As I sit here at LAX, I have been thinking what is it about MMA that I love so much. Quite simple, it’s two combatants going at each other specializing in various arts. A fight in some ways is a work of art. I have five people that I would love to talk about in this summer piece. I have been traveling a lot this summer and after seeing Matt Manzanares fight, it’s time to write my story.
My first journey took me to Chicago, Illinois. After having a hellish time waiting for my flight, I arrived in Chicago at 5:30 a.m. then slept a few hours to get the rental van for the people going to Atlantic City. At 10:30 pm we made our way to Atlantic City. We're team 'Top Notch' which is located in Villa Park, Illinois and is ran by Kru Macario Ramos. This is also the home of UFC Featherweight Contender Ricardo Lamas and UFC Vet Shamar Bailey.
In the van was the family of David “Rock Steady” Rohn and fighters Alex Short Dawg Ramos, Marcos Martinez, Charlie Sandoval, Michael Bartolomucci, Ray “Sharktopus” Bunker and Dirty Dave Lamoso. One of Chicago's most respected referee’s alsovcame along. David’s wife Megan and son Patrick along with family friend Valarie Dutton drove four hours to Chicago to meet up with the van that was going to take us on our 14 hour trip to Atlantic City.
The first fighter I would like to talk about is Ray Bunker. I would like for people to acknowledge that Ray is currently in boot camp and he is in the process to become a United States Marine. If you readers could 'friend' or 'like' the pages of the fighters or families. Ray is from Bensenville,IL. Ray just started training in 2006 and it wasn’t until 2012 that he began his MMA career.
When he began school, Ray was bullied starting at a young age. He was even thrown into dumpsters. The reason that he was picked on was because he was the fat. Being he always got beat up a lot, you figure he would finally defend himself but he never fought back unless he had to to survive the beating.
Then one day while in school, he decided to join the wrestling team. Once he started he didn’t want to stop. His senior year he earned 'All State' honors in Illinois, which is considered one of the best state programs in the country.
When I asked about how it feels to fight, he smirked and said 'I am not afraid to fight, I just get nervous'. He also goes on the record by stating “Fighting and wrestling saved my life, it absolutely has defined me as a person, waking up in the morning knowing I have to work hard”.
His dream is one day to become the 'UFC' flyweight champion. When you ask him about being a part of 'Top Notch' and his style of fighting, his smile lights up. He respects his opponents and their styles, but he loves to 'ground and pound'. That’s what he has been known to do in Chicago. Since joining 'Top Notch', he admits he has become a better person and fighter.
His coaches influence has him believing anything is possible. Knowing that they (coaches) believe in him keeps the fire in his heart burning. I asked him what it's like to have Ricardo Lamas in the same gym and on the same team. He replied “That Ric is someone I look up to for how hard he works. For Ray, his goals and dreams are to grow not only as a fighter, but as a person and to reach his highest potential.
When we were concluding this interview, I asked him 'what do you fight for?' He said 'I fight for my grandmother who passed away and for all the kids out there who have dreams and people told them they couldn’t do it. Even though 'Sharktopus' is an ammy and already has a record of 5-1, he is still becoming a better fighter.
In the mean time, 'Sharktopus' is training to become a Marine. May God watch over him. He is making us all proud with his sacrifice.
Watch for 'Part 2' of 'Summer Of Testament' to follow soon.
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See you at the fights!
