Jordan Beaver has been in the MMA world for quite some time.<\/p>\n
Just a couple months ago, Beaver made his return to the cage after a nine year hiatus. Beaver got into the sport when he was just a boy, coming from a troubled youth.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve been fighting off and on since 2010, so quite a while,\u201d Beaver said. \u201cI’ve walked away from the sport multiple times over the years. I got in a lot of trouble. MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) gave me a healthy avenue to stay out of trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beaver said that through the years he would fight for a little while, and stay active in his home gym\u2014Ironworks Gym in Grass Valley\u2014but wouldn\u2019t always take fights.<\/p>\n
Beaver\u2019s last fight took place June 20. He is a professional and never did any amateur fights; he went straight to the head of the class. The June fight went great, said Beaver. He beat his opponent Justin Baesman in a mere 57 seconds.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Before June) I had my last fight back in 2017, and that was a title fight and it went really well,\u201d Beaver said. \u201cI won. I took some damage in it, (but) I just was in a weird place in life. I wasn’t fully dedicated to the sport; my heart just wasn’t into it how it used to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
With time comes change, and with that, perspective. Beaver said he walked away from the sport altogether, not feeling like he was living his best life. He saw himself going down a wayward path and fighting in Mixed Martial Arts provided him an outlet.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, it’s like it’s the closest thing to being a gladiator as you can (get),\u201d Beaver, who turns 38 next month, said. \u201cI guess maybe it’s the thrill seeker in me. Maybe it’s the adrenaline junkie. Maybe it’s just the alpha male in me that wants to challenge myself constantly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beaver said his record states that he has finished all opponents in the first round, with maybe one exception, but when his mind is locked into the fight, he is looking to make quick work of it.<\/p>\n
After nine years absent in the cage, Beaver admitted there was slight trepidation but it wasn\u2019t anything he hadn\u2019t handled before.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m a different person than I was nine years ago,\u201d said Beaver. \u201cLife’s kind of hardened me, I guess, over those nine years (but) I had a lot of confidence because I was able to train really hard for this fight. I had a really good camp.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ironworks has provided Beaver with a solid training base with owner Curtis Pracht giving him and others a space wherein they could train and prepare.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I was able to train so hard and so consistently\u2026when you’re doing your walk up to the cage you have all these thoughts going through your head,\u201d said Beaver. \u201cYou can rely on the fact that you did everything you could do. You trained as hard as you could. That’s all the confidence you need when you’re actually stepping in there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beaver is a native of Grass Valley, having attended Bear River for high school. He also spends his time working for a local tree company, utilizing his hard-earned muscles to help clear pesky trees and brush while helping to beautify the land.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Preparing for a fight, he said he certainly knows what he is in for and said some of his life experience has prepared him for his fighting career and has found a new resurgence through his faith.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve experienced a lot on the other side of the tracks, and I put myself through a lot of bad things, but to sum up I got baptized back in December of last year, and it changed my life giving to God,\u201d said Beaver. \u201cYou can actually change your life around and by coming back here, I had an opportunity to show that to everybody and kind of be an inspiration, in a sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
However you want to categorize it, Beaver said he has had a knack for fighting all his life, only now he has made a profession of it. The inspiration of redemption, he said, is what ultimately led him to the cage again. He sees it as a way to tell his story.<\/p>\n
Beaver has no scheduled upcoming fights and is heading soon to Thailand to continue his training and is dedicated to keeping his rage in the cage.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s something I’ve just had a talent in most of my life, and I’m blessed to have that talent and to be able to do it in a controlled environment which is very important,\u201d Beaver said. \u201cI don’t endorse or encourage violence outside of the cage. I’m actually a very standoffish person. I hate confrontation, but in the cage I can let everything else out.\u201d<\/p>\n