Some Mixed Martial Arts fighters, who are enrolled at Eastern Michigan University, swept their competition recently in Adrian.
The team went 3-0 at the event. The three victors were Greg “Stronghand” Calvert, Avery “Freakshow” Woods and Lewis Anderson. “Stronghand’s” victory earned him a belt.
Calvert is not the only fighter to have a belt on the team. Two other fighters claimed a belt of their own.
The fighters are a part of Eastern Mixed Martial Arts so credit them for the success.
“We just want to thank everyone in team Eastern Mixed Martial Arts, Emma, Eric Perlowski, and Kevin Kendrick,” Calvert said. “The motivation was from our team, and we would love to thank all our friends and family for our success.”
For the fights, each MMA fighter came out to different walkout music.
Anderson walked out to the Mario theme song; “Freakshow” came out to Kanye West’s song, “Power;” and “Stronghold” came out
to The Jackson 5’s song “I Want You Back.”
The three winning fighters all said cutting the weight was the toughest part of training for these recent fights.
They said fighting is like the reward for all the hard work they put in, and the fight is a reminder of it almost being over and done with.
Woods said he likes being a part of the MMA team at EMU.
“I think it’s cool,” Woods said. “I need to stay in shape, and I’m extremely competitive and the team motivates me inside and outside the gym.”
Woods said fighting is like getting a tattoo.
“You get one and love it,” he said. “And soon after you’re looking for another.”
Woods said the last fight was a blur to him.
“I was anxious, then it was over just as fast as it began,” he said.
Calvert said: “It was great. I was energized from my teammates through the full experience. When everything began, I was feeding off my teammates’ energy and kept going from there.”
Anderson said: “It’s an emotional rollercoaster. You’re nervous in the back because you see everyone performing. Then, you hear your entrance music, and you’re pumped again. Then, when the fight starts, you’re ready to go.”
Woods won his first fight this past weekend. Calvert said he usually doesn’t let fighters fight in these kinds of fights with such little experience, but he let Woods fight anyways. It ended up paying off for the team.
“He showed so much dedication and a true heart,” Calvert said. “We usually won’t let people fight without much experience, but he came to us and with that much dedication and hard work he put in I couldn’t say no.”
Calvert has been fighting for three years, Anderson for almost two years and Woods has been fighting for two months.
The fighters look to continue fighting in surrounding areas in the near future.
Calvert looks to fight one more time before the year is done and two more in the following couple of months. Anderson said he takes the fights as they come, and Woods said he looks to fight a couple of times in the upcoming months.
