A chat with MMA pro Carson Gregory, Aguirre to box in March

Saturday night in Salt Lake City, SteelFist has an MMA card at The Union Event Center, 7 p.m., 235 N. 500 West, that headlines pro welterweights Carson Gregory against Craig Grove. The co-main matches Eric Iman against Joshua Brown. In other pro bouts, both middleweight fights, Trever Bradshaw fights Joe Maama and Tracy Hardy meets Marco Sanchez. In a 265 pound amateur promotional title fight, Dakota Witkopf meets Kent Mafileo. Card is here.

We chatted with Gregory, 6-1, as he prepares to meet Grove:

UFG: Carson, I want to get a little personal here. You suffered your first professional loss, then you took on a tough, spoiler fighter in Kerry Lattimer and you got the win. How is it coming back from a loss? Do you have a pragmatic attitude, or do you have to deal with the subsequent feelings of setback, and get right in your fighter's mind, as much as learning new ways to improve?

Gregory: It was tough losing to Clay in the fact that I didn't fight at my best. It's one thing to lose when you go out there and do the best you can, but it's humiliating losing because you choked and looked like a fool in doing so. Leading into the Lattimer fight I had the thought of having another mental breakdown and choking mid-fight. I was constantly pushing thoughts of self doubt out of my head, even during the match. It wasn't until weeks after I won the Lattimer fight (that) I regained my confidence back. I learned that the key to moving past a loss like that, is to not obsess over it and focus on what you can change.

UFG: What do you know about Groves? How is training going?

Gregory: Groves is a gamer and I definitely understand why he gets the fight name of "Caveman." He fights violently and he definitely has strength behind his punches. But that being said he also has the fight IQ of a caveman. He's done great at capitalizing on mistakes and pulling out the win, anyone can do that. I respect him for those wins but I think he will soon find out that I'm on a whole other level than his past opponents.

Training has been great. We have focused on getting back to our roots. Reconnecting so to speak. We have learned that less is more, and technique will always triumph over physical strength. I feel confident in my physical abilities as well as my skills as a martial artist.

UFG: Where do you want to be in a year?

Gregory: I would love to be fighting full time in a year in a higher level promotion, such as Bellator or UFC! Supporting my family and living the dream, being one of the world's greatest fighters is all that I want in life!

Thanks Carson, and good luck this weekend. We extend those same wishes to all the fighters on Saturday night.

BOXING UPDATE: Utah super-welterweight Christian Aguirre will be back in the ring next week. He fights Thomas Hill on March 16 in Dallas, Texas. ... Saturday there is an amateur card at the South Salt Lake Police Athletic League.

BACK TO MMA: Speaking of Lattimer, he fights in Hawaii on Saturday against Robby Ostovich for Trinity Kings promotion's title. Card is here.

Two weekends ago some local fighters competed in Idaho at Front Street Fights 18. Bryce Edminister, 145 pounds, lost a very competitive pro bout against Cody Sattler via majority decision. Carl Dieckmann of Utah retired after round one due to injury to his ribs against Emilio Trevino, 205 pounds, and Andrew Cruz won a promotional pro belt, 145 pounds, stopping Drew Brokenshire in round 3. Card results are here.

Talking with MMA fighters Carl Dieckmann and Ben Guymon

Last week we interviewed Ed Whitmore, who is fighting Carl Dieckmann for the 185-pound SteelFist pro title this Saturday at the Legacy Events Center in Farmington. This week, we chatted with Dieckmann (he's the one sans a shirt in the above football photo) about the fight and what it's like to come back after a few years out due to a long-term injury from football.

Dieckmann: "While playing footbalI broke my Fibula and Tibula. After my surgery to fix the damage I developed compartment syndrome. Long story short; my body tried to kill my leg off. 

"I am stubborn and decided I wanted to fight and continue pushing myself. Boxing and wrestling and jitz all the time., while adapting a smarter way to train, so as to not reinjure myself!! ... I love combat, I wanted to compete and was offered a fight by Blake Sprouse! 

"I admire the older guys, who fight to fight!! ... I never really research whom I fight, I rely on my knowledge skills and toughness and go out and truly see who comes out on top!! (The gentlemen in the above photo) have been my rock and rebuild crew!! #Oilerforlife #Gofightwin #BTW

Whitmore versus Dieckmann looks to be a great bout, and we wish both good luck.

A CHAT WITH AMATEUR BEN GUYMON

Also on Saturday's card is a three-round amateur bout between Box Elder County's Ben Guymon, who trains with Pat Reeves' Pack at Foley's gym in Ogden. His opponent in the 145 pound bout is Kyle Frazier of One Hit MMA. 

Ben, seen working out with fellow Pack member, amateur Eric Munoz, was kind enough to spare a few minutes to talk about the bout. 

Guymon: "I've been training 6 days a week for this fight. I do drills on Monday, spar on Wednesday and grapple  Thursdays. I then have a mitt session on Friday. ...

"I also lift kettle bells every other day, and run or do some form of cardio on the days I don't lift. My trainers are Patrick Reeves, Billy Zumbrun and Dave Foley. My training partners are Eric Munoz, Geovanni Gavilanez, Todd Pacheco and Justin Roberts. ...

"(My opponent's) name is Kyle Frazier. He trains at One Hit MMA. He's a wrestler and a kick boxer. ... I define my style as freestyle. There is a little bit of everything in what I do. I constantly work on being a complete fighter. I got bullied every day when I was a kid. As soon as I could, I started in Martial Arts. I began with Shaolin Kung Fu and a variety of other Martial arts, including Muay Thai and Judo. ... 

"When I was 17 I saw a couple of UFC cards. I thought it looked fun, so I sought out some trainers and got to work! ... I would love to make fighting my career, and will work myself to the bone to get there! ... Georges St. Pierre is the fighter I most admire. I always thought it was cool how much respect he showed his opponents. Yet he was still dangerous."

Thanks Ben, I'd like to chat with him more about how learning MMA helped him deal with childhood bullying. We wish Ben and Kyle the best on Saturday night.

A FEW MORE STRAIGHT RIGHTS ...

Munoz, by the way, is set to fight in Ogden in April. ... There's a Brigham City amateur boxing card on Feb. 25. Dave Foley of Foley's gym provided me a list of gym fighters who will compete. They are: Carson Matthews, 12, 95 pounds; Lizbeth Herrera, 17, 147 pounds; Alex Treadway, 18, heavyweight; Luis Cornejo, 16, 135 pounds, Vinnie Apodaca, 10, 86 pounds; and Cole Kunzler, 17, 120 pounds. Other gyms with fighters are invited to email me their fighters competing: doug1963@gmail.com

Finally, professional boxer Josh Morales left the hospital today after being seriously ill for a while. There's a Go Fund Me account for those wishing to help here.

The February SteelFist MMA card; about the American Boxing Organization

UPDATE: We just learned that Farmington fighter Trever Bradshaw is fighting a professional boxing match in Phoenix tonight at the Celebrity Theater. Trever will be boxing Texan Adrian Taylor at 185 pounds. MORE BELOW

The American Boxing Organization is a regional organization that has been very active of late, trying its best to bring boxing to many cities and develop a sort of farm system for up and coming fighters to gain a title and hopefully move up further. Utah's Jose Haro won an ABO title in Layton last year.

The photo above is of the newest ABA champion Achour Esho, 13-0, who won an ABO junior middleweight title Jan. 21 in Chicago. They have fights planned next month as well. I chatted with Juan Curiel, the CEO of the ABO, and asked him to tell our readers a little about the organization:

CURIEL: All we want to do is make a difference. I have the only organization in the world with former Olympian, world champions and hall of famers on the board. We have a program that will help indigent fighters and at-risk youth get back into society with relationship in social services and law enforcement. ...

("Among those involved are) Ernie Brown former amateur boxer, Leeroy Murphy former Gold Medalist and former IBF Cruiserweight World Champion Luis Mateo."

MORE FROM CURIEL: "Achour Esho fought Anthony Abruzzesse for the American ABO region Jr. Middleweight Championship crown January 21st at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago Illinois in front of great boxing fans. Future cards are  February 10th in Tijuana Mexico, with Ron Cruz from California fighting for the American ABO InterContinental Super Middleweight Championship crown. Also, February 24th Austin, Texas, to be announced."

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The ABO championship fight card in Layton with Haro last year was a great night for boxing. Also, we forgot to mention, as a reader commented, that former Olympic medalist and world champ pro boxer Montell Griffin is also associated with the ABO.

MMA news: The next SteelFist MMA card is Feb. 18 in Farmington, There's three pro title bouts: Trever Carlson versus Eric Wahlin, Anthony Johnson versus Jeremiah Guzman, and Carl Dieckmann versus Ed Whitmore. Dieckmann is making a comeback after a while off and Whitmore is a very tough opponent. All three bouts are excellent matchups. A couple of amateur title bouts include Justin Oswald versus Cole Shafer and Derrick Bates verses Michael O'Laskey.

Ben Guymon, a Top of Utah amateur, faces Kyle Frazier, and a women's amateur bout matches Lyza Hermosillo versus Heidi Wollebaek. There's several more scheduled bouts. More information at the promotion's website. I'll try to interview a couple of the fighters as the date draws near.

ONE MORE THING: MMA amateur woman Aubree Thompson, who used to fight out of Utah, has been in Salem, Ore., a while and has remained successful in the cage. She fights this Saturday in Eugene, Ore., in an amateur title fight against Cheyanne Vlismas. The 130-pound Thompson is hearing impaired and goes by the nickname The Silent Assassin.

BACK TO THE UPDATE NEWS: I chatted with Trever Bradshaw today. This will be his second boxing bout, although MMA is his main concern. "My focus is clearly on MMA but I like to stay active," he told me in a phone conversation from Phoenix. In his sole boxing match earlier this year, Trever stopped Utahn Mike Crisman in Layton, a veteran MMA fighter who has also boxes professionally. Taylor is 3-0 as a pro.

Bradshaw is a striker in MMA so moving to boxing is not difficult for him. He was offered the fight only about 24 hours ago and after blood tests hopped on a plane for Phoenix. We wish him the best of luck tonight.