Tyson "The Man Of" Steele, as dubbed in the world of Mixed Martial Arts fighting, will soon be entering the octagon again on Feb. 11.
Steele will be up against Ryan "The Real Deal" Ford during the Aggression MMA fights, which will be held at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton. "He's a really tough dude with a 16-4 record (16 wins and 4 losses) including a win over the UFC vet, Karo Parysian," spoke Steele of his opponent. Ford is currently training with TriStar, a fighting centre based in Montreal whom the well known MMA fighter and current welterweight champion of the UFC, George St. Pierre, also trains with.
Steele, who completed a Biotechnology program with SIAST in 2009, then spent a year working as a lab anyalyst before being employed with the City of Saskatoon's Water Treatment Plant where he currently works, has a solid fight background himself. With a record of eight wins and one loss to his name, he feels quite confident about the upcoming fight.
"I will never agree to fight someone unless I am 100% confident that I will win. I understand that it will not always play out that way but going in to it, I know I am going to win. Any fighter that does not share that attitude is not a real fighter," explains Steele, whose confidence and determination has brought him many successes thus far.
Training to fight isn't an easy endeavour, with Steele spending more than 20 hours per week making sure he is in peak physical condition and assured in his fighting abilities. Ideally eight weeks before a fight, Steele will begin training every day, doing a combination of 12 to 15 hours of fight training and about 10 hours of strength and conditioning training.
"Going through a fight camp at Alliance is the hardest thing I've ever done. About eight weeks out from the fight the intensity picks up and we train until complete exhaustion every night," remarks Steele. "This is always a combination of striking, wrestling, and jiu-jitsu. Everything is applicable to the fight itself. Twice a week the fighter getting ready will spar with other fighters to simulate a real fight as best we can. Usually this is much harder than the fight itself and it's where many people who think they can compete, will quit and realize it's much more difficult than they thought," continues Steele, who has persevered through extensive training for years now. "However many rounds the fight is scheduled for, the fighter will spar that many rounds. What makes it so hard is that we run each round for six minutes rather than the standard five in a fight. Also, each two minutes, the sparring partner steps out so a fresh one can come in. So when I'm getting ready for a title fight which is five rounds, I'd fight a total of 30 minutes with a new partner coming in every two minutes, each fighting as hard as they possibly can for that two minutes," he continues. While rounds of five minutes may not seem that long, the fights require extreme strength and endurance. It's a combat sport after all, and one that requires not only the physical skill and ability, but the mental capacity for it as well.
"These aren't hobos we pull out off the train cars either," explains Steele. "They are all other professional fighters, some of which are ranked as Canada's top ten fighters in their weight division. Some of the craziest fights I've seen are while sparring right in our own gym. Obviously, there is risk of serious injury, while doing this so we stop about a week and a half before the fight and concentrate on high intensity conditioning and more fight strategy tailored to the opponent
Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA fighting has gained mass popularity since the Gracies, a prominent sporting family from Brazil, founded the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) in 1993. This full combat sport allows competitors to both strike, which means a direct physical attack, or to grapple, which refers to the use of techniques or manoeuvres used to gain the advantage, both of which can be used standing or on the ground. MMA employs the use of fight styles such as boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, taekwondo, karate, judo, and various other styles.
While many different styles are involved in the sport, Steele's style is that of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which focuses on grappling and ground fighting.
Steele first got into the sport, which has taken him on quite the journey, over six years ago. Steele first decided to attend a Brazilian jiu-jitsu class in the summer of 2006 after some friends had already joined and found it exciting. Clarence Nokohoot taught the class at White Bear Lake, and Steele became immediately taken with the sport. "I was instantly hooked with that because it was so interesting to learn. Lots of things that I had seen before from fighters in the UFC started making sense and it seemed like magic to me how easily you could choke someone out or break a limb. I wanted to learn as much as I could."
Shortly after becoming involved with the classes, Steele began to take part in a couple grappling competitions, which would eventually lead to his competitive career in MMA. "After a couple months of training Brazilian jiu-jitsu, I went to a grappling tournament in Winnipeg. I did another one shortly after, which I won two silver medals at. But it wasn't until I moved to Saskatoon that I started considering competing in MMA."
While Steele hadn't anticipated he would begin competitive fighting as quickly as he did, his new coach in Saskatoon felt Steele was ready to take on the challenge, which he quickly proved to be true. "I didn't really expect to begin fighting when I did. I moved to Saskatoon for school in September of 2007 and before I even got unpacked I called the head coach from Alliance Martial Arts Systems (AMS), Graham Weenk, and found out when classes were that night," explains Steele on his resolution to continue fighting after relocating. "I had seen two fighters from there, Adam Lorenz and Kurtis Southern, both fight at a show in Regina not long before that and they both beat fighters from another gym in Saskatoon so I already knew which team would be better to join! I signed up that night and began training hard with them."
Not long after joining AMS, his coach, Weenk, had a fight lined up for Steele, if he would take it. "That winter I was at school when my phone rang. It was a text message from Graham asking if I wanted to fight so-and-so in February with the UMC in Regina. I said 'If you think I can beat him . . . ' Graham said 'definitely' so that was how I had my first fight lined up. I could barely hold on to my phone I became so nervous. I spent a lot of nights laying awake thinking about this other guy who is working hard to beat me in February."
This fight would be the first, and certainly not the last for Steele. "After that first fight was lined up I was thinking this would be something that I should do just once to cross it off my bucket list. I had been working really hard so it was going to be nice to have a goal to go along with it. The fight date was scheduled to be Feb. 23, 2008 and after a couple changes in opponents early on, it was determined I would fight a guy named Adam Douds from an MMA team in Winnipeg who also wrestled with their University's wrestling team."
Steele's first fight was a great success. "The fight happened so quick that I barely remembered any of it until I watched the video afterwards. The bell rang and at the initial exchange I hit him with a left hook and he shot in right after. I stopped his takedown and hit him with a couple knees to his body, then shucked him off and took him down against the cage. He worked back to his feet but I took his back while he was standing up and locked on a rear naked choke. It took only a couple seconds before his arms dropped and his body collapsed. The fight lasted 56 seconds. I was immediately addicted and couldn't wait to fight again."
"I was back training right away and had a second fight scheduled for that May. It was with the UMC again, but in Yorkton this time. I fought Victor Kaminski out of a highly regarded team in Lethbridge. Again, I choked him unconscious in the first round."
Steele was now in full fight mode, and ready and willing to continue competing. However, for his next fight, Steele experienced some problems with weight classes, as MMA competitors must fight in the appropriate weight category.
"We booked another fight with King of the Cage for November of 2008. It was supposed to be a Welterweight fight, 170 lbs. like my previous fights, which I was ready to go for. The day of the weigh-ins I was literally stepping in to the sauna to cut the last several pounds I had to go, when Graham got a phone call from the KOTC promoter saying my opponent had dropped out. He left me with the option to move up a weight class and fight at Middleweight, 185 lbs., or else not fight at all and disappoint my friends and family who travelled all the way to Edmonton for it. There was no way I was about to do that so I was off to the restaurant to try and get my weight back up as high as I could," explained Steele who refused to take the easy way out.
"The next night I fought Cody Krahn and again choked him out in the first round. He turned out to be a pretty awesome guy who I still keep in touch with, as well as a good fighter who won 10 of his next 11 fights in the following two years."
Shortly after fighting Krahn, Steele went on to fight Eduardo Regier, and again quickly conquered his opponent by submission with a rear-naked choke, making it the fourth winning fight for Steele, and a record of 4-0 in his first year of competitive fighting.
"Things were going great and I was hoping to be fighting again in April until I hurt my knee training. It turned out to be torn medial collateral ligament, which side-lined me for a while. During that time though, I decided that with a little extra effort I could likely drop down to the Lightweight division, 155 lbs. Despite being affected by a knee-injury, Steele worked hard to overcome the obstacle and came back to win two more fights, giving himself an impressive 6-0 record, all won by submissions in the first round. Once I was healthy and training hard we got an offer to fight Greg Welsh for the Evolution Fighting Championships (EFC) Lightweight title in September of 2009. I beat him to win the title and then successfully defended it against Kelly Gervais in April of 2010."
After fighting Gervais, Steele received a good opportunity to fight Curtis Demcarce with the Maximum Fighting Championship, MFC, out of Edmonton. "It was slotted to be the opening fight on their live HDnet broadcast across North America," explained Steele. "The first round was really exciting. He dropped me with a hard right hand but I was able to recover and gain top control. The fight was back and forth with him scoring points on the feet and me winning the wrestling in the first round. Late in the second round he submitted me with a triangle choke, giving me my first loss. Curtis is a talented fighter and another one of my opponents who I keep in touch with and consider a friend." Not only is Steele an extremely skilled fighter both physically and mentally, but he continues to demonstrate the kind and respectful attitude of a great fighter.
Steele's next fight would be back with the EFC to defend his lightweight title against Layne McTaggart. "I successfully defended it for the second time. These four fights in the Lightweight Division took place over the span of two years due to the massive amount of weight I had to cut to make the weight limit. It had been getting increasingly more difficult to make the weight so it was at this time I decided to move back up to the Welterweight division where I started."
Already the EFC Lightweight Champion, Steele was offered a shot at also taking the Welterweight title on Oct. 1, 2011, which he won in a mere 24 seconds of the first round, fighting against Ben Stewart. Steele won by submission, using his signature move, the rear-naked choke.
Fighting in UMC, King of the Cage, MFC, and currently holding two titles, being the three-time Lightweight Champion of the EFC and the Welterweight Champion of the EFC, Steele has certainly had an exciting and successful history with fighting so far, and hopes to see it continue. "I'm very happy with how much I've been able to be involved with MMA so far," comments Steele. "Even when I am not preparing for a fight, there is almost always a teammate who is and I enjoy helping them throughout their training camp and then being there to share the victories with them." Steele's team, Alliance, is comprised of 10-12 professional fighters as well as many other talented fighters who do not yet compete in MMA. Steele is appreciative of his fellow teammates and the support and encouragement he receives from them. "Most people don't realize how team orientated this sport is but I still get just as nervous for my teammates fights as I do my own and we share the wins together as well as cope with the losses."
Steele, like many who aspire to or do fight competitively, has been inspired by other talented and influential fighters involved in the sport. "Like most Canadian fighters I'm sure, Georges St. Pierre is one that I have to say has inspired me a lot. Canada has become a hotbed in producing MMA talent and I think most of this is due to St. Pierres' success. He is the Wayne Gretzky of MMA in that he gives many aspiring fighters someone to look up to and strive to be like."
Apart from being inspired by the pro-fighter St. Pierre, Steele has also been inspired by his dad, as he goes on to mention how he enjoys having his dad present at his fights. "The person who I enjoy fighting in front of most is my Dad. I've never seen him so thrilled as he is after I win a fight and that alone makes it all worth the long hours spent training before each fight."
Steele's only goal right now is to win the next fight, "with fighting, you really can only set your goals one fight at a time."
