DJ Tirelli in a good place despite some adversity
On DJ Tirelli‘s journey into becoming a professional MMA fighter, he has had much success. After a 127-35 high school wrestling career, he went on to wrestle four years at Johnson & Wales University where both DJ and his team had lots of victories. Tirelli then began his fighting career as a member of the extremely deep fight team at Tiger Schulmann‘s with six straight kickboxing wins. He then ventured into the cage for three amateur wins which lasted 1:00, 1:35, and 0:34 as he was finishing every opponent pretty easily. His coaches and teammates all believed he was ready for the next step to turn pro.
Ring of Combat 89 in Atlantic City, NJ on March 6th was that time and Tirelli made the walk for the first time at the next level. His opponent was Donald Arana, who he admittedly did not know much about. DJ expected that with his hard work, the steamrolling of opponents would continue. The fight did not go his way as the Ray Longo trained Arana, himself with a wrestling background, came out in round 1 and brought a dangerous variety of striking techniques and rocked Tirelli early and often. Tirelli showed a giant heart and chin and had some exchanges where he scored as well, but Arana also showed that grit and kept coming forward. Tirelli showed what a warrior he was just making it through round two where his corner felt best to stop the bout and fight another day. I was cageside on commentary with Professor jay Regalbuto to witness this firsthand. We were surprised as well because Tirelli had not even been tested previously and was now starting off his pro career with a TKO loss.
Watch the fight below:
MyMMANews was happy to talk to DJ Tirelli a few days after to get his feeling on the fight and what might be next for him. DJ tells us…
“This was a really good learning experience, and I will be better for it. Nothing prepares you for losing and coming up short, but I have amazing coaches and teammates who have been there like Louis Gaudinot, Julio Arce, and Shane Burgos who all have faced this same type of adversity that I am right now. I will take this loss and use it as a motivator. There must be a mental change as much as physical and it’s a lesson I am grateful for even though that sounds strange. If you don’t win a fight, you must take advantage of the loss, and I will grow from this. I’m excited to improve. One thing I need to do is let the fight happen and cannot just be looking for the knockout. I’ve always competed like I smelled blood and went for the kill and that was wrestling and fighting. I need to stay calm and not force things.”
Expect to see DJ Tirelli on another ROC fight card sooner rather than later. DJ will be back in the room with a hoard of savages as soon as his 30-day suspension is up and a fight camp will surely be following that shortly as DJ looks to take what he learned into combat in his next contest. I am surely looking forward to it. Tirelli is fun to watch and a voracious worker. I have little doubt that he will do as he says and grow and be better from the adversity he just faced.
Follow DJ Tirelli on Instagram – @djtirelli
