My life began on the streets. My mother took me from shelter to shelter and most of my earliest memories are of struggle, hunger and fear. It was when I wandered into a soup kitchen at age 5 that my life was changed forever. There I met Katie Andrews, an anything but average woman who saw something in me and took me under her wing.
She became a second mom to me; she went to parent teacher conferences, instilled values and morals and took me to weekly bible studies. She taught me to be a gentleman, to be humble and to be a man of integrity. She loved me like I was her child, I WAS her child. I call her mom, because she WAS my mom.
After living with Katie for about a year, my biological mother found a home for me and I went back to live with her. But the new home she had secured for us was in St. Louis, MO. I never lost contact with Katie and she would fly out to see me, or fly me to San Diego, CA.
Around the age of 18, I left home to live on my own and fell in with the wrong crowd. I began using drugs and severed ties with Katie, knowing she’d never approve. In 2009 I accidentally overdosed and that was the wake-up call that I needed.
I had been wrestling all my life so I took that chance to re-join the wrestling team at my college, made a vow to never touch another drug again and changed my life forever. I reconnected with my childhood savior and made plans to see her again soon.
Then Katie stopped calling and answering my calls, that’s when I found out she had passed away. She was the one who introduced me to sports; she bought me my first wrestling shoes. I knew I had to make her proud of me again.
Once wrestling was over, I went to an MMA gym so I could keep in shape. It was there I found BJJ and two months later began competing. Eventually I won the Midwest Grappling Championship, and then took Silver in the World Competition. The same year I started competing in MMA.
I most recently fought twice as main event prelims for Bellator’s historic cards: Bellator 131 and Bellator 170, which are two of the three most viewed cards in the promotions history. In addition, I’ve fought for the best kickboxing promotion in the world, Glory Kickboxing.
Another passion of mine is enriching the lives of children the way that my mom, Katie, had done for me. I am an ambassador for Fighting for Autism, a non-profit that offers a program to teach kids with autism martial arts as a form of therapy. I have also worked as a Special Education coach for children and hope to one day start my own non- profit.
I want people to know that they can dream as high as they want. There is no limit to your dreams, if you work really hard you will get there.