MMA event coming to DeKalb

DEKALB – One of the fastest growing sports in the country is coming to DeKalb County.

A mixed martial arts (MMA) event is set to be held Saturday, Sept. 25 at the South Pointe Center, 200 E. Gurler Road in DeKalb. The event will feature about 16 bouts and will include four fighters from United Mixed Martial Arts Academy and Fitness in DeKalb, as well as competitors from Chicago, southern Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Iowa.

The event is being organized by Body Lock in Sycamore and the American Predator Fighting Championship promotion. Rich Seldal, owner of Body Lock, said he is pleased that an MMA event is being held in DeKalb.

"It's a fast-growing sport," Seldal said. "DeKalb is a hard-working area, and there's a lot of people who like to watch MMA. So we wanted to bring an MMA event to DeKalb and to get people involved."

Seldal said they have been working on the event since May.

"The organization has gone smoothly," Seldal said. "I've been organizing events for the sport at the professional level. I have trained fighters for the UFC, which has made this a smooth transition."

Shawn Jackson, co-owner of United Mixed Martial Arts and Fitness, said his students have been training for their fights during the past few months.

"We keep them loose, keep them confident and motivate them with positive thoughts," Jackson said. "They've already put in the hard work. They come in here every night and beat each other up, and they go through techniques."

Mike Ryan, United Mixed Martial Arts student, will compete in the main event. Ryan said he is looking forward to his fight but has mixed feelings about being in the main event.

"It's good and bad. It's good to be in the main event, because you're the headliner. But at the same time, I kind of wait around the whole night," Ryan said. "I would rather fight half way through and get my fight out of the way, so I can actually enjoy it and watch some other fighters."

Steve Kozola of United Mixed Martial Arts said he also is excited about his upcoming fight. He said he has been competing in MMA events for about a year.

"It's a challenge mentally and emotionally," Kozola said. "It's challenging in every type of way. It's the most purest form of competition I can think of."

Tim Ambrosini, jiu jitsu instructor at United Mixed Martial Arts, will be competing in his first MMA fight on Sept. 25. Ambrosini said he is looking forward to the event.

"It's something I've wanted to do for awhile," Ambrosini said. "It's something I've wanted to work up to, and I feel I'm ready for it."

There will be an official weigh-in for the fighters 2-4 p.m., Friday, Sept. 24, at United Mixed Martial Arts and Fitness, located at 1600 E. Lincoln Highway, as well as a public weigh-in 4-6 p.m. that day at Buffalo Wild Wings in DeKalb, 2466 Sycamore Road.

"If a fighter hasn't made weight, he can actually drop a few pounds here by working it off," Jackson said.

"So when they go into the mock weigh-in at Buffalo Wild Wings, they will be able to meet their weight without having to strip down in a family establishment."

Jackson said he hopes more MMA events are held in the DeKalb area in the future.

"We're trying to push it. We're working with different promotion companies. We want to make sure that events that come here are top notch and that they're not some fly-by-night promotion," Jackson said.

"We want the promotions that come to have a good resume, and that they've been around. Because we're making a statement. We just don't want to come in here and throw a bar fight."