Senior Bryce Scott, mixed martial arts kickboxer, started out at Lorenzo Boxing at age 15. Just last year, a fellow student and kickboxer introduced Scott to Inner Strength Martial Arts, leading him to reignite his love for boxing.

When he started training, Scott realized it was different from Lorenzo. At Inner Strength, there isn’t a boxing ring; instead, it’s a dojo with one punching bag.

“I didn’t mind it, I thought it was actually pretty cool,” Scott said.

The dojo is small, but there’s enough room for anybody that attends.

At first, Scott wasn’t confident because the opponents he had to go up against were adults. It was only until a couple months in that he started to gain confidence. He gained that confidence by practicing nonstop to in the dojo and even at home.  The same year Scott joined Inner Strength, the head coach asked if he wanted to fight on his card back in September 2017. This fight wasn’t a boxing match, it was an MMA fight.

Scott took this seriously, spending almost every day training in order to perform at the highest level. To do that, he had to learn Jiu-Jitsu.

“I hated training in Jiu-Jitsu; I’d always get beat right away. Now, it’s not that I get beat, it’s more of me surviving the session,” Scott said.

June 1 was the first intense day of training camp for the upcoming fight. Scott had to lose 20 Lbs just to fight at the right weight class. In order to fight, he had to weigh in at 135 Lbs, a weight he was eventually able to reach after hard work and dedication.

Finally, it was fight day. Scott came in with confidence. Scott came out blocking, throwing punches and kicks but late in the 2nd round, he lost by submission.

“There are some things I need to improve on; all I need is practice,” he said.   

Scott’s second match will be in March. This time, he plans to be more focused than ever and come in with a mamba mentality.

“One day, I want to be a UFC champion,” Scott said.