After going broke and suffering a few injuries I moved to a pretty rural area of Texas where I grew up, probably 6-7 hours away from my MMA gym where I trained, with no other gyms around here back then. My plan was to work with family and heal up and put some money together to move back and kind of start over. A few weeks after moving my truck was repossessed and I didnt even have a ride at all, 23 year old broke kid trying to hold carpenter jobs down struggling to keep a running vehicle and pretty rough relationship with a baby mama drama. Before you know it a year had gone by without even hitting a punching bag or focus mitt at all. Fell out of shape and lost all confidence.
Another big thing was that my 9 fights in 2008, when I really got rolling and winning I was full time training, teaching kids classes at the gym here and there for a little money. I was killing guys in training and in fights that were working all day. It wasnt fair there was a big difference. So when I fell out of shape and went back to work I just felt like even if I did have a gym, or money or anything it was pointless unless I could train full time, trying to work a carpenter job in Texas and trying to train and fight guys who worked in offices or hospital x-ray techs or car salesman or guys that trained full time just didnt seem smart. Building houses took it all when you got off work you were done buddy, this wasnt a union carpenter deal down here. It was ass busting all day or get replaced.
But sometime in 2011-2012 I got back in shape and found a gym here about an hour from the small town where I live. I started making plans to give it another shot when my 24 year old little sister died from a gunshot wound to the head. The whole case fucked me up pretty bad for years. We will never really know what happened to her they ruled it a suicide but her boyfriend was in the house with her and was a drugged out fuckhead that has stayed in trouble since then. Crazy small town Unsolved Mysteries story that pretty much tore me down and pushed me to the brink of not giving a shit about a lot of things, failed that girl as her big brother big time no matter how it went down.
Around 2016 to 2020 I turned shit around and got in the best shape I ever been in, stronger, faster than I was even when I was fighting. I just figured MMA had evolved and I was too old and let it go. Then I had a baby in 2021 and his mother and 2 other girlfriends kind of anandoned us. It was just me and my little boy from 2022 until earlier this year when I moved closer to family for help. My own constructuon business finally fell apart last year but it was all for the best, I landed a sweet laid back stress free job at a cabinet shop that is about 10 minutes down the road from one of the better MMA gyms in the area(2 UFC vets have come out of there Ive been working with one a little). I was in great shape with a chip on my shoulder and in a sweet spot in life now. Also watching some of the younger cats on these local fight events I feel like I can take them, I feel like it was a tougher scene back in 2008.
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