With the prospect of competing in sanctioned mixed martial arts bouts, members of Michigan State’s MMA Club have begun preparations ahead of potentially featuring in a NUCA event.
NUCA MMA has made waves as the first organization to govern and regulate Mixed Martial Arts at the college level. Founded in 2017 by Owen Roddy, striking coach of former two-division UFC Champion Conor McGregor. NUCA aims to bridge the gap between amateur and professional mixed martial arts. The organization has held multiple events; it first-ever in 2020 featured former president of the MSU MMA Club Zeid Ramzi who won his bout by decision.
Senior Justin Tran now serves as current president of the Mixed Martial Arts Club and is one of four members of the club preparing to fight in the NUCA-sanctioned event scheduled for April 12, 2024 in West Virginia.
“If you want to love the sport you gotta hate it,” said Tran. “There’s a lot of times I hate it, coming in here early, being here for three hours exhausting the hell out of myself non-stop. Getting hurt, getting hit in the face when I didn’t want to get hit in the face, getting kicked or kneed hard. It happens, a lot of the stuff I do not like, it is not enjoyable, but at the same time I always want to comeback and do it again because I want to be good at this,”
Tran's upcoming fight is set to take place at 155-pounds and will be his first time competing in an official MMA bout.
“Just because it’s collegiate doesn’t mean it’s easy… this is still going to be MMA and this person is going to try and knock my head off. As dramatic as it sounds, in combat sports, it’s to kill or to be killed,” said Tran.
The second student set to compete is junior Julio Garcia. The animal science major is a native of Jamesville, Wisconsin who has been a member of the MMA club since his freshman year.
Garcia will compete in the 135-pound division. Garcia had MMA experience before coming to Michigan State, thanks to his older brother competing in the sport. The night Garcia’s brother became an amateur champion, Garcia himself competed in his first fight, a sanctioned youth bout, at 16.
Garcia acknowledged the intimidating aspects that come with competing in a sport like MMA but also the “flow state” he discovered in the cage.
“It’s very nerve-racking, it gives you a lot of anxiety being in a locked cage surrounded by a crowd with the lights on you, everybody sees you walk out… the pressures on. But once I got in there I had a clarity I’ve never had before it was a beautiful feeling… All instincts took over,” said Garcia.
The third member preparing to compete is Seun Yoo, a junior studying Economics. Yoo was born in Chicago, but spent time in Hong Kong before moving back to the United States for his freshman year of college.
After a lonely first year in college, Yoo began to find an interest in combat sports.
“That freshman year summer I wanted to switch things up, so I started trying to get into combat sports and that’s when I found out about this club,” said Yoo.
After joining Yoo never considered competing in mixed martial arts, but training unexpectedly grew into an obsession of his.
“Either I go to school, I go to train MMA or I go hang out with my girlfriend… It’s what I think about a lot of the time, something that started as I want to protect myself became I want to compete and see if I’m better than other people,” said Yoo.
The upcoming bout for Yoo will be at 155 and be his first time competing in MMA. Something that as scary as it is, he embraces as a necessary step.
“There’s a certain beauty to the pain, to really have yourself persevere and overcome obstacles. To degrade yourself into thinking your trash when someone beats your ass, but then improving yourself and pushing really hard, there’s a beauty behind it, it creates a lot of character development,” said Yoo. “I’m going to fight somebody… It doesn’t sound fun, but at this moment I think this is another obstacle in this whole journey… If you really want to get good at this sport you have to do this eventually,”
The final member set to compete is freshman Sean Lewin who will compete in the 135 pound division. The supply chain management major is a native of Springfield, Virginia, and has been a member of the MMA Club for both his semesters on campus. Before joining Lewin developed a background in Muay Thai from a young age thanks to his father.
Thanks to his background Lewin was approached by the club E-board about an opportunity to compete and the freshman took immediate interest. Lewin has never competed in an MMA bout but has embraced the opportunity to compete in NUCA having never been given the chance to compete in combat sports.
“My father strayed away from me competing but now I can make my own decision and I wanted to try it out,” said Lewin.