Alec Killebrew has been waiting for his shot. The Frontier grad grew up playing basketball but two years ago went to an Mixed Martial Arts fight and instantly fell in love with the sport. "I saw the whole crowd get up and I was like 'I have to do this," he said.
While he has dreams of fighting in a UFC match, before he can share the lights with guys like Conor McGregor, he'll have to grind on the amateur circuit.
There have been professional fights with the Bakersfield Fight Club but it's been four years since a fight series featured amateurs. "A lot of these amateurs travel to fight and they fight for free sometimes," said Gil Medina, the owner of One Nation MMA. "This way a lot of these local fighters have a chance for once in their time to fight at home."
This weekend Alec will get his shot but he has no idea if it will pay off. To pay the bills, Alec works a AIMS, a group that provides care for the developmentally disabled. His shift runs from midnight to 8:00 AM meaning when he trains during a fight week he doesn't sleep. "You can sleep when you're dead," he said at the gym Tuesday morning after working one of those shifts.
When he finally does rest, he feels the reality of his pain. "Sometimes I'll wake up in the morning and I'll be like 'Holy hell, I feel like I'm 80 years old." He says that feeling does scare him and has been told by doctors just how dangerous the sport is.
But for Killebrew, his dream of something bigger makes it all worth it. "I want to be walking out in front of thousands not hundreds," he said. "I want thousands."
Killebrew will fight in one of 15 fights this Saturday at WSM Auctions. Doors open at 5:00 PM with the first fight starting at 6:00 PM. For more information regarding the fight click here.
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