Collin Huckbody looks to continue to grow at North Star Combat on June 2
Collin Huckbody has been involved in combat sports for most of his life. The 23-year-old says he started wrestling around the time he was in kindergarten. The Minnesota native was motivated by the likes of WWE stars such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and Kurt Angle. It led to strapping on gloves to box and wrestle with his brothers. But it was in eight grade when he first got his introduction to Brock Larsen who inspired him after Larsen gave him his first lesson in which he taught Huckbody the Americana.
“I was really into it when I started and training with Brock only added to that interest.”
Huckbody has also been incredibly competitive and athletic. He was the quarterback of his high school team which he led to states and was named to the all-state team. In wrestling, he amassed 129, which was top 5 in wins at his high school. He then went on to wrestle at Itaska Community College in Minnesota. It was in college that he started to get the itch to fight.
“In college I kinda realized I wanted to fight and I realized that pretty soon into my college career.”
With a strong foundation of wrestling, Huckbody entered the world of MMA. He is training at Start BJJ and Revolution MMA. The middleweight fighter started out quickly going 6-1-1 as an amateur before turning pro. He also started quickly as a professional, winning his first two fights, he then dropped the next two out of three fights against extremely tough competition in J.P. St. Louis and Bevon Lewis. Against Lewis, Huckbody was featured in the co-main event of LFA 38 in his home state. Lewis was making his return to the cage after earning a victory on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series and earning a developmental contract. It was also rumored at the time (now confirmed) that Lewis was going to appear on White’s show again this summer. So this provided a big opportunity for Huckbody to make his name off of Lewis.
However, it wasn’t to be, Lewis earned a unanimous decision victory of Huckbody. Huckbody did earn the viewers’ respect with his performance and was able to learn from it. It was also a new experience fighting for a major promotion such as Legacy Fighting Alliance and understanding what competing on a big show entails.
“It was kinda new for me, going into the interviews and the higher stage of Legacy. But I feel like overall I felt like I competed very against Bevon, being the competitor, he is coming from JacksonWink. It was an experience that made me grow as a fighter.”
It also made him believe he can be a top-level fighter.
“I can compete with the best guys out there. That fight with Bevon showed me where my level of training has taken me and how far I can go.”
That fight took place on April 27 and his next fight will take place on June 2 for North Star Combat. Huckbody will be featured in the main event in his hometown against William Arby Brownotter who is 2-4 in his pro career. When offered the bout Huckbody’s first response was: “let’s go for it.”
“I know I’m going to go in and dominate this fight it’s just a matter of how I choose to do it.”
“I’m young and hungry and I really think what I bring to the table is more than enough to get the job done.”
Though he is anxious about each fight, the result isn’t as important as the personal growth he experiences with each fight.
“I’m not attached to the outcome, I’m here to do the best I can and compete the best I can. I’m going to let the chips fall where they may but if I keep doing what I’m doing and surrounding myself with the right people, I think the sky is the limit for myself.”
