Trevor Wells - Courtesy of Tapology
Trevor Wells looks to start is professional MMA journey on November 4
Trevor Wells had a very good upbringing, but it’s a bit confusing to understand who is who in the story. His birthmother gave birth to him when she was 17 and put him up for adoption when he was born. He was adopted by his aunt; his birthmother was her niece but not by blood. He also has known his birthmother for many years, who he would visit on occasion, he just knew her as Lisa.
It was on a visit to his birthmother in Washington state when he was 11 that he first discovered mixed martial arts. She was throwing a UFC viewing party for Liddlell vs. Ortiz 2, it was the first time Wells had ever heard of the UFC and though he wasn’t supposed to be watching, he just couldn’t resist.
“They were just having a UFC party, I was with a bunch of other kids supposed to be playing upstairs, but I’d creep downstairs and grab drinks and everything and watch as long as I could.”
The California native had always wanted to do martial arts but never got the opportunity. But when he entered high school, he immediately joined the wrestling team. He wrestled all four years and had success but not the kind of success that led to scholarship offers. He attended a high school in its infancy, the school didn’t even have a varsity wrestling team his freshman year.
After graduating high school, Wells looked at going to college. He missed the sign-up date and decided to take a year off. He then went for three weeks the next year and determined it wasn’t for him
“My first year I skipped college and I was like, eh I’m going to take the year off cause I missed the orientation day for deadlining my schedule and everything so I was alright, I’ll go back next year. I went back for three weeks and I was like, hell no, this sucks, I hated it.”
Around the time Wells was initially supposed to go to college he started training in mixed martial arts. He first went to a UFC gym but that closed down quickly. He knew that Team Quest was supposed to be the most legit gym around so he decided to train there.
“It was crazy, for everyone not seeing that gym it’s kinda crazy. From the outside it looks like a warehouse and when you walk in, it’s like one of the nicest gyms in the nation facility wise. So I was just amazed at that alone. Then when you’re in a class and you’ve got these guys in the UFC in the class with you and everything, and then a mix of white belts and all this stuff, I was pretty star struck when I met Henderson.”
“I’m still like dang, that’s Dan Henderson in front of me. But he’ll stay and help me for thirty minutes after, going after specific moves I’m doing wrong. It’s awesome to be able to train at a place with high level guys all around you, seeing what they’re doing and just trying to do as much if not more than them.”
Since joining Team Quest, Wells certainly has put in the work. He has dedicated his life to mixed martial arts and has seen the results. He had his first fight at 18 and then went on to have a 15-fight amateur career that lasted five years. Wells captured three bantamweight amateur title belts, one from Epic Fighting, one from Fighters Rep and the California State Title.
But it hasn’t been easy, Wells has been training with the pro team at Team Quest and they have never taken it easy on him, but he has learned a lot and earned their respect.
“I started training with the pro team occasionally, I would ask,” hey could I come to that practice” probably around 19 or so, but I was not ready. I did not know how to control my power or anything. I’d be swinging, getting killed in there. I got dropped a few times, cause I was going too hard and everything. I’ve been training with the pros for awhile but I think after a while they finally started giving me respect when I’d be showing up consistently and everything. I’m just learning at a higher rate I feel like because I’m training with those pros everyday and we have such a good team and crew.”
Not only has he earned the respect of the professional team but his coach, UFC veteran Smilin’ Sam Alvey believes his student will have a very successful career.
“Trevor is amazing. It’s rare to find someone so willing to work hard and listen to coaches. MMA is a sport of “old dogs” and he isn’t one of them. He genuinely loves training as much as he loves fighting. I see Trevor going a long way in his career, honestly, he will be a world champion someday.”
Now at 23 years old, Wells is ready to turn pro, and the dream he had as an 11-year-old of becoming a pro fighter is coming true.
“I’m living the dream and trying to pursue it at the same time.”
Wells will make his pro debut for California Cage Wars. An interesting note is that the fight will not be three five-minute rounds but the rounds will be three minutes each. The fight is on a reservation and the rules are altered, so for this fight, Wells will not have to adjust to a different length in rounds, the only adjustment he will have to make is in his weight cut because he is moving to flyweight, where he feels he belongs.
“I’m too small, I’ve always been a small 35er. I always knew I’d have to go 25 when I turned pro.”
Now he is ready and will make the walk to the cage as a professional. He had to wait a little longer as his opponent for his September 16 fight had to back out. Now he will make his debut on November 4.
