Daniel James on MMA: “It kind of chose me, I didn’t choose it”
Daniel James will face Patrick Martin in the main event of LFA 67, but he didn’t initially even set out to be a mixed martial artist.
“I found my way to MMA, I just walked into a gym one day. I just got to using a bag and I was approached by a guy from a gym called No Comment Hybrid Martial Arts. He asked if I had ever done any combat sports. I boxed when I was younger and studied a few martial arts disciplines, but I didn’t stick with it, but I was always an athlete. When I got into it (MMA), I kinda took my first fight, like the first week I was in the gym. And when I got in the ring and ‘Oh, I guess I’m good at this.’ It kind of chose me I didn’t choose it.”
Each fighter has their own reason why they fight.Daniel James’s comes from the crisis he sees out his front door.
“My motivation is my city and the people around me. The people that’s in my day-to-day life. Anybody that I can reach, touch, and change. Being in Chicago there a lot of things that go on. We see a lot of things on the news and the social media about guns, fires, and murders; stuff like that. So, I just want to use this platform that’s bigger than me. The fights bigger than me. I know everybody else is getting in the ring like hey I got to get the win, I want to get to the UFC. But with the UFC or not, I’m still changing lives. You know, through this combat sport. By me using this as my platform and this just happen to be my platform.”
LFA 67 is Friday, May 24th, at the Branson Convention Center in Branson, Missouri.
AXS TV Main Card
265: Daniel James (8-3-1) vs. Patrick Martin (7-4)
155: Dakota Bush (6-1) vs. Jaleel Willis (9-2)
145: TJ Brown (12-6) vs. Ken Beverly (8-4)
145: TeeJay Britton (5-1) vs. Solo Hatley Jr. (5-1)
170: Chel Erwin-Davis (5-2) vs. Mike Breeden (6-2)
135: Garrett Armfield (2-0) vs. Chris Ocon (4-0)
Prelims
185: Marco Hutch (3-1) vs. Kyron Bowen (5-4)
