By: Carlos Acevedo

Chicago is definitely among the many cities with a vast amount of rising mixed martial arts (mma) fighters. At least once a month, various amateur and professional organizations host mma shows in which fighters compete to test their skills in hopes of one day earning the opportunity to fight on bigger mma shows like Bellator Fighting Championships and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Bellator Fighting Championships is a Chicago based professional mma organization that will have their next event on Friday, March 9 at The Venue located inside the Horseshoe Casino in Indiana.

One of the fighters on the card is Chicago’s very own Anthony Gomez, a local fighter who trains at Torres Martial Arts near the Illinois and Indiana border. Currently, Gomez has a professional record of 5 wins and 1 loss. He will be fighting against Minnesota native Travis Wiuff, a professional mma fighter with a record of 65 wins and 14 losses.

Some may think that Gomez is crazy for fighting against a much more experienced opponent, but he said that he is confident in his skills and doesn’t mind being the underdog.

Background
Gomez said that he started wrestling at George Washington High School because they didn’t have a good swim team. He then continued wrestling at Trinity junior college and North Central College in Naperville. “While in highs school, my brother Eric and his friends always took jujitsu classes and they would come home after practice and beat me up. They knew submission holds and I just knew how to wrestle. I get thrown around and choked out,” said Gomez.

Start in MMA
After college Gomez said that he decided to sign up for jujitsu and practice as a hobby. “One day I was asked if I wanted to take a fight, I said yes, I fought and won,. I then took three to four additional fights and now I practice mma and take this sport more seriously,” said Gomez. In 2001, Gomez said that his brother and friends introduced him to an Indiana professional mma fighter Miguel Torres.

“We rolled around a few times and he liked my fighting style. I liked his style and work ethic and have been training with Torres Martial Arts since I graduated from college,” said Gomez. In 2005, Gomez said that he lost his first professional fight by a split decision and mentions that he fought against an opponent who had 25 professional fights. “It was an opponent that nobody wanted to fight against, so I stepped up because I never back down from a challenge,” said Gomez.

Fight Against Wiuff
Gomez said that he was excited when his manager Eddie Jones was able to get him on the Bellator 60 fight card. Jones told Gomez that there was an opponent

Acknowledging the many more fights that Wiuff has, Gomez said, “ I look at it this way, he has 14 more losses than I do. I love challenges and enjoy doing things that people think I can’t do. I think many people favor Wiuff in this fight but he has never fought an opponent like me. He’s fought a lot of guys but he’s never fought me.”

In most of his previous fights, Gomez said that he has always fought against opponents that have a better fight record than he does.

To get to the next level in a fighting career, Gomez said that a fighter must be willing to fight anybody at anytime and anywhere.

A Fighter’s Mom
Having family and friends that support a fighter is definitely a huge plus. Nothing gets the a fighter excited and motivated about a fight then having a crowd cheering them on.

“When my father was alive he used to attend all my fights. Now my whole family is involved: cousins, aunts and uncles. My mom usually stays home because she doesn’t want to know about it. She doesn’t really approve of it because she prefers that I put my business degree to use. When I fight, she’ll usually stay at home and pray. It’s hard to keep it a secret because most of my family is involved and they talk about it when I have an upcoming fight,” said Gomez.

Gomez said that this his fight against Wiuff is definitely going to be a war and he hopes that the fans attend the event to see the fight.

“It’s going to be a good show,” ended Gomez.