On Friday night in Gatineau, Que., local promotion Wreck MMA will hold its 10th show and fourth straight at Casino du Lac-Leamy. But it will also be the end of an era and a bit of sad night for a couple of Ottawa-based teammates in particular.
That’s because Wreck MMA: Final Stand will be the last event for the organization run by Nick Castiglia, which has been the primary home of competition for Ottawa Academy of Martial Arts fighters Mark Holst and Randy Turner.
“It’s bittersweet,” said Turner, who will make the first — and apparently, only — defence of his new bantamweight belt against American B.J. Ferguson in the night’s main event.
“They’re a great organization to fight with, they’re very professional, they treat the athletes extremely well. It’s sad to see them go.”
Holst, who will fight fellow Ottawa fighter Nabil Khatib in the co-main event, agreed with his teammate’s sentiment, but he acknowledged that running the fight promotion has been a stress for Castiglia over the past three years since he started it.
While neither Turner nor Holst has yet to land a deal with another promotion going forward — each said he is taking things one fight at a time — there are plenty of future options for them.
The 27-year-old Holst (10-4) has gotten interest from European-based Cage Warriors, which he fought for in his last fight overseas in Amman, Jordan, which he called a great experience.
Meanwhile Turner (6-2) has fought for the Ontario-based Score Fighting Series and Freedom Fight and could look to return there. But the 34-year-old isn’t even concerned about himself; he believes that the loss of Wreck MMA will actually be tougher for some of the younger guys at their gym.
“The guys that haven’t even fought yet, that are looking to test the waters with professional MMA, those guys are the ones it’s going to be difficult to fight on other
cards, because they are local talent,” Turner said.
Holst may have the easier time finding good opportunities elsewhere, having already gotten some name value thanks to a short stint with the UFC, even if he did go 0-2 against John Gunderson and Paul Sass in 2010.
He was released by the top organization after those two losses and then decided to retire from professional fighting at just 25, saying at the time that he wanted to focus on coaching at OAMA.
His final fight was set to be his return with Wreck MMA in January 2011, in which he beat Markhaile Wedderburn by rear naked choke. However, it would be no more than a year before he found himself wanting to strap on the gloves again.
“I just missed a lot of it,” Holst said. “I was coaching a lot of my teammates, sitting on the corner stool. It was fun and all, but I kind of got the itch to get back in there, seeing all my teammates do really good, and I got the bug back.”
Holst, who defeated Stephane Lamarche in April at Wreck MMA: Road to Glory in his first fight out of retirement, said he has changed his approach and this time around it won’t be just about getting to the UFC.
“I had a long time to think about a lot of stuff and why I would fight. I’m on a different perspective now,” Holst said. “In a lot of my past fights I put a lot of pressure (on myself) and was very, very nervous during the whole fight camp and the actual fight. So I told myself if I’m going to make a career out of this, I have to make sure I have fun with it. Not really care about the outcome, just put on a good show, do my best and whatever happens, happens.”
Holst said he’s back in it for the long haul, so there’s no need to be singularly focused on the “prize” of the Octagon.
“Before I was all about, ‘make it to the UFC, make it to the UFC’ and I finally made it,
and then I pretty much choked. I didn’t have a good performance at all,” Holst said.
“Definitely I’d be more than happy to give it (another) shot and go back in the UFC, but it’s not on my radar now. I just want to get more experience, more fights and be patient with it this time. I only have 14 fights under my belt, so I’m still a beginner in the sport.”
Friday night, Holst meets Rockland, Ont.’s Khatib, of nearby Team Bushido, in what has been a long-anticipated rematch, at least to some. The two fought previously at the very first Wreck MMA show in December 2009 at the Robert Guertin Arena in Gatineau — it’s funny how it all comes full circle — with Holst winning by first-round rear naked choke.
But the result was questionable in the eyes of his opponent, and that was the impetus for setting up this final second meeting.
“Ever since (I beat him) he’s been contesting it and saying he didn’t tap,” Holst said. “And Ottawa’s a small city and our gyms are probably 15 minutes drive from each other so I hear all the smack talk that he’s saying. He says there’s no bad blood, but I don’t understand why he has to take away my win by saying all that talk … for years and years he’s been poking at the bear and asking me for a rematch; well if he wants it that bad and he won’t let it drop, I’ll grant him his wish.”
Added a confident Holst: “It will be a more decisive win this time.”
Turner, whose day job is as a soldier where his rank is sergeant, was also on that first Wreck MMA show three years ago — which was a “Fight for the Troops” event in support of the Canadian Armed Forces. While he had only been training mixed martial arts for a couple years at the time and didn’t feel like he was necessarily ready to make his pro debut, he really wanted to be a part of that special event, and his coaches and teammates encouraged him, believing he was prepared to make the jump.
“I felt like I could have used a little more time but at the same time I wanted to get in there and try it out,” Turner said. “The timing couldn’t have been better and I was really honoured to be a part of that show.”
Turner ended up losing by decision to Hamilton’s Josh Hill, but he has gone 6-1 since, including his championship win over Eric Perez at the last Wreck MMA event in April.
It has been an especially good time for his fight career because he hasn’t had to go overseas for over a year. He said juggling the two careers is tough, but certainly much easier when he’s at home all the time.
Wreck MMA has always had a good connection with the military, having held other events in support of the troops, including a couple in Afghanistan. While that mantle will have to be taken up by another organization, Turner hopes he can help it go out with a bang on Friday — not to mention go down as its last 135-pound champion with a win over Ferguson.
It could be sweet ending to the Wreck MMA reign for two OAMA teammates. But it will still be bittersweet.
