I started doing martial arts at a local karate school at the age of 8. I was a hyper kid and I wanted to be able to kick my sisters asses (both of them). Instead, it calmed me down. I trained for 4 1/2 years before I got a bored and quit.
A few years later, a friend was talking about a kempo club he was attending. I figured I would go with him to try a class. The sensei's name was Michael Klein and he blew me away with his knowledge. I realized that this is what I wanted to do with my life. I began training every chance I got, eventually getting my black belt. Mike influenced much of how I teach martial arts still to this day, even though I don't teach traditional arts any more.
During this time, Mike had come into class talking about seeing the UFC and some Iranian guy choking everyone out. He decided that we needed to change what we were doing and started eliminating kata and focusing on combative techniques and boxing. We also started learning ground work (which at first I hated, being only 125lbs). Also at this time, one of the students who was also a good wrestler, started a wrestling class. In this class, I met one of my best friends Big Andy Burwell, a 320 lb power lifter who eventually became one of my main training partners.
Eventually, Mike left with his family to live in Barrie in 1994-5 and I took over the club. There was only a small group of us and we would train and compete at grappling tournaments. At the time, the grappling scene was a bunch of guys who dabbled in grappling of some sort and the highest ranked guys were a couple of blue belts. There were no points back then and almost all submissions were allowed including neck cranks and heel hooks (at one you were even allowed to grab the hair to pull the head back to get the rear naked choke!). This was "No Holds Barred".
In 2000, Big Andy came out to the club and asked me if I would ever consider doing a No Holds Barred fight (which is what MMA was called back then), I said "sure" and he said "Great, you're fighting on July 28th, I already put your name in!" We ended up fighting in Michigan on a show called TFC. I won my fight by armbar and Andy fought twice winning one by keylock and lost one by tko.
A few months after our NHB debut, we were contacted by a guy named Shawn Tompkins from Tillsonburg. He was a kickboxing instructor who needed help learning the grappling game. We made an agreement to make a trade, we would help him with grappling and he would help us with our striking. During this time, I competed in kickboxing events going 2-1 with my only loss going to the Iowa state champ in my first fight.
At around the same time, another club ran a grappling tournament at the complex in Woodstock, Ontario. At this tournament, I ended fighting a young Mark Hominick and beating him by armbar and winning my division. Afterwards we talked and decided to train together at his instructors club in Ingersoll, Rickmas.
Soon, he was going to Tillsonburg to Tompkins and we all trained together for about a year and half before we left to train with my first real grappling instructor Fateh Belkalem in London.
My grappling game really excelled at Fateh's and I trained there for many years. During this time, I was still fighting mma fights, and competing in grappling tournaments. On one of these occasions, I competed on a pay per view event, MFC in Calgary. My opponent was a good fighter from Hamilton who was training with 3x world champion Esfiha. I ended up losing the fight, but partied that night with my opponent and Esfiha. About 6 months later, Esfiha started teaching downtown London so I started training with him and continued to train with him in Niagara falls when the downtown club closed down. Some great fighters had come through those doors, such as Josh Koscheck. During this time, I won or atleast placed in every tournament I fought in. I competed in every event I could to gain more and more experience, in the end racking up over 270 matches. I was also training and competing in Judo and achieved a brown belt in judo under 5th degree and multi time world champion, Mara.
Eventually, Esfiha left to go live in Texas so I found a new instructor in current UFC fighter Mark Bocek at Kombat Arts in Mississauga. The mats here were full of some incredible talent such as Claude Patrick, Andrew McInnes, Frank Marque, Steve Simms, Amir Yarafi. I had backed off of mma for a while to focus on my grappling game, but here I began to renew my interest in the sport. At this time, I also began training and competing in traditional Thai boxing in Stratford under 519 Fight Factory.
In 2006, I began teaching again in a club called Real Combat in Cambridge. All the traveling I was doing to train and compete was wearing me down and I needed to keep everything alittle bit closer to home. In no time at all my classes had over 20 people in them and they began winning tournaments, one even winning the GTA Grand Prix.
One day, I was introduced to a guy named Todd who was opening a gym in Brantford. He needed an instructor and he asked me to teach. The factory I was working at was not doing so well and was more than likely going to close, so I decided I would take the job. I began teaching in Brantford 6 days a week at the same time still working full time. A few months later, the factory closed.
While in Brantford, I began to compete again, fighting an MMA fight on the reservation in Caledonia and winning in 40 seconds by armbar. I also created an organization called the Ontario Submission Wrestling Alliance which was geared towards bridging the gap between training and competition. It was created for beginners, to help with the adjustment between training and competing at the larger tournaments. To date, over 80 competitions have been held and have helped beginners turn into some of the best new fighters just stepping out into the mma world such as Chad Laprise, and Joe Elliot.
In 2008, I decided I wanted more control over what I taught and also my hours were being cut at the Brantford gym so I opened my own gym with a friend called Underground Fight Lab. After about 3 months, my friend couldn't commit to teaching anymore so I ended up partnering up with my girlfriend and personal trainer, Yvonne Billone, and together, created Iron Monkey MMA & Fitness Club, starting out in a huge shop on her property. Classes started out small, but with some dedicated blood, grew to the size it is today.
I also began working with a parapalegic with spina bifida named Andrew. After a few years, we both participated in a documentary on it by a company called Ability Films showing how much a person can do if they are driven too. Andrew still continues to train. He is an amazing man with great passion for the sport.
I was still competing through all this, and did two superfights headlining the Absolute Grappling events. I won both fights. Teaching and coaching has taken up most of my time now, dedicating myself to young athletes who strive to learn and be the best. Coaching Muay Thai fighters and reffing OSWA events all the while.
Now in 2014, my girlfriend and I still run Iron Monkey MMA, and have expanded to a 6,500 sq ft facility here in Woodstock, one of the largest MMA clubs in South Western Ontario.
A few years later, a friend was talking about a kempo club he was attending. I figured I would go with him to try a class. The sensei's name was Michael Klein and he blew me away with his knowledge. I realized that this is what I wanted to do with my life. I began training every chance I got, eventually getting my black belt. Mike influenced much of how I teach martial arts still to this day, even though I don't teach traditional arts any more.
During this time, Mike had come into class talking about seeing the UFC and some Iranian guy choking everyone out. He decided that we needed to change what we were doing and started eliminating kata and focusing on combative techniques and boxing. We also started learning ground work (which at first I hated, being only 125lbs). Also at this time, one of the students who was also a good wrestler, started a wrestling class. In this class, I met one of my best friends Big Andy Burwell, a 320 lb power lifter who eventually became one of my main training partners.
Eventually, Mike left with his family to live in Barrie in 1994-5 and I took over the club. There was only a small group of us and we would train and compete at grappling tournaments. At the time, the grappling scene was a bunch of guys who dabbled in grappling of some sort and the highest ranked guys were a couple of blue belts. There were no points back then and almost all submissions were allowed including neck cranks and heel hooks (at one you were even allowed to grab the hair to pull the head back to get the rear naked choke!). This was "No Holds Barred".
In 2000, Big Andy came out to the club and asked me if I would ever consider doing a No Holds Barred fight (which is what MMA was called back then), I said "sure" and he said "Great, you're fighting on July 28th, I already put your name in!" We ended up fighting in Michigan on a show called TFC. I won my fight by armbar and Andy fought twice winning one by keylock and lost one by tko.
A few months after our NHB debut, we were contacted by a guy named Shawn Tompkins from Tillsonburg. He was a kickboxing instructor who needed help learning the grappling game. We made an agreement to make a trade, we would help him with grappling and he would help us with our striking. During this time, I competed in kickboxing events going 2-1 with my only loss going to the Iowa state champ in my first fight.
At around the same time, another club ran a grappling tournament at the complex in Woodstock, Ontario. At this tournament, I ended fighting a young Mark Hominick and beating him by armbar and winning my division. Afterwards we talked and decided to train together at his instructors club in Ingersoll, Rickmas.
Soon, he was going to Tillsonburg to Tompkins and we all trained together for about a year and half before we left to train with my first real grappling instructor Fateh Belkalem in London.
My grappling game really excelled at Fateh's and I trained there for many years. During this time, I was still fighting mma fights, and competing in grappling tournaments. On one of these occasions, I competed on a pay per view event, MFC in Calgary. My opponent was a good fighter from Hamilton who was training with 3x world champion Esfiha. I ended up losing the fight, but partied that night with my opponent and Esfiha. About 6 months later, Esfiha started teaching downtown London so I started training with him and continued to train with him in Niagara falls when the downtown club closed down. Some great fighters had come through those doors, such as Josh Koscheck. During this time, I won or atleast placed in every tournament I fought in. I competed in every event I could to gain more and more experience, in the end racking up over 270 matches. I was also training and competing in Judo and achieved a brown belt in judo under 5th degree and multi time world champion, Mara.
Eventually, Esfiha left to go live in Texas so I found a new instructor in current UFC fighter Mark Bocek at Kombat Arts in Mississauga. The mats here were full of some incredible talent such as Claude Patrick, Andrew McInnes, Frank Marque, Steve Simms, Amir Yarafi. I had backed off of mma for a while to focus on my grappling game, but here I began to renew my interest in the sport. At this time, I also began training and competing in traditional Thai boxing in Stratford under 519 Fight Factory.
In 2006, I began teaching again in a club called Real Combat in Cambridge. All the traveling I was doing to train and compete was wearing me down and I needed to keep everything alittle bit closer to home. In no time at all my classes had over 20 people in them and they began winning tournaments, one even winning the GTA Grand Prix.
One day, I was introduced to a guy named Todd who was opening a gym in Brantford. He needed an instructor and he asked me to teach. The factory I was working at was not doing so well and was more than likely going to close, so I decided I would take the job. I began teaching in Brantford 6 days a week at the same time still working full time. A few months later, the factory closed.
While in Brantford, I began to compete again, fighting an MMA fight on the reservation in Caledonia and winning in 40 seconds by armbar. I also created an organization called the Ontario Submission Wrestling Alliance which was geared towards bridging the gap between training and competition. It was created for beginners, to help with the adjustment between training and competing at the larger tournaments. To date, over 80 competitions have been held and have helped beginners turn into some of the best new fighters just stepping out into the mma world such as Chad Laprise, and Joe Elliot.
In 2008, I decided I wanted more control over what I taught and also my hours were being cut at the Brantford gym so I opened my own gym with a friend called Underground Fight Lab. After about 3 months, my friend couldn't commit to teaching anymore so I ended up partnering up with my girlfriend and personal trainer, Yvonne Billone, and together, created Iron Monkey MMA & Fitness Club, starting out in a huge shop on her property. Classes started out small, but with some dedicated blood, grew to the size it is today.
I also began working with a parapalegic with spina bifida named Andrew. After a few years, we both participated in a documentary on it by a company called Ability Films showing how much a person can do if they are driven too. Andrew still continues to train. He is an amazing man with great passion for the sport.
I was still competing through all this, and did two superfights headlining the Absolute Grappling events. I won both fights. Teaching and coaching has taken up most of my time now, dedicating myself to young athletes who strive to learn and be the best. Coaching Muay Thai fighters and reffing OSWA events all the while.
Now in 2014, my girlfriend and I still run Iron Monkey MMA, and have expanded to a 6,500 sq ft facility here in Woodstock, one of the largest MMA clubs in South Western Ontario.