Casey will be fighting on Saturday, August 31, 2013 in Legacy Amateur Series 13. He is going into this fight in the 135 pound weight bracket. This will be his first fight with Legacy. Thank you again Casey for the interview and good luck on fight
night!
What all martial arts
do you train and when did you start training?
Well now I practice Jiu Jitsu, Tae Kwon Do, Muay Thai Kickboxing
and some wrestling. Then I try to put it all together for Mixed Martial arts.
But I didn’t start out training at an actual martial arts school. I just by
chance met my good friend Rich Casteneda through a friend and ended up training
with him in his shed. He trained in Kuk Sool Won, and since I had no fighting
arts experience period, I was an open book. Rich is also just a lover of all
martial arts so he knew of Jiu Jistu and had friends that knew other forms of
fighting that came by to train occasionally. So I picked up what I liked and
threw away what didn’t seem to work for me. Richard eventually took me to Iron
Dragon to expand our knowledge, and Rich humbly told me there wasn’t anything
more he could teach me and we needed to know go to an school to learn more. So
here I am 3 years later. And a side note, I still learn something from Rich
every day when we grapple so the teaching never ended. I really do want to
thank him for really being my bridge into the world of martial arts I wouldn’t
have ever started this awesome journey if not for his willingness to teach me.
At what point in your
training did you know that you wanted to get in the cage?
It’s hard to say when or if there ever was a specific moment.
But I know that I began to feel that I was supposed to do this. Because I had
never been particularly good at any sport. Mostly because a lot of sports like
track, football, basketball all really depended on you to be fast, jump high,
be strong or big. And I was none of these things so fighting seemed to be the
only thing were you wanting it more than that guy across from you in the cage,
actually played a factor in you winning or losing. Even though I wasn’t
naturally aggressive or anything I seemed to be able to use it when I needed
to.
Do you have any
specific short term goals in BJJ? MMA?
Well a short term goal is to win an amateur title for sure. Even
though it’s just amateur that would be so huge for me. And of course over time
when you fight you develop different reasons why you do it, and now I want to
become known for my coaches and their schools to help them grow and prosper.
Because my coaches like Bryan (Beard Jitsu) who is my Jiu jitsu coach helps me
so much and has been supporting me the whole way through, and Vincent Serrano
who is now my Muay Thai coach and has put in a ton of effort teaching me even
though he has only known me a short time. I want to help them along with Master
Jason white, who is the owner of Iron Dragon and got me my first cage fight, to
build up their schools and business. That’s what I feel I can do in return for
all they do for me.
What are your long
term goals in BJJ? MMA? Or other martial arts that you train?
My long term MMA goals are obviously to get into the UFC and
fight for that organization and go as far with it as I can. But that’s
everybody’s answer pretty much. But I would eventually like to be teaching BJJ
and No Gi, and MMA in either somebody’s school or my own school. Because I
really do love coaching and teaching the newer guys that come in.
Do you have any
aspirations to cross over to the professional fighting circuit in the near
future?
Yes I do, as I said before I’d like to attain an amateur title
and either stay and defend it for more experience depending on what myself and
my team thinks, or move on and begin a professional career.
Preparing for a fight
is physically and mentally grueling work. Tell us how you managed your
schedule and training and how did you prepare yourself mentally for the fight?
Well I’m 22 years old now so I’m still slowly making my way
through school, so when schools going on that’s one more thing to worry about.
But I work at San Jacinto hospital on the weekends part time, usually just two
12 hour shifts on Friday and Sunday night just to keep money coming in because,
no money means no gas no food and without those things training isn’t too
likely. But I chose to work weekends so that I could have all week to train. So
when people at work would ask why I don’t work during the week I used to say
because I have to train. And they would ask “train for what?” or “Oh cuz you
work out during the week”. And since most of them don’t understand and give me
this look like I’m just lazy or something. But I can’t expect anyone who
doesn’t practice martial arts or who has never trained hard for anything to
understand what I mean. So now I just say I don’t work during the week because
of school to avoid the frustration.
What advice can you
give those out there who might be thinking about getting in the cage to
fight?
Make sure you are at a good gym and that the coaches feel you
are ready. Don’t just walk in a gym and say you wanna fight. You might, but
that won’t stop somebody from pounding your face like a drum and choking you to
sleep because you don’t know what you’re doing and just don’t have the
experience. And I might be referencing a few of my early cage experiences. I do
feel I starting fighting too early, mostly because I wasn’t a natural talent to
I couldn’t rely on aggression or strength in there and really just need to be
good at the arts and be technical. I’d say if you’re a guy who is picking up
stuff pretty quick and are getting all areas of your game worked on (Striking,
Wrestling, Jiu Jistu) then maybe about six months and see what your coaches
think. I only was at Iron Dragon Maybe 3 months before my first fight. But I
asked for it and Joel Scott gave it. Haha. Even though that first one got fight
of the night, losing just isn’t okay anymore. I got a lot of good experience
taking all those early fights but it left me with an ugly record to climb out
from under. So make sure this is what you want and you’re willing to give up
some things to make it happen.
BJJ is my passion, so
I always want to know...what's your favorite submission and go to move?
I would have to say, even though it’s nothing special, the rear
naked choke. I’ve gotten two of my wins by RNC and the reason I prefer chokes
to armbars, especially in MMA, is because a guy may let his arm pop to get out
of it in MMA. But with a choke he can be tough all he wants, he’s still going
to sleep.
What motivates you to
keep going and what helps keep you on the right track? Is there
anyone that inspires you or someone that has been a big influence on your
decision to train BJJ/MMA?
Honestly I think training actually keeps me on the right track
in life outside of the gym. If I’m not doing right in life, my training will
suffer because it can mess with head when you’re not doing what you’re supposed
to and you’re consciously aware of it. Well all my training partners and
coaches are such a big part of my motivation because I want to do well for them
and for our school so that’s always a driving force. I also want to do well for
my family my grandparents my little brother who for some reason looks up to me
and my wonderful girlfriend Nicole. But mostly for my Mom, she’s had a rough life a
lot of things have not gone well for her but somehow she keeps this upbeat
attitude and is always smiling and trying to be happy. She’s been my biggest
fan through all of my ups and downs in this sport and I know she will continue
to support me always. She gets so excited when I have a fight coming up and
wants to make posters and shirts and has all these ideas. I feel that by doing
well and winning and giving her something to be proud of and excited about is
something I can do for her to keep her smiling.
What would you
consider the biggest life change as a result of your training?
I’ve really grown up since I began training. This growth has
been evident in my 4 year relationship with my girlfriend and I’ve gained a lot
of maturity over this time. And as I said before, my training keeps my life in
check. So it’s helped me really grow as a man. Because as an amateur fighter,
not even a well-known amateur fighter, you end up having to do a lot of the
outside conditioning training on your own. So I’ve had to learn to keep myself
accountable to the things I needed to get done if fighting means that much to
me. So it’s also taught me accountability.
Where do you see
yourself in the BJJ and MMA community in 10 years?
If my body holds up, possibly still fighting if I make it to the
big show. And even if I am still fighting I might be teaching MMA or jiu jitsu
classes as well.
Tell us something we
might not know about you. Do you have
any jiu jitsu ink? What do you like to
do in your spare time?
Well let’s see, I’m a Nurse Tech at the hospital going to school
for nursing. I love outdoor stuff, hunting and fishing; I used to play paintball
when I had the time. I loved playing football, hanging out with my buddies from
high school. But most of that stuff I don’t have time for anymore. The only
thing I really do on the regular is watch movies at night with my girlfriend
Nicole when I get home from training but we try to do fun stuff like go to the
pier and fish late at night or go to Galveston for the day or something, we
find stuff to do. Like I said I work weekends and train all week but you have
to make sacrifices for the things you want. If you want it that bad, it’s worth
it.
