NEWS

Denville fighter heading to Tokyo for next bout

CRAIG DIETEL Special to the Daily Record

DENVILLE – The sounds of gloves hitting padding, and the grunts of eager students, fill the air at Pure Mixed Martial Arts.

It’s just another Thursday night for them and their teacher, Andy Main, who co-owns the dojo with his brother, Mike Main.

Locally, Main, 26, who is proficient in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, is known as a mentor, one whose advice and instruction is gleaned from his successes on the international and national Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) stage.

An extreme combat sport, Mixed Martial Arts allows those who compete to use fighting techniques from a variety of martial arts, including kickboxing, judo, and karate, but also boxing and wrestling.

“Here we learn the importance of being a martial artist and having that translate to your life outside the gym,” said Craig Hannigan, 37, of Sparta, who’s been training and taking classes there for two years. He has even begun teaching three classes a week.

“Anyone can learn to fight,” he added. “Andy always stresses the old school values of the sport. He says the true challenge is being able to defend yourself.”

More than any other dojo he’s encountered, Hannigan said, Mixed Martial Arts fosters a family environment where people’s needs are taken into account. A year ago, for instance, Main started an all-women’s program that is now one of the largest of its kind statewide. While women also can take any of the other classes provided, the specialized program allows them to practice kickboxing and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu without having to go up against a man they don’t know.

The rigors of teaching, competing, and running the dojo suit Main, who is ranked No. 1 in the 145-pound weight class division of Pancrase, an international MMA organization in Japan, after remaining undefeated in four fights there, the last one this past March.

He heads back to the land of the rising sun Oct. 4 to fight for the King of Pancrase title. It was in Tokyo that an announcer first called him the “American Spider” because of the way he wraps up his opponents with his long limbs, forcing submissions. The moniker stuck.

“King of Pancrase is a historic title in the MMA world,” Main explained, “because some of the pioneers of the sport have held it.”

If Main comes out victorious in the fall, his chances of fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the largest MMA promotion company in the world, will greatly increase, and that is one of his primary goals.

In order to accomplish this feat, Main must go up against not only the defending champion but also one of his friends, Nam Phan, who he met through his time on season twelve of “The Ultimate Fighter,” UFC’s reality competition television show. Essentially, the show is a tournament in which the winner gets a six-figure contract with the UFC.

Indeed Nam Phan was responsible for getting Main his first fight in Japan.

“For me, it’s just a sport,” Main said. “I think there is a weird perception that because it’s fighting, you’re trying to hurt the other person, but it’s just me showcasing my technique and him showcasing his technique and whoever’s technique and cardio is better, wins.”

Whatever the outcome of the fight, he added, he and Nam Phan, who runs an MMA academy called MaDu in California, will remain friends.

At 16, when Main began his training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, he immersed himself in the sport and competed on an amateur circuit, which led to his first amateur MMA fight. He lost, but the experience stayed with him.

“I loved the sport,” he said, “and the competition lit a fire within me.”

It wasn’t until his opportunity on “The Ultimate Fighter” that he felt he could make a real and positive career of MMA. For the show, he was chosen from thousands of candidates to compete. Since his appearance, he has achieved a 10-2-1 record and is continuing to climb.

Like most athletes, Main follows certain ritualistic patterns before his fights.

“I like to pace a lot,” he said. Whether training or fighting, he paces back and forth, but not because of nerves. “I believe in connecting the mind and body because they need to work together to perform in a certain way.”

Before and during a fight, he explains, when a competitor sits down, he presents a relaxed and tired posture. But if he stands and paces, he is mentally telling himself he is not tired and is ready to get in there and continue the match.

Main calls himself a time-oriented person. Six weeks before every fight, he sticks to a strict schedule that he calls “training camp.” Daily, he trains three times a day and eats lightly but often. He stresses the importance of committing to the routine because he knows it works for him. The end goal, he said, is to be at peak condition.

“Losing, knowing that you didn’t put everything in, is the worst feeling,” he said.

Pure Mixed Martial Arts, according to Mike Main, is the culmination of a dream he and his brother had when they were teens. The two wanted to open their own gym, a place they could train and teach children and adults.

“Success for Andy is inevitable,” Mike said. “Since he was a little kid, he refused to be anything but the best at what he did. This fight in Japan is a steppingstone to his true mission: being the best in the world.”

As for Mike’s achievements, he fought alongside national champions to win the Abu Dhabi Warriors Fighting Championship for the U.S. last year.

The brothers’ dojo, which opened its doors in Denville in 2012, offers 30 classes a week in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai Kickboxing, boxing, and kids’ martial arts, taught by either Andy or Mike Main. Soon it will relocate to a larger location in the Pine Street Commons in Rockaway, where it will offer 50 classes a week.

Learn more

For more information about Pure Mixed Martial Arts, and the Main brothers, visit www.puremixedmartialarts.com .