New MMA fight club to open

For those who want to inflict some pain on another person and fight on a regular basis, the Mix It Up Academy, operated and owned by Robert Wilson, will be opening up a Pahrump mixed martial arts fight club. People looking to join will need to try out at the gym on 2400 E. Basin on Feb. 15 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

The fight club hopes to get around 20 individuals to try out and from that group the club will limit the club to about four to five people. According to Wilson, he wants to put together a small fight club for primarily amateur mixed martial arts fights. Members of the club can have no knowledge of MMA to join. At the moment, there is no other MMA fight club in the valley.

“All they need is the desire and obviously this is a tryout so there is no guarantee that they will make the team. We will have limited spots. We are going to look for four people. If I find that there is an exceptional person who is raw but has some talent then I will open it to five,” Wilson explained.

The criteria is 18 years old and over, somebody with desire, height and weight is open and the club will take either males or females. Wilson said he will give everyone a chance. The big question is will anyone have the stamina to work out everyday and have the ability to take a beating.

“If they can make it up here and work every day, then I am going to give them a chance,” Wilson said.

Wilson said the idea behind the club is to promote amateur MMA fighters from Pahrump.

“The club will work as a team like any other sport. The club will be a group of young men and women working with each other and making each teammate better through our coaching and equipment. The team may have one or two men or women fighting. The goal is to have someone competing every three months and possibly two on the same card. The club has all the connections with all the promoters to get fights,” he said.

For Wilson, this is an opportunity for him to grow his gym.

“If the town is getting excited because we have a couple of people go in and compete and do really well, that is worth it. We will be using different promoters like King of the Cage, Sin City Fight Promotions and Las Vegas Mixed Martial Arts. These are the people I like to work with,” Wilson said.

Wilson said he has been involved with martial arts his entire life. He currently has a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Robert Drysdale. His co-trainer is Brian Thelaner who also is into Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai.

Brandon Schneider, a local MMA fighter, is all for the new fight club which he will be a part of. Wilson is already coaching him and has been for the past three years.

“It will bring more bodies in and gives other people an opportunity to do what I am doing. It’s a fun thing and gets people out of the gutter and helps them get their head on straight. It will give me bodies to get better too. I have a couple who are interested now, but we are doing a tryout thing for people who really want to do it. We want to take people who are dedicated to the sport and will show up all the time,” he said.

During the tryouts there will be no sparring, but there will be some intense heavy exercise. All participants will be evaluated physically and mentally by the coaches involved. There will also be an interview process.

“Mixed martial arts is not for everybody. It’s mental and it’s a huge commitment. If you are chosen, you have to show up five days a week. This is a hard business. All of our training will be right here and that is why we are building a fight team. When we do MMA fights we will represent Mix It Up Academy,” he said.