17 Seconds
Local mixed martial artist captures title
With a triumphant battle cry he pummels the air. Blood drips into his
eye as he stomps across the cage. He snarls, flexes, sweat falling in heavy
drops.A few feet away his fallen opponent can only watch, incredulously,
on his back and listen to the cheers of the crowd. This is no time to be
humble.
By James Draper
Staff Writer
17 seconds earlier, the bell sounded and Kevin “The Angel of Death” Aguilar
leapt toward his opponent, Marcus “Boogeyman” Andrusia.
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| More than 1,000 East Texans pack Maude Cobb Convention & Activity
Center in Longview Saturday night for Bad Intentions 3, four hours
of brutal hand-to-hand combat. Aaron May/Mirror photo |
A hurried kick, a flurry of blows and Andrusia was staggering. Lashing
out, he connected, cutting Aguilar above the eye. But before the Lake Charles
fighter could take advantage of the hit, his opponent – a Harmony
High School graduate – was on him, driving him to the mat, battering
him in a hail of blows.
The pair had been alotted five 3-minute rounds for the final fight at
Bad Intentions 3 Saturday night at Longview’s Maude Cobb Convention & Activity
Center, but before the crowd could even get to their feet the fight was
over.
Technical Knockout. TKO. Referee Stoppage.
Over.
In the days and weeks leading up to the fight, Aguilar had been working
on both his body and his bravado – he’d faced Andrusia before,
beaten him, and told himself, over and over, that he was the better fighter.
“I know there’s an opponent thinking he can beat me, and I’m
going to prove him wrong,” Aguilar said. “I’m going to
outwork him. I’m going to prove that he’s not going to be better
than me.”
Hardly lacking in confidence, all Aguilar needed was the workout, and
he found it, as always, at Longview Mixed Martial Arts.
Take the name at face value – MMA is a hodgepodge of boxing, wrestling,
Karate, kickboxing, Tae Kwon Do, Brazilian jiujitsu and any other fighting
style a competitor brings to the ring.
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| East Texas mixed martial artist Kevin Aguilar, 21, puts on his game
face a half-hour before vying for the 155-Pound Texas Amateur Cage
Fighter title. James Draper/Mirror photo |
With no background in any martial art, Aguilar brought only a desire to
fight when he met trainer Wade Pomeroy a little more than two years ago.
Like many others hitting the mats at Longview MMA, Aguilar had seen Ultimate
Fighting on TV and wanted to try it out.
“I checked it out the first day, tried it, haven’t stopped
doing it since,” Aguilar said. The thrill of battle hasn’t
yet worn off for the 21-year-old, but in his mind, he’s more hero
than bloodthirsty barbarian – “I work at Hollywood Theaters.
I’m just a regular person during the day, but when it comes nighttime,
it’s just a whole other story.”
Five nights a week Aguilar is in the gym, pushing through grueling Caveman
workouts – “It’s designed to break you down and build
you up” – skill training in stand-up techniques and grappling,
sparring practice, time on the punching bags and more brutal conditioning.
“I’m stronger than I’ve ever been,” Aguilar says
simply.
Aguilar got his basics from Kilgore College, but his focus his now on the
fight. The education is almost over – with stitches, a broken nose,
a cauliflower ear already on his transcript the next 10 to 15 fights will
tell the tale in 2010.
Going pro will bring the bigger matches and real payouts on the pro circuits.
A good fighter can expect 10 years, Aguilar said, and then he hopes to
transition into training others in his own school.
Until then, he’s found his niche in the chain-link hexagon of MMA.
“That’s where all the action happens. It’s unforgiving
sometimes. It can be your friend; it can be your enemy. It can work with
you; it can work against you,” he said. “It just takes a certain
mindset, a certain type to do this. You step foot in that cage, stare at
your opponent across the mat and know that y’all are about to fight.
“You’re thinking to yourself, ‘Man, what am I doing
in here?’”
Minutes before Saturday’s fight for the 155-Pound Texas Amateur
Cage Fighter Championship belt, the crowd in Maude Cobb had waited, eagerly,
while the two fighters made their way to the cage...
...Continued in this week's edition of The Gladewater Mirror.
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