Issue 110

January 2014

Becoming a pro fighter can be the toughest decision of all, especially when you’ve already got a well-paid career. But sacrifice can sometimes pay dividends of its own

Once again the New Year is upon us, and for the few out there who harbor dreams of becoming a professional fighter, another year has past and you’re still talking about it. Walking away from a life outside of mixed martial arts – perhaps one that pays very well and affords you a certain standard of life – can prove to be an impossible decision to make. But to be truly happy dreams have to be chased. 

With January 2014 now upon us, Fighters Only speaks to a handful of the UFC’s brightest new young stars and asks them to recall the moment in their lives when they walked away from a career and financial security to chase a dream of Octagon success.

From high-flying white-collar executives Danny Castillo and Luke Barnatt, to bail bondsman Kelvin Gastelum and renowned world champion boxer Jessica Rakoczy, here’s how they made the decision to follow their dreams above all else… 

ALL OR NOTHING

The Ultimate Fighter season 17 turned out to be Kelvin Gastelum’s big break, as he parlayed his time on the show into a tournament win, a UFC contract and a new career. It also could have been the lowest point in his life had things gone a little differently.

“When I tried out for The Ultimate Fighter, it was do or die,” Gastelum tells Fighters Only. “I had to borrow money to get there, first of all. My buddies from the gym kind of pitched in. If I wouldn’t have made it, I don’t even know how I would have gotten back to Yuma (Arizona) because I didn’t have any money to get back at that time. It was kind of a do-or-die situation. I left my job, and I was taking my MMA career and running with it.

“It was nerve-racking. That was a very desperate time in my life. I knew that’s what I wanted to do, so burned all my ships and made it work for me.”

And, he wasn’t the only one in the TUF 17 house who’d followed that path. Fellow cast member Luke Barnatt can relate to Gastelum’s route as he himself had walked away from a lucrative career in London, UK, to chase his own Octagon dreams.

“Originally, I was a PR executive for a company in London, where we would basically work with businesses and try to promote them and increase their revenue from a promotional standpoint by building websites for them or help with their marketing and try to sell some products,” Barnatt recalls. 

“I really enjoyed the job, but I started my amateur career while I was working there. I got to 8-1 as an amateur, and I decided I wanted to take it to a different level and go pro. I quit my job to move into my gym and sleep on the mats as I tried to become a professional fighter. 

“I had no income for the three months before my first fight in September 2011, because I had to train for the fight. I ended up living in the gym until I got on The Ultimate Fighter. I flew from London to Las Vegas to try out for the show by borrowing money to pay for my plane ticket.”

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

Jessica Rakoczy made her impact in the MMA world during the recently completed season of The Ultimate Fighter 18, a historical series in which she and 15 other ladies were featured as the first-ever women to compete on the show. 

But before her current stint in mixed martial arts, Rakoczy was a world champion boxer. Her shot came in 2000, when former professional hockey player Marty McSorley offered a then-amateur boxer an opportunity to turn pro.

“I honestly had no idea if there was an opportunity for me or where to go with it, so I was a little shocked,” Rakoczy says. “But I decided to take a chance, and I just left at the snap of a finger. I was very anxious because I’d never been away from home before. It was a bit overwhelming, but an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”

Similarly, UFC and WEC veteran Danny Castillo received his invitation to a fighting career at a most unexpected time. “The way my college wrestling career ended – I lost my final match in the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) national finals by two points on a very questionable call – and it didn’t sit well with me,” Castillo says. “I was frustrated, and my life pretty much came to an end right there. 

“School wasn’t giving me any money, and I was forced to find a job, so I kind of embellished my résumé a little bit saying that I got my degree, and the owner of the company kind of took a chance on me. I was doing well, but I just wasn’t happy sitting behind a desk. The only competition I had was in the bars, drinking.”

After three years with the company, a consultant was brought in to identify opportunities for improvement. One of the recommendations involved a new pay structure for Castillo’s position – a move that was going to lower his income. Suddenly, a new career seemed very appealing.

“I had actually connected with Urijah Faber on MySpace,” Castillo says. “We had been friends for a long time, wrestling together in high school and working at a wrestling camp during college. I had just seen him win the WEC belt, and he invited me to come check out his gym. 

“I went back to Sacramento – my family is from there – and I saw his gym. He owned a couple of houses, and he was happy. He loved his job. Me, on the other hand, I didn’t like my job. That’s when Urijah said, ‘It takes a certain kind of person to be a fighter. I know you work hard, and I think you could do it.’

“I thought about it, and I knew I wasn’t getting any younger. I was just sitting around wasting time, drinking in bars. I talked to my mom about it, and she was surprisingly behind me 100%. That was the green light, right there. 

“I gave my two-weeks’ notice, packed up my apartment and moved back to Sacramento and I haven’t looked back since. It’s been the best decision of my life.”

DON'T LOOK BACK

It’s a moment most professional fighters can remember vividly: the instant in which they decided to chase their dreams with reckless abandon, to work without a net. Castillo said once he’d decided to pursue that opportunity, there was no looking back.

“I’m not the best planner, so I just kind of thought, ‘Yeah, I’ll run with it,’” he adds. “I never really thought about it not working out. I just went with it. I’m not really a person to think about the risks. Obviously, it was in the back of my head, but I was just like, ‘I’m going to go after it.’

“It helped that Urijah was a good friend, and I trusted he wouldn’t steer me in the wrong direction. Of course, knowing him the way I do, and how positive he is, now that I think about it, he was probably just like, ‘Yeah, man, go ahead. Quit your job. Quit your 401K. Quit your dental insurance and just go for it. You’ll do really great.’ He just dreams big, but that’s something I’ve learned from him: dream big and be positive. Those two things have taken me a long way so far.”

Of course, taking a chance is just the first step. While it helps to have a dream in mind, Rakoczy said it’s imperative to remember that success won’t necessarily come right away.

“It took a long, long time,” Rakoczy admits. “I was basically fighting for nothing. You’re fighting for the love of the sport. I was by myself, and I was very lonely, but I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. It just took a really long time to get there.

“There were so many bumps along the way. I think there was one point where I kind of packed it in and said, ‘This isn’t working anymore.’ That was after my first professional boxing loss. It was a split decision, and it was such a bad decision. I clearly won the fight. Things weren’t going right, and I started to go back home. 

“I actually got a phone call from the WWE, and they asked if I wanted to start wrestling, and I was like, ‘Sure. Might as well.’ But three weeks later, I got a call for another title fight, and I took it and just didn’t turn back from there.”

Rakoczy declined the professional wrestling opportunity and stayed the course. World championships followed, and now she’s hoping to replicate that level of success inside the Octagon. Again, success has been slow to come, but the 36-year-old believes there’s still time to reach her dreams.

“I just feel like if you love something, and you are determined to do it and want to succeed, you can do it,” she says. “I guarantee there’s going to be bumps. There’s going to be so many setbacks, but if you really love it and you really want it, you have to stay focused and not let anything pull you down. Just know if there’s a bump, you have to keep your head up, stay focused and have that tunnel vision. If you quit after a couple of times of something not working out for you, then you don’t deserve to be in this sport.”

A HARD ROAD

Barnatt wound up sleeping on his gym’s floor for more than two years, so he understands a thing or two about patience and sacrifice. But he also believes it’s important to know exactly what success means.

“Obviously, day by day, life was hard,” Barnatt reveals. “It was hard training. But I was still learning, and I appreciated not living a nine-to-five life and doing what I loved with the sport. Waking up in the gym in the freezing cold was OK with me because I knew I was doing it for a reason. 

“I have a phrase that I told myself at the time and still do: ‘A successful person is not just a person who’s at the height of success.’ Georges St Pierre is a successful person, but so is anyone who is doing what they want to do. That’s what I believe success really is. I believe if you’re waking up in the morning and doing what you want to do, you are a successful person, no matter what anybody else says. 

“I’ve been a successful person from the day I quit my job and began my road to the UFC. I was waking up, doing what I wanted to do. It’s just a different mind-set, really.”

Castillo now stands in a similar place. While it was the lure of riches that first caught his eye, time has taught him to approach the sport in a very different way. “I got into this sport for the wrong reasons,” Castillo readily admits. 

“At first, I saw the fame Urijah had and the money Urijah had, and that fueled me in the beginning. But I had a few losses along the way, and this sport is so true – those losses made me focus on what’s going on around me. 

“I stopped drinking. I stopped chasing women. I got back into church. My goals are still the same, but now it’s for the right reason. It’s to be the best in the world. 

“It’s not about money. It’s not about fame. No matter how good you are, there’s always going to be someone that talks s**t to you online or tells you that you’re lucky when you win a fight. Maybe it’s because I’m 34 years old now, but I think the losses just made me take responsibility and pay attention to the things I wasn’t doing. Now I’m a much happier person. My heart is in the right place.”

Gastelum could easily have flunked out of The Ultimate Fighter tryouts. After all, standouts like Benson Henderson, Frankie Edgar, Clay Guida have all left empty-handed. Rakoczy had no guarantee of success in boxing or MMA, but she continues the pursuit. Were it not for a social media conversation, Castillo might still be stuck behind a desk. But each of them elected to chase their dreams, and each of them believes others can do the same. 

It’s all about drive, says Barnatt, adding: “If you want to do something different in life, you have to be different. If you look at your friends or your dad or your friends’ dads, and you don’t want to live like them, you have to live differently. You can’t expect to get a different life by doing the same as everyone else. And if you look around at other successful people, that’s what they’re doing. 

“I wouldn’t necessarily recommend quitting your job and moving into a gym, but I would advise you to write down your goals and think about what you want to do in life and then do whatever is necessary to get there, even if other people are telling you it’s the wrong thing to do. It just takes a lot of control and a lot of self-belief.”