With months of training behind them, three local fighters are set to make their mark on the national scene <\/p>\n
Three fighters from Orillia\u2019s Big Country MMA will step into the cage next week, representing their hometown on one of Canada\u2019s biggest amateur mixed martial arts stages.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Aug. 9, the trio will compete at BTC 31 in Oshawa, a stacked card featuring some of the top amateur fighters in the country. Among them is 19-year-old Jeff Tomaszewski, who will face Kingston\u2019s Chase Stevenson in a highly anticipated matchup between two battle-tested contenders.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a big opportunity for us to show what we\u2019ve been building here in Orillia,\u201d Tomaszewski said. \u201cI\u2019ve lived here my whole life, and to be able to represent my hometown and my gym means a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Tomaszewski, his MMA journey began with family.<\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up watching The Ultimate Fighter with my dad. He was always big into MMA,\u201d he said. \u201cI started out wrestling for Mariposa Wrestling Club because there was nothing here in Orillia at the time. When Big Country opened, I was there on the first day.\u201d<\/p>\n
After three years of training, Tomaszewski has built a well-rounded game but says his heart lies with Muay Thai.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like Muay Thai because I\u2019m a Thai coach and I went to Thailand,\u201d he explained. \u201cI love the culture and the excitement of it. I also really love Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu because it\u2019s more technical, but if I had to pick one, it\u2019s Muay Thai.\u201d<\/p>\n
He and his teammates have been deep in an eight-week fight camp, training up to twice a day.<\/p>\n
\u201cDiet\u2019s on point, sleep\u2019s on point, training\u2019s on point,\u201d he said. \u201cPreparation breeds confidence. As long as you prepare, you\u2019re always going to be nervous, but it\u2019s about what you do with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lincoln Mullins, 18, is also competing on the Oshawa card. He discovered MMA as a way to push himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to mess around wrestling with buddies, and I\u2019d always get beat. It kind of played with my confidence,\u201d he admitted. \u201cThen I met a guy at the gym who trained at Big Country, and I checked it out. I\u2019ve been hooked ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Mullins, MMA has been a transformative experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s got me in the best shape of my life, and my confidence is through the roof,\u201d he said. \u201cJust knowing you can handle yourself in a violent situation changes the way you see things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leading up to BTC 31, Mullins has been sharpening his grappling and mental game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been focusing on more violence and intent. I\u2019m going to come out swinging more and be less timid,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I train hard enough, the fight is the easy part. It\u2019s almost a celebration.\u201d<\/p>\n
The third Orillia fighter on the card, 21-year-old Sid Storer, brings a wrestling-heavy style and years of competition experience to the cage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wrestled as a kid and always loved competing,\u201d Storer said. \u201cAfter high school and football ended, I didn\u2019t have a sport to play. My little brother was doing MMA, so I joined a gym, and I\u2019ve been hooked ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n
Storer trains while working full-time in demolition and junk removal, balancing gruelling hours with long training days.<\/p>\n
\u201cA typical day is an hour and a half of cardio after work, then the gym for technique, then strength and conditioning,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been working a lot on cardio for this fight and keeping my mental stability in check. That\u2019s huge.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Storer, MMA has provided more than just competition; it\u2019s become an anchor.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing to the gym every day gives you peace of mind,\u201d he said. \u201cNo matter how bad your day is, you know you\u2019re going to leave feeling better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Storer hopes to turn pro in the next year or two.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m willing to fight anywhere,\u201d he said. \u201cThe goal is to go pro full-time, and I believe I\u2019ll be there soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Big Country MMA co-owner Jacklynn Tregunno says this event is a chance to spotlight not only these three fighters but also Orillia\u2019s growing MMA scene.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With months of training behind them, three local fighters are set to make their mark on the national…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[33201,49,48,641,638,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-48155","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-big-country-mmalincoln-mullinsjeff-tomaszewskijacklynn-tregunnosid-storer","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-fighting","12":"tag-mma","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}