For most Canadians, mixed martial arts, or MMA, is something we might watch on television in alternating states of shock and awe.
For one 24-year old Flin Flonner, however, MMA is much more than a spectator sport.
Jed Reeves competed in his amateur debut fight on June 7 at Honor Fight IV, a sold-out event held at the Sutherland Curling Club in Saskatoon.
You might say Reeves came out with a bang: he knocked out his opponent in just 19 seconds.
Discovering MMA
MMA is a full-contact combat sport that incorporates techniques from numerous martial arts and combat sports.
The sport has become increasingly popular in North America in recent years thanks to the televised Ultimate Fighting Competition (UFC).
Most mixed martial arts fighters come to the sport after training in a particular martial art, like jujitsu or wrestling, for several years.
For Reeves, the path to MMA was through kickboxing. While in university in Winnipeg, he started training in kickboxing at a gym and became a fan of MMA when it became popular.
Reeves didn’t consider competing seriously in martial arts, however, until he moved back to Flin Flon and got connected with Derek Abrahamson.
Abrahamson is a professional MMA fighter, and an experienced coach. He offered to share his knowledge with the younger athlete, and the two started training together.
In order to be competitive, MMA fighters must develop their strength and endurance, as well as their accuracy and skill in the ring.
“It is a violent sport,” says Reeves, “so you have to take it seriously. If you want to fight, you really have to train.”
Workouts
Reeves’ workouts vary from weightlifting and running, to kickboxing, jujitsu, wrestling and sparring. He works out four times a week most of the time, and during the month leading up to his debut fight, Reeves was working out six times a week.
When possible, Reeves spars with the other eight-or-so members of the Flin Flon Mixed Martial Arts Club, which meets regularly.
Ultimately, what draws Reeves to the sport is the competition.
“I played all kinds of sports as a kid,” he explains, “but with fighting I’ve finally found a sport that I can be truly competitive in. I was pretty pumped about the result from the debut fight.”
A coach and mentor
Reeves’ excellent performance at his first fight was the result of a year and a half of hard work.
According to the athlete himself, much of the credit for his debut success should go to his coach, Derek Abrahamson.
“He truly has been a mentor to me,” notes Reeves.
As a high-level pro and ultimate fighter, Abrahamson has years of knowledge and experience to pass on to Reeves, but what Reeves admires most about his trainer is his work ethic and commitment to the sport.
In addition to his ringside training, Abrahamson helped Reeves drop 20 pounds before his debut fight. That was no easy task for a 6 ft. 2 in. athlete who was already working out four times a week.
“I really could not have done that without him,” says Reeves, who explains how he went from 175 lbs to 155 (in order to compete at the lowest weight class possible) with a combination of strict diet and increased exercise.
At the moment, MMA is a hobby and a sport for Reeves; by day, he works as a press pounder at the Hudbay zinc plant in Flin Flon.
He is, however, interested in becoming a professional fighter down the road, if all goes well.
Of course most hobbies, or career paths for that matter, don’t require quite as much bodily risk as this particular pursuit.
When asked about the risks of martial arts, Reeves says, “I’ve heard it all from my Mom! People aren’t always excited that this is the sport I’ve chosen. I tell them that this is what I train for – you train to defend yourself. And I have faith in the commission and the referees; they are there to protect you.”
Reeves also notes that there was no animosity between fighters at the Honour Fight IV event. Instead, there’s lots of respect.
“You don’t know the guys you’re fighting,” he says. “You talk after the fights, and shake hands.”
On the night of Honor Fight IV, Abrahamson was in Reeves’ corner, along with Kyle Reeves, Jed’s twin brother.
Another 30-or-so Flin Flonners made the trek to Saskatoon to support the amateur fighter, cheering Reeves on from the sold-out crowd.
“The support here has been fantastic,” says Reeves, grinning. “I was almost like a hometown guy fighting there.”
Reeves now hopes to compete in the next Honor Fight event, which is tentatively scheduled for November.
