemate Chris Cope, was said to have approached Shamar more than once with questions about the Bible.  I was curious what all went down and Shamar said that, it was true and a few of the other guys in the house asked questions too.   That’s cool!

I asked Shamar a few other questions and he was very kind and gracious.  As we wrapped things up, I couldn’t help but smile… this was a great guy and I was glad to have met him. I told him that we would be praying for him and that we should keep in touch.  I hope we do!  Please check out Shamar on Facebook and TWITTER.      

Oh, yeah, Shamar made weight on Friday and on Saturday night… he won his UFC debut against Ryan McGillivray by unanimous decision!