Nice article regarding Derak Heyman of Five Element Sport MMA & Fitness Team. Derak is competing for Syracuse Gladius at the Gladius Fights on April 26th in Cortland, NY - TICKETS AVAILABLE AT FIVE ELEMENT! April 26th, Team Syracuse Gladius is scheduled to face the Nashville Renegades at Gladius Fights XI for their first bout in the National and World Amatuer Mixed Martial Arts Championships. For the members of the Five Element Fight Team who received the honor of selection for this international event, hard work and sacrifice has become a part of their daily routines. For Derak Heyman, this competition is the next step in what has been an impressive martial arts journey, and he says competition is important to him because it’s what he does best. “I live to compete, it’s where Im most comfortable,” he added. “My ultimate goal in MMA would be simply to become the best fighter that I can be.” Heyman will be taking on Charles Costello in the 145 weight class, heading into his fight as a four time high school All-America, three time state finalist and two time state champion. He has a 5-0 amateur MMA record and a 1-0 Kickboxing Record. “I personally took interest in MMA because of Tito Ortiz,” explained Heyman. “He was my favorite fighter and basically the only fighter I knew at first. But that was 6 or seven years before I actually shot Jason [Porter] a message. The reason I first started to train--it solely was to fill the competitive gap that wrestling left.” Since dedicating his time to mixed martial arts, Derak has trained relentlessly, spending hours at the gym working not only with his teammates, but with mixed martial artists from across the state. For him, every day of every week is a training camp; time off would mean allowing someone else to possibly train harder, and for Derak, failure is not an option. “The hardest part about training just the intensity of it all. Its a physical sport and I dont care how tough you are getting punched isnt fun.” But despite the physical demands of training, Derak remains steadfast in his dedication to representing Team Syracuse Gladius and the Five Element Fight Team to the best of his ability. “I’m the best person for this position because I understand how to compete and have success on the big stage,” Heyman stated. “I know Ive only had 5 MMA fights but I have wrestled my whole life. Ive competed at the highest levels. Ive won on those levels.”
Posted on: Fri, 11 Apr 2014 23:23:05 +0000