The kids are just filing out from their class. Athletes are stretching and warming up on the mats for the Brazilian jiu jitsu class that follows. I am able to take this transitory moment to catch up with teammate Matt DiCenso, who is a coach and professional athlete at Modern Vision MMA.
Nearly 4 years after his amateur mixed martial arts debut, “The Bully” Matt DiCenso will be stepping into the cage this Saturday for his fourth professional fight.
DiCenso’s amateur record boasts an impressive 8 wins and 2 losses, and he holds the light heavyweight titles in Bragging Rights, Ohio Fighting Championship, and Rocktagon. So far his professional career holds 2 wins and 1 loss, with one of those wins coming at the expense of none other than Anthony Jamison II – his opponent for IT Fight Series 26 this Saturday.
Jamison was actually DiCenso’s first professional fight. It ended decisively in the first round when Matt submitted him via rear naked choke. “He took me down, and that was it,” Matt says. “He was in my game.”
This also happens to be Matt’s favourite fight. “I always wanted to be a professional athlete and on January 19th, 2013 I finally was”.
DiCenso accepted the rematch because he finds it “interesting” – he has beaten every fighter who has called him out in the past, and Jamison should be no different.
It has been a long journey for the Team Ascension athlete leading up to this Saturday night.
Always an athlete, Matt had been involved in basketball and football in school as well as the occasional youth league. 5 years ago, weighing in at 260lbs, he found himself looking for a new sport and signed up with Modern Vision MMA.
“I’ve always been a fan of the sport,” he explains. “I wanted to learn how to do it.”
Matt, like many other fighters, is drawn to MMA by the challenge it presents. There is always room to improve. Beyond that, he loves the healthy lifestyle it promotes.
“The Bully” first stepped into the cage on June 19th, 2010 across opponent Kit Scott. This was also Matt’s first finish. He gets excited as he describes it to me – he dropped Kit in the beginning of the third round and followed him to the canvas for some ground and pound. “All I was thinking was – ‘I’m winning!’” The fight was stopped fast, and so began his seven fight win streak.
When I ask Matt what he remembers most about that first fight he replies, “Nerves – still have ‘em today, same ones.”
He admits to me that the moment he hates most is when he sees his opponent waiting in the cage or when he is waiting in the cage for his opponent, because that is the point of no return.
“But after the ref says fight it’s just business as usual.”
This will be DiCenso’s first fight in a year, since he took time out to prepare for reality TV show The Ultimate Fighter Nations tryouts last September. He didn’t make the show because his record wasn’t big enough, but he plans on contacting Joe Silva after winning more fights.
“I could have hung with any of the grapplers there,” he tells me. He believes he could have won the whole show and consequent UFC contract if he had qualified.
Matt broke his rib in the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Ontario Provincial Championships shortly after that and was forced to pull out of the fight he had planned for December. Although he is understandably still concerned about the injury, DiCenso says, “If that stopped me I might as well not do this anymore.”
Matt is lucky to have a lot of support going into this fight, as he will be joined on the card by fellow pro fighter Eric Attard and amateurs Dalton Brady and Vlad Kazbekov.
“I like watching those guys fight more than I like fighting myself,” he confesses. He spends a lot of time working with the amateurs – myself included – and loves coaching. “I have a natural knack for [it].”
But anyone who has seen Matt DiCenso fight knows that he has a future both in the cage fighting as well as in the corner of champions. This is sure to be an entertaining fight.
Make sure to follow his Facebook page for updates!
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