Tall, intimidating, and athletic, senior Trey Johnson is a modern day gladiator. Johnson practices three sports; kickboxing, wrestling, and an Asian form of martial arts called Muay Thai, all to perfect his chosen sport. This being MMA or mixed martial arts.

“In boxing or wresting, you have to be good at that; boxing or wrestling. But in MMA you have to bring both of them together, you got to be good at both,” Johnson said.

But being good at these sports is only the beginning of an arduous training regimen. Johnson’s coach, Ryan Larson, outlined a basic MMA training program.

“You have to be determined, hard working and motivated.” Larson said in an email.

Johnson was not put off from this high impact sport by all the work and he says the work makes him visualize his goals all the better.

“I want to go pro basically,” Johnson said.

After practicing MMA for four years, Johnson may have the drive to have that opportunity. Larson said that Johnson could go as far he put his mind to go.

“Trey has tremendous potential and a very good work ethic…he is always motivated,” Larson said.

Larson trains athletes for MMA combat as well as self-defense with boxing and kick boxing techniques.

“It’s a very demanding sport that requires a lot of mental and physical preparation,” Larson said. “Prepare, prepare, prepare. Always be ready to fight.”

An MMA match works depending on if the match is a normal fight, or a title shot, when a challenger fights the recognized champion of any certain weight class. A normal match is three rounds of five minutes each, or five, five minute rounds when a title is at stake.

“The endurance is huge, Johnson said. “You can’t just want to give up.”

MMA, and its most successful and popular league, UFC, or Ultimate Fight Club, was originally an “anything goes” type of fight with no rules. The more modern leagues do enforce rules and many of them, although the sport of MMA is not regulated as closely as other professional boxing or wrestling competitions are.

“The rules are no eye-gouging, no low blows, no hair pulling, scratching, or dropping someone on their head, but a referee or manager tells you all the things you can’t do before a match,” Johnson said.

With the recent rise of popularity in the sport of MMA, Johnson is not the only athlete to participate in this physical sport. Senior David Irvin has also been doing mixed martial arts for about a year to supplement his wresting and boxing athletics.

“It’s a way to release tension, do whatever, go crazy…it’s a good outlet,” Irvin said. “I like the adrenaline rush, just knowing you could get knocked out at anytime, it’s a freaky feeling.”

But that feeling does not come often for professional or amateur fighters, because most compete in a real match a max of two to four times per year depending on age.

“In the total four years I’ve been fighting, I’ve had about 13 matches. I do a lot of sparring but I don’t count that…I’ve won at least nine of them, maybe 10,” Johnson said.

With so few opportunities to compete in compared to other sports, both Irvin and Johnson agree that every fight counts, and that an impression is made with every match.

After a sparring match, Johnson offered some final words about his sport.

“It’s physical, but you have to have the mental ability to just move forward, that mental strength to keep going…just stick to your plan. It’s a lot like life,” Johnson said.