Here's some advice I have for you.
1. MMA fighters are like baby sea turtles, most of them never make it to the Ocean no matter how talented they are. Injuries are serious, they can end your career and they can be extremely expensive to recover from. Financially, you will lose money fighting for the first year or two before you can establish a record impressive enough for organizations like Bellator, RFA and other smaller but still decently known promotions to consider signing you ( assuming you are in the U.S.). From there the ability to find sponsors that will pay you somewhat well becomes a real possibility, starting out sponsors are hard to come by and rarely pay the bills.
2. This isn't something you want to do unless you have a real level of belief in yourself pertaining to fighting. You'll need to find a job that's hours accommodate your ability to train as much as possible. I went 5-1 as an amateur and I'm currently considering going pro, I'm getting my security license because you can find night shifts and flexible hours and it pays a lot better than most menial jobs do. Other ideas are bouncing at clubs and being a waiter if you have the face for it. Starting out, figuring out ways to support yourself while training full time is crucial because in reality, the people you'll be fighting probably won't have made these kind of life adjustments yet in most cases.
3. Do everything you can to be the best fighter you can be. That sounds obvious, but it's not. Even many UFC champions are idiots who cut corners and do things the wrong way...look at Johnny Hendricks for fucks sake. That means eat the best possible food you can, prepare your own meals, learn about nutrition, have the right supplements. I would cook a weeks worth of meals every Monday evening and then just freeze them, this saves you A LOT of time and money. You need to be willing to wake up an hour early every morning and go on those 3-5 mile runs. Be a true student of the game.
4. You need to network, be on social media, most importantly instagram but things like youtube and facebook help too. This will help you meet other fighters, coaches, cross train at other gyms It will help you find sponsors and market yourself too. You need reach out to as many skilled bodies and minds as possible, look at how GSP was flying into New York when he was 19-20 to train with Renzo and Phil Nurse are two different gyms, even if you're going to Judo Dojo's or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gyms and working with the black belts. You also want to either find a strength and conditioning coach, or do your due diligence and devise a strength training program for yourself, a lot of MMA gyms don't offer this or not to the extent you will want to be doing it.
