SAN DIEGO, CA (WSIL) -- Sunday night is fight night.
Benton's Damon WIlson is part of the Cage Warriors 126 event from San Diego, California.
Our local professional MMA fighter will compete at 145 pounds, featherweight bout.
Getting to this point has not been an easy journey.
We go Beyond the Highlights with Damon Wilson.
"The whole objective is to hit and not get hit, so that's what I'm looking to do," Wilson said. "Hit and not get hit and then take them down, ground and pound and just look to mix it up. Keep them guessing That's typically the best way to compete in an MMA fight."
Damon Wilson was an exceptional multi sport athlete at Benton High School. Wrestled and played football at North Central college, a Division 3 program in Naperville. When it was over Wilson realized he has big dreams. They can be found inside the cage.
"I just came out here on a whim. I didn't know anybody in California, never been to California. I always knew I wanted to train in San Diego because Alliance MMA is located here. Some of my favorite fighters growing up I would watch Dominick Cruz and Jeremy Stephens and Myles Jury and I knew all these guys trained out here so I live in a camper, this is my camper here behind me and I was on the road working and what not and I was thinking to myself one day and I was like I'm going to go out there and train and see what happens."
Living in San Diego is not cheap. Wilson made some money before he headed west and along the way as an independent roofing contractor.
"I only have three fights under my belt just trying to balance work and fighting and now I'm a little more committed to fighting now so hopefully I can get some more wins under my belt and start making this into a career."
Wilson began his fighting career in 2018 2-0 as an amateur 1-0 as a pro. Covid put a halt to the journey and now he's ready to get back at it.
"Most people have more amateur fights than that. Typically guys are a little surprised I had that short of an amateur career but my thought process was you are going in there and taking a lot of damage and taking a cahnce of significant injuries and you're not getting paid doing it so I felt I was good enough to turn pro and it gave me a little more of a reason to train as a professional and commit to it a little more."
The 28 year old continues to show up at gyms, working on his craft. He's on his third gym but same teammates and coaches.
On a weekly basis I'm usally doing two days of sparring where we are working on striking and a day of wrestling and two days of jiu jitsu.
Wilson is a former assistant with the Benton wrestling program and as a former collegiate grappler, he relies on his experience on the mat.
"The wrestling is always good to have because you can control where the fight goes. I enjoy the striking aspect of MMA. I was a fight fan first and foremost and I like to see guys strike and mix it up on the feet so that is what I like to do as well. It is good to have the wrestling in the back pocket, you can always take the fight to the mat."
