DALLAS, TX, October 11, 2012 – Let’s get one thing out of the way before we go any further… This upcoming story is not about proven statistics in MMA or even bragging rights or war stories for that matter. What you are about to read is just the simple story of a young man, Philip Maravilla, who’s fighting for the second time this weekend at Xtreme Fight Club 3 in Mesquite this weekend.
A student with an eye on becoming a radiologic technologist, Philip has other priorities besides fighting. He says he’s usually face-deep in school work and also gets by as a bartender in a Thai and Sushi place in Dallas called Zenna but he does love MMA and he wants to see how far he can go.
“I figured once I’m done with school I can break bones as an MMA fighter,” he says.
Training out of SFS MMA for the better part of the last three and a half years, he’s already begun the process and has one fight on his record, a decision loss to Hugo Delafuente at Legacy Amateur Series 5 in August 2011.
“The hardest thing I’ve had to deal with (in MMA) is recognizing how much better I could have performed in instances where I lost,” he says about that fight. “I’ve learned the hard way to never underestimate any opponent. That lesson has helped me improve mentally and physically as a fighter.”
“I feel improved in all aspects of my fight game from my wrestling and jits to my stand up. The biggest improvement however is that I keep my hands up now. <laughs> I’m sure you remember how bad I was at that with my last fight. I have to give credit to my teammate Rob Butler though. He’s been there for me every day to help me improve and prepare for this fight. Without him I wouldn’t be as good as I am today. I was very inconsistent when I started but I’ve tried to change that over the years. Training camp has been awesome. Rob has really put it on me and my other teammate Abel Castillo to help us prepare for our fights. What’s motivating me is to simply win and beat my opponent. Of course I do it for my gym, family, and friends, but in the end I’m in there fighting for my sake and want to prove that I belong in this sport.”
He’ll look to score the win at Xtreme Fight Club 3 against Will Hastings, another fighting looking to get into the win column for the second time in a row after starting his own career with two decision losses.
“I feel like this is a good matchup for me and I will be ready to take the fight wherever it needs to go. I want to thank my team and school for all that they have done to prepare me for war. I’ve prepared myself mentally and I can’t wait to show what I’ve got.”
