HOW IT ALL STARTED

I was born January 2, 1983 in sunny San Diego, CA to hard-working, middle class parents. I was raised with my brother in the upper-class community of Poway, CA. Poway is where I was introduced to my first combat sport: wrestling. Poway is known nationally for their wrestling powerhouse. Being a scrawny, wild young buck I was very lost in adolescence. I always excelled athletically, but usually at ball sports: football, baseball, and basketball. Wrestling was new to me and very difficult at first. However with my love for fighting, hard work ethic, and hyper-intense personality I soon began to excel in wrestling. I was a late bloomer and when I finally physically matured, wrestling became second nature. I loved it. My senior year in high school I gave up football to concentrate solely on wrestling and it literally paid off.

My introduction to MMA goes quite a ways back, even though I did not start formally training until after college wrestling was over for me. I got a scholarship to San Francisco State where I met MMA greats Jake Shields and Gilbert Melendez who wrestled there as well. They took me to my first Jiu Jitsu practice but I decided to stick to wrestling and not make the move to MMA. But down deep I always loved fighting more. Things did not work out in San Francisco, and after just a couple months I moved back down to San Diego and attended junior college. In junior college I really blossomed. I became a two-time All-American, state runner up in 2003, and state champion in 2004, only losing three matches. I was rewarded with a scholarship to Cal State Fullerton. At Fullerton I was successful, but I think I could have done even better. The birth of my son, Alexander, meant the world to me, but made it hard to concentrate on wrestling and school while adjusting to the family life. However, I qualified for the Division 1 NCAA Tournament and was 3rd in the Pac-10's. This fueled my fire to compete even more.

With no money in wrestling after college and still wanting to compete and make a living for me and my son, I decided to give MMA a real try. An old wrestler buddy of mine invited me for a Team Quest workout. I loved it. I really enjoyed getting beat up by world class fighters such as Dan Henderson, Thierry Sokodjou, and Mayhem Miller. Plus I picked up Jiu Jitsu quickly, and had some great striking coaches that have really harnessed my stand-up skills these past years. It was a perfect fit for me and I loved how Team Quest trained: really hard! After only about a month of training I took a fight against a much more established fighter and was victorious. It was a blur but the most incredible feeling of my life. I was hooked and the rest is history. Recently, I got the chance of a lifetime to be on The Ultimate Fighter 7. I knew that it would launch my career and just be the beginning of an awesome fight career ahead of me. Please stay tuned to the show and me as I continue fighting to hopefully one day be World Champion!