GALVESTON, TX, July 25, 2012 – The path fighters take into mixed martial arts (MMA) competition can come in many forms. Some start with wrestling or BJJ and eventually find themselves in the cage. Others watch popular shows like The Ultimate Fighter on TV and find themselves in the gym while even more begin in traditional martial arts and evolve towards this realistic application of their skill sets as a test of their craft.
Then there are guys like Galveston’s Ralph Garcia of Galveston’s CSI team who took the more unconventional path into competition.
They don’t call him the “Plexin’ Texan’ for nothing.
“I started as a street fighter just ready to smash somebody,” he says. “I found some underground fights and trained with a team I made up called ‘Team Cut-Throat’ with my boy Ryan Hollis and a few others guys. After doing a couple of those underground fights that my cousin Flip and Barber Byeli hosted, I was introduced to BJJ by my cousin Clemente.”
It was then that he got his first taste of training technique as opposed to just trying to be tough and knock guys out in practice.
“I feel like I’ve grown so much as a fighter and person. Now I train BJJ and Muay Thai. I have a great coach and a great team at CSI. I’m in the best shape of my life. My cousin Clemente has helped me so much and Coach Evan (Gideon) pushes me every day.”
Make no mistake about it though, Ralph still leans on that street mentality but has learned to channel it while learning more and more about what it takes to be a legit fighter.
“I’m exciting, I’m explosive, and I try to be very entertaining. I may even be a little cocky but it helps drive me. I want to be great like (Anderson) Silva one day.”
That road began in with a split decision victory over Eric Thompson at Cage Combat 6 in November 2011.
“That fight didn’t go as expected,” he says. ‘I was expecting to finish it but it went all three rounds. It was a good hard fight. I learned I had to train harder from it and I’ve been doing that ever since then.”
Starting as a middleweight, he’s continued to cut down and will now be fighting at his newest lightest weight of 155 lbs. this coming Friday night at Cage Combat 10.
“I’m excited about this fight and fighting Kolton Englund. I’ve seen him before and he has good boxing and fights hard. That’s exactly the type of opponent I want. Plus my girlfriend is pregnant and I’m expecting my firstborn in six months so I want to keep on winning. I have to win this fight. I want my hand raised at the end so I can show the world I’m a Monsta Beast Killa and I can go get those (title) belts soon. This Is what I want to do for the rest of my life, and now I want to make everyone proud of me.”
