HOUSTON, TX, August 31, 2011 – This past Monday we posted our interview with Alex Morono, an up-and-comer fighter set to make his return appearance for Legacy at LFC8 against today’s featured fighter, Evert Gutierrez.
For those of you that don’t know the former Legacy amateur 170 champion, Evert Gutierrez is a man of many priorities. A husband and father to a growing baby girl, he has also recently opened p a gym (Zion Martial Arts), and devotes time to his faith as well. Around all those responsibilities lies a desire to be a champion martial artist.
Evert has trained for a long, long time in order to hone his skills and become a top-level professional fighter. As a competitor in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Evert regularly competes in many of the top competitions all over Texas. As a Muay Thai practitioner, he not only trains in the art himself, but also mentors others as well.
To be quite honest, his work ethic is reminiscent of that of his younger, also hard-working opponent. These two are students of the game and fully committed to their craft. All that spells a very interesting matchup come September 16th.
Read on and learn more about Evert Gutierrez before he takes on Alex Morono at Legacy Fighting Championship 8.
Life is great! I have my family keeping me busy, and lately watching my brothers and daughter grow up is my biggest joy. These days the most exciting part of my week is watching my kid learn new things.
What’s it like balancing a new family with the new academy and all your own training?
Well my daughter is 10-months old now and she is very adventurous. She is a lot like me as a kid but a whole lot brighter. She keeps my wife and I very busy! Between work and training we try to make the most of the time we get together. I recently handed over all responsibility of Zion to Renan Chavez in order to appropriately prepare myself for this upcoming bout. Other than that, I am working very hard training and learning from the very best in each discipline.
How do you prioritize all your obligations?
It’s all time management and sacrifices. I want to be a champion at anything I do, and if that means giving up certain pleasures in order to achieve my goals then it shall be done.
As an amateur in MMA, you only took one fight right? Despite that, people have touted you as a future star. How do you feel about that?
I am actually 2-0 as an amateur. I had my first MMA contest in Sulfur, Louisiana back in 2008. When Brett Boyce initially offered me the title fight I was very nervous but confident in my abilities as I have been competing in some sort of combat sport since the age of 13. As far as what the future holds, only God and time will tell. All I know is that I have poured many years of blood, sweat, and tears into the martial arts way of life training hard and learning as much as I can from different instructors and disciplines in order to become a champion.
Grappling is a big part of my training, as in MMA a great percentage of the bouts end up on the ground. What better place to improve than in grappling competitions? I also love the history of the martial art itself. Teaching Muay Thai is something I have enjoyed doing kais, especially watching people progress and being able to pass on knowledge. This is something you desire as an instructor, especially the little technical details that take years to learn but make the difference in winning or losing a fight. That is something that as a student myself I feel is a must. I feel teaching also helps me as a fighter because any knowledge I pass on to anyone is something I know will work in competition.
At this point, what do you feel your biggest strengths are as a fighter? What aspect of your game do you need or want to improve most?
My biggest strength is Jesus Christ’s grace for me. I am not a perfect man and have many faults but it’s his patience and influence in my life that keep me moving forward. I want to keep improving all-around. If you look at the biggest names in our sport they are always learning and evolving improving in every aspect.
Looking at LFC 8, you’ll be fighting Alex Morono in your debut fight as a pro. What do you think about him as a fighter?
From what I have seen he is a technical fighter, and so am I. This fight will be a great test of both of our abilities.
Did you watch his fight with Jeff Rexroad? I know you used to train with Jeff so what did you think of Morono based on that performance?
It was a great fight.
How do you feel you guys match up heading into this fight?
We match up well. Like I said, this will be a great display of martial arts. As a strength, I rely on my hard work and dedication – putting in everything I have to make sure I am well prepared and in top shape for this contest, as well as having great training partners that push me every day to become better than I was yesterday.
How would you like to win this fight?
I want to make it an exciting fight that ignites the crowd. I want to win by either submission or KO.
See you September 16th.
What’s next for you after this fight? Will we see you back in Legacy again?
That is up to Mick/Legacy and Brett Boyce. I hope so!
Any last words? Anybody you want to thank?
I Thank Jesus Christ for everyday he allows me on this Earth. I also want to send a shout out to all my coaches because as the saying goes “it takes a village to raise a man”… well it takes a city to build a fighter.. Fadi Khouri my long time mentor and Jiujitsu coach, Renan Chavez, Kru Pong, Reed Shelger, and last but not least, all the guys at Paradigm – Lee King my striking coach, Brian Melancon, Mike Bronzoulis, Jeff Rexroad, and all my MMA coaches and training partners.
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