There are some determined people who want to put in the work, effort and discipline to master the craft of fighting and put all stakes on the line in front of a large audience. 

One of these people is 20 year-old Loy Norrix 2020 alumni Jakub Wayman, who has spent the majority of his life learning how to be a professional fighter. 

Starting very young, Wayman’s dad was a leader of an old Kalamazoo MMA gym called “The Lab” which Wayman joined when he was six. This is where he started to learn wrestling and Jiu Jitsu. 

Wayman’s first sanctioned fight was at ten years old where he then went on to compete and win in Western boxing at the Michigan’s Junior Olympics.

At Norrix, Wayman competed in wrestling and ranked seventh in the state of Michigan. After graduating, he moved to Thailand to pursue a sponsorship opportunity where a gym paid for him to fight and train with them. 

Wayman now does Muay Thai, kickboxing, MMA and wrestling. Muay Thai is similar to boxing except you can throw kicks and elbows. In MMA you can wrestle and take down your opponent along with throwing punches, kicks and elbows. 

“I think the thing that makes Muay Thai unique is it requires [constant] action and the fight must go on. There is not much resting,” Wayman continued. “In MMA you can rest a little bit against the cage or on the ground, but in Muay Thai, it’s all standup fighting. You have to fight your opponent the entire time.” 

There are many difficulties with training and learning to fight against an opponent, but to Jakub, the hardest part is cutting weight. 

“I hate to cut weight. I’m currently cutting weight for my One Championship MMA debut this Friday,” said Wayman. “I’m very excited to fight for such a big platform but also very irritated [about] cutting weight. But, I have to do this for every fight and it is just part of being a professional fighter.”

Cutting weight has a lot to do with exercise and dieting which is very difficult. Fighters have to cut weight to meet a weight class to be able to fight, so the fight is more fair.    

“My diet is different from time to time, but I like fish and a lot of chicken. I also drink a lot of water,” said Wayman. 

Although, overall Wayman enjoys the preparation for fights. 

“I do have fun training,” said Wayman. “My favorite part of training is sparring, when I can see my progress in technique, cardio, and fight IQ. It’s like playing a physical game of chess.” 

Wayman recognizes that training is a rigorous process, and the importance of finding a good coach to help in training. 

“Train six days a week, two times a day, and find a coach who really wants to see you succeed and who cares for you,” said Wayman. 

With all the training Wayman has done throughout his life and hard work he has put in, Wayman ended up winning his MMA debut fight on Friday, Jan. 27 with a technical knockout [TKO], proving himself as a competent fighter, a determined individual and an overall goal achieving person.