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Traven \u201cBaba\u201d Wailehua puts A1 Combat fighter Mike Medina in a submission hold at Sacramento State\u2019s Battle at the Hive on March 7, 2025.<\/p>\n
Vanessa Gomez<\/p>\n
Traven \u201cBaba\u201d Wailehua was considering dropping out of Wartburg College in Iowa before landing on an opportunity in Sacramento.<\/p>\n
After learning about Combat Sports and Martial Arts University, or Combat U, at Sacramento State, \u201cI decided to transfer, and it\u2019s been two years now and I love it here,\u201d said the third-year kinesiology major.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sacramento State President Luke Wood, an amateur boxer and self-proclaimed \u201cfan of mixed martial arts,\u201d conceived of Combat U more than two years ago. The initial idea was to create a detailed pathway for students looking to become professional mixed martial arts, or MMA, fighters to train with elite coaches and receive a college education at the same time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In an April 2024 video<\/a> titled \u201cCombat U \u2014 Fighting For You,\u201d Wood said that the new program aims to \u201c(create) an opportunity for those to go to college who may have never thought of themselves as college material.\u201d His time spent in boxing gyms exposed him to many people who were trying to improve themselves physically and mentally, but didn\u2019t see college as part of their path.<\/p>\n Wailehua was awarded a scholarship funded by private donors and became the first Sacramento State student to win an MMA match at Battle at the Hive, an amateur series held at the university. \u201cCollege is college to me,\u201d he said regarding transferring. \u201cI get to do what I love to do. I train here at Sac State, and then I train with the professionals down at Team Alpha Male.\u201d<\/p>\n Under the umbrella of the university\u2019s athletics department, but technically a club sport, Combat U is a partnership between the university and two private gyms: Ultimate Fighting Championship Hall of Famer Urijah Faber\u2019s Ultimate Fitness and former professional boxer Brandon Gonzales\u2019 Flawless Boxing & Fitness. The club welcomes people at all levels, from experienced fighters looking to become professionals to those who practice for recreational purposes. Many of Combat U\u2019s coaches and staff are affiliated with Ultimate Fitness and its MMA organization, Team Alpha Male.<\/p>\n Wood also credits student Aranjot Kaur with helping create Combat U. The third-year business operations major, who is currently the president of Associated Students, said she spoke to Wood about creating an MMA club at the university.<\/p>\n \u201cI have been training MMA for seven years now,\u201d said Kaur, who also serves as the president of the MMA club. \u201cWhen I enrolled in Sacramento State, it was because it was so close to Faber\u2019s gym, and I was training there. That gave me the idea of talking to President Wood about an MMA club.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Combat U officially opened in fall 2024. Students can enroll in boxing, jiu jitsu, kickboxing, MMA and wrestling. Each discipline has its own president and officers, like other sports clubs. The wrestling club existed before it was folded into Combat U. Joseph Jimenez, a third-year kinesiology major and the club\u2019s president, said he appreciates the addition of new disciplines. \u201cWe\u2019re making the wrestling club into something greater,\u201d Jimenez said, crediting Combat U\u2019s director of operations, Hector Fajardo, for some of his club\u2019s improvements. \u201cWe get CPR training and certification, student safety \u2014 we get educated on those types of things.\u201d<\/p>\n Kaur said around 500 students are enrolled in Combat U this semester. The coaches of each discipline teach students from all levels of experience. Students who want to practice recreationally and those who want to compete train in the same facilities, but the more competitive students have additional practice times at the off-campus gyms.<\/p>\n \u201cThe club\u2019s role is to get everyone involved in martial arts. Even if you\u2019re a competitor, our main goal is to have fun,\u201d said Cody Linton, who coaches Sacramento State\u2019s wrestling team. Linton, who also coaches professional MMA fighters, said a challenge for him at Combat U is learning how to effectively coach people from all skill levels. \u201cI\u2019ve had to learn how to read the room. \u2026 Trying to find out how to bring out the best in a person is completely different from coaching a high-level athlete,\u201d Linton said.<\/p>\n Combat U has hosted two events in the past year: the boxing-centered Causeway Classic and the grappling and MMA showdown Battle at the Hive. As a club sport, the fights organized are separate from typical NCAA matchups between schools. While plenty of colleges have wrestling and boxing clubs, the other disciplines have a narrower field of options. \u201cWhen it comes to these matches, it\u2019s more of a case-by-case level,\u201d said Fajardo, who is a professional MMA fighter. \u201cThe grappling matches are a bit easier \u2026 but kickboxing and MMA are much more difficult because collegiate kickboxing is nonexistent, collegiate MMA is nonexistent.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In the Battle at the Hive, Fajardo said that he had to search for individual fighters who were college students or at least college age. \u201cI had a fighter that was from San Jose State, another one from Fresno State, a (San Francisco State) alumni \u2014 it\u2019s a matter of literally going out and looking for these people.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Members of Sacramento State\u2019s Combat U practice at the campus facility on Oct. 14, 2025. All disciplines are open to all skill levels.Courtesy of Sacramento State Hornet<\/p>\n