Sports training business starting; updates on MMA, boxing

Matt Oyler, and impressive athlete that I've known for a while, is starting a business that offers physical training for young athletes and also assists coaches. It's titled Undefeated by Choice and an Indiegogo account is helping provide funding. Below is a news release about the new business. We wish Matt, an amateur MMA fighter, success with the venture.

UNDEFEATED BY CHOICE:

A new website is soon to be launched by a Weber County based company, Undefeated By Choice (UBC). This website is designed for use by young athletes and their coaches in both the city sponsored sports programs, and the junior high and high school levels. Using this UBC tool, young athletes can greatly improve their skills during the off-season, by following specifically designed drills for speed, agility, and endurance. product will contain general training techniques, future versions will incorporate training that will be sport specific, and specific to different levels and ages. Their coaches and athletic directors can use the site to track the participation and progress that their players are making.

This tool and concept is being developed by Matt Oyler, (seen above) a lifetime Weber County resident. As a player, coach, and certified athletic trainer, Matt has come to understand the lack of resources that most athletes have access to during their off season. He has seen that the need to develop a year round program of fitness and skill training is essential to those young athletes who desire to reach their full potential.

As an athletic trainer himself, Matt knows that most of these young people cannot afford to hire a personal trainer. While his website will have a very minimal cost, it will certainly be affordable for any income level of family. Matt has met with numerous players, coaches, and athletic directors throughout Utah as he has developed this concept and tool. Their enthusiasm and support for his plan has been hugely encouraging, and has given him many additional ideas for his development of the UBC site, “myteamtrainer.com”. In addition to the training material, the site will provide Mattʼs unique, humorous, and wildly enthusiastic motivational advice.

An Indiegogo account will soon be opened to provide additional funding for ongoing development of a high quality website, and marketing efforts. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/my-team-trainer-sports/x/17548311#/ (Here).

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MMA update:

Mike Jones, Idaho MMA pro, fought in Atlantic City last weekend for the CFFC promoltion 170-pound pro title. Jones was stopped in round 2 by Sean Brady.

A trio of local fighters have matches within the next couple of weeks or so. Steven Siler fights the main event in Washington D.C. against Lance Palmer in a web-televised pro MMA bout promoted by Professional Fighters League, once The World Series of Fighting. A web telecast will be on several sites, including Facebook.

Top of Utah amateur MMA fighter Bryce Edminister, who fights out of The Garage MMA, will make his pro debut on Nov. 10 in Boise, Idaho, on a card promoted by Front Street Fights.

Weber County amateur MMA fighter Destiny McCubbin, who trains in Las Vegas, fights for the Tuff-N-Uff Straw-weight title on Nov. 11 in Las Vegas.

The December SteelFist card, which will be at the Rail Event Center on Dec. 9, is starting to take shape. The main event is worth the price of admission. It matches Ben Moa and Eric Iman for the promotion's heavyweight title.

Finally, in UFC action, Court McGee fights on  Nov. 11 when he meets Sean Strickland in Norfolk, Va., as part of UFC Fight Night 120.

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BOXING:

Remember that Nov. 3 is boxing at The Complex. A pro bout between middleweights Michael Gomez and Christian Aguirre headlines. Also scheduled to fight are Gabriel Chairez (pro debut), Ignacio Chairez, Larry Gomez, and Bladimir Estrada.

Cache Valley Boxing, run in the garage of Ryan Gregory, was recently featured by USU Aggies news. Here's the news feature. Congrats Cache Valley Boxing.

There was an amateur card at The Legacy Events Center last weekend. It was promoted by All Heart gym. (Above, Shakeem Barnwell (at left) wins a decision over Filimone Fontongia, heavyweights).

The card:

Jones has MMA fight in Atlantic City; Complex to host boxing card

Several nuggets of information in the Utah boxing and mixed martial arts world:

MMA:

Saturday's SteelFist card results are available the Facebook page Fighting Out of Utah MMA news. In the main pro bouts, all ending in round one, Thiago Alvez defeated Kyle Herrera for 155 pound belt, Dustin Jenkins defeated Thomas Hughes, Carson Gregory defeated Francisco Alcantara, Daniel Grass defeated AJ Garcia, and Ben Moa defeated Ryan Wagner. In two amateur title bouts, Ranu Meah defeated Ryan Gunderson in round one, 265-plus; and Mike O'Laskey stopped Ethan Shepherd in round three, 155 pounds. Because O'Laskey missed weight, the title remains vacant.

-- Colorado's Mike Jones, an Utah native who now fights as a professional MMA fight out of Colorado, fights Sean Brady for the CFFC promotion welterweight title Saturday, Oct. 21 in Atlantic City, N.J. We wish Mike the best with this great opportunity.

BOXING:

There is a professional, boxing card on Friday November 3, 20107 at The Complex, promoted by FKP Productions. The main even matches local pros Michael Gomez and Christian Aguirre for the Utah state middleweight title. Also, local amateur star Gabriel Chairez makes his pro debut against Andre Kennedy. Another well-regarded amateur who is a young professional, Bladimir Estrada, is scheduled to fight Dylan Raffuto. Antonio Montoya fights Jose Avalos. Rumor has it that two of Utah's best pro prospects, Ignacio Chairez and Larry Gomez, are scheduled meet opponents that night. I have also heard that veteran Ogden pro Stanley Robinson is fighting on the card.

-- "The Second Coming," an amateur boxing card hosted by All Heart Boxing of Farr West, has a full schedule of amateur bouts this Saturday at the Legacy Events Center in Farmington. Fights start at 7 p.m. It's $12 for adults, $6 for kids. Brad Davidson will be announcing.

Results from Ogden amateur boxing; SteelFist card draws near

Last Saturday night at Foley's gym in Ogden, there were a large selection of amateur bouts. Seen above is Carson Matthews, 105 pounder, Foley's, getting his hand raised after a bout against Cole Jones of Fullmer's gym.

Here are most of the results from the Oct. 7 show:

75 -- Aaron Garcia, Unbreakable, defeated Collin Tuilevuka, Independent
72 -- Sergio Sanchez, Unbreakable, defeated Ozmanny Sanchez, Lights Out
55 - Valentin Sanchez, Unbreakable, defeated James Cox, Lights Out
65 -- Noah Leidecker, Unbreakable, defeated Giovani Gonzalez, Lights Out
68 - Diego Leidecker, Unbreakable, defeated Justice Hubley, Fullmer's
82 -- Saul Gamino, Fractured, defeated Joe Gibson, Foley's
102 -- Kayden Robinette, Fractured, defeated Tanner Gurule, Fullmer's
105 - Matthews, Foley's, defeated Jones, Fullmer's
85 - Jesus Rodriguez, Louie's, defeated Jesus Guzman, P.A.L.
170 - Diego Arroyo, Foley's, stopped Nicholas Denison, All Heart, after one round
125 -- Vanessa Lopez, Louie's, defeated Maya Harris, Factum
129 - Eduardo Zamora, Fullmer's defeated Luis Cornejo, Foley's
132 - Jackie Barco, Louie's, defeated Macy White, Foley's
135 - Jesus Saldana, All Heart, defeated Emanuel Gonzalez, Reyes
150 - Lizber Herrera, Foley's, defeated Kylan Withers, Legends
157 - Gary Bailey, Factum, defeated Christian Passillas, Lights Out
170 - Todd Pacheko, Foley's, defeated Sundance Watts, Powers Boxing
Heavyweight - Shakeem Barnwell, Foley's, stopped Chase Schumaker, Factum.

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STEELFIST CARD TOMORROW:

This month's SteelFist card is tomorrow. It's at Riverbend Sports Complex in SLC and starts at 6 p.m. More info is here or here.

The main even is a lightweight promotion title bout between Kyle Herrera and Thiago Alves. This will be a good fight. The co-main matches prospect Thomas Hughes against another good prospect, Dustin Jenkins. Another good pro match is between veteran Francisco Alcantara and prospect Carson Gregory. We interviewed Alcantara recently.

I'm also intrigued in a pro match between AJ Garcia and Daniel Grass. And former NFL football player, who played for Utah in college, Ben Moa, meets Ryan Wagner in a pro bout. And the promotion's amateur lightweight belt is at stake with Ethan Shepherd meeting Michael O'Laskey.

The entire scheduled card is here. We'll provide results.

Interview with MMA pro Cisco Alcantara

As part of a preview for the October SteelFist MMA card we've chatted with Top of Utah mixed martial artist Francisco "Cisco" Alcantara, who returns to the cage after a while off to meet undefeated Carson Gregory. Alcantara recently trained a few days at Duane Ludwig's gym in Broomfield, Colo., working out with the Bang Muy Thai training system. (Above, from left, UFC fighter T.J. Dillashaw, unidentified fighter, Alcantara and Ludwig.) 

Here's our interview.

Tell me about visiting Colorado, Bang Mui Thai, Duane Ludwig's philosophy on training. How does it help you personally as a mixed martial artist? Who went with you?

Alcantara: Visiting Colorado for 4 days was great. We did two trainings/classes a day at Bang Muay Thai with Duane Ludwick himself showing us the proper way of putting the punches and kicks together. Also we had the opportunity to train alongside TJ Dillashaw watching how an ex-UFC champion trains and puts his combinations together was great and inspiring. We also went to Easton gym to spar with current and up and coming UFC fighters. Let's just say they only have one speed and that's fast and hard. Jon Neal, Gavin Weston, Hayden Brown and Jarrett Kelton all went with me but Jarrett Kelton set it all up for us. He's been helping since day one. (Below, Alcantara, front in last row, lined up for training.)

What is training like for the Gregory fight? You've had a break from the cage. Are you back into the routine well?

Alcantara: Training for Gregory is training to go to war, just like any other war that I've been in. This time I've worked hard to get to a lighter weight: class, 170 pounds. I've never fought at 170 so I will be faster, stronger and healthier than I've ever been in this fight. My mind is clear and I'm still chasing this dream I want to fight in the UFC one day and I honestly think that I can beat any 170-pound man that walks this earth with proper training and God's grace. 

Who is helping you locally train? How is your mindset after a few years away. Are family and friends a support.

Alcantara: I'm back in routine training with Dave Foley Jarrett Kelton and Aldo Oreggia from One Hit (and) West Side. And (I'm training with) Jason Tafoya on striking and mitt work. I'm too old to go in the cage and risk injury or even my life just for nothing. The pay is minimal, I've actually lost money for taking time off of work and paying for blood work and test but to me this is an investment and me stopping Gregory will put me at the top of the division and hopefully move me closer to the Big Show. (Photo below shows Alcantara on the way to making the 170-pound weight.)

Alcantara: My children have been in my corner since day one. They root for daddy win or lose I've had a bad losing streak but it's time to change that and show my friends, family and even my enemies that you can't keep a good man down, that hard work and dedication pays off. I'm will to do anything and everything to win and walk up the ranks to get to the top ... Cisco kid.

My family is traveling from California to watch this fight so I have a lot of pressure to win but I look at it like this, regardless. I'm coming to win. I just need to make it pretty for them. I'm dedicating this fight to The Lord and Savior that has kept me alive and well through the hard times that life brings.

Back to us: Good luck Cisco on fight night. We extend that same wish to all the competitors. And thanks again Cisco, for speaking with us. I still recall your win over Mike Crisman a while back as one of the best fights I have seen.

Results to the last weekend's Fierce Fighting Championship card in Tooele are at Fighting Out of Net Facebook page (here).  Results included Antonio Arroyo stopping Trever Carlson in round one, David Putvin stopping Cy Nelson, and Nate Kearsley winning a majority decision over Tanner Cowan. In amateur title bouts, Aaron Thomson stopped Ali Farkhar and Zac Cavender stopped Justin Oswald.

ONE MORE THING: Professional Trever Bradshaw announced on social media that he's fighting on a SteelFist card on Dec. 9.

BOXING:

Two amateur cards. Saturday night, Oct. 7, at Foley's gym in Ogden, a host of amateur fights start at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6. Info in the poster below. 

And All Heart Gym has scheduled an amateur card on Oct. 21, doors open at 5 p.m, at the Legacy Events Center in Farmington. Here's a poster below. Brad Davidson will be announcing the card.