HockeyFighter
02-02-2005, 02:18 AM
I was extremely happy to hear that Nick Ring was one of the 4 fighters selected at the Pride tryouts from November. Nick lives and trains in Calgary which is two hours north of where I live. Most of you guys have seen local shows in yoru area and you hear about or know about the one fighter that would kick anyone's ass in that area, kinda a local legend. Well Nick Ring is that guy for Alberta and most of Western Canada.
He is a former Muay Thai fighter who retired 3 years ago, shocking many people. His decision to do so was based on maintaining his physical health (knowing the short career of muay thai fighters) and wanting to get into MMA. Before he stopped competing in MT he had the won the following titles at by the age of 22 and compiled a 23-4-0 record:
- WKA Light Heavyweight Intercontinental Muay Thai Title
- WKA Cruiserweight North American Pro Am Title
- IMATF Bronze medal at World Muay Thai Championships in Thailand
Currently Ring trains under Roy Harris brown belt Brian Bird at BDB Martial Arts and has spent the past few years teaching Muay Thai with Mike Miles at National Kickboxing in Calgary. He recieved his blue belt in BJJ last year I believe but that's probably an underestimation of his skills as many good Canadian grapplers have to wait a long time before they are promoted belt ranks (My instructor is a blue belt but competes in and has won black belt levels in grappling comps). In MMA he has a record of 4-0 but took 2004 off after suffering a concussion. This is what helped his "legend" in the area grow as people talked about how he might never return to the ring and talk was abound with how awesome he was and how he would have been good in major MMA events. It was probably good for him as it allowed him to work more on his BJJ and it shows with winning the last 2 Absolute Submission Challenges in the LHW division.
In MMA he has wins over TKO veteran Alex Gasson, former top ranked fighter in Alberta Wyatt Lewis and a knockout win over Bill Mahood which is his most notable opponent. Mahood was #1 ranked LHW in Canada when he fought Cote and was actually rumored to be heading to the UFC if he won that fight, but he got knocked out by the hard hitting Cote in 15 seconds. Ring dominated Mahood standing and on the ground at 23 years of age, after only training BJJ for a matter of maybe a year.
I got a chance to meet him at the last ASC tournament where I was 2nd at HW. Just a great guy to talk to and was goofing around when he wasn't coaching or supporting not only his teammates but also others he knew from his years of competition and training. He is 6'1 and his natural weight is right about 190 so he would be best in any 185 division that Pride created. I made this thread because people are wondering who these winners are and I felt it to be a good chance to let people know about who Nick Ring is and why he was picked by Pride. He definately deserves the chance, all the guys at the gym were super pumped for him when I told them he was chosen. Couldn't have happened to a better guy.
Good luck to Nick Ring in his quest to Pride......although I still hope he shows up for the 3rd ASC in March because I plan to be in his weight class and get murdered by him....I just wannt grapple the guy so I can say I did.
He is a former Muay Thai fighter who retired 3 years ago, shocking many people. His decision to do so was based on maintaining his physical health (knowing the short career of muay thai fighters) and wanting to get into MMA. Before he stopped competing in MT he had the won the following titles at by the age of 22 and compiled a 23-4-0 record:
- WKA Light Heavyweight Intercontinental Muay Thai Title
- WKA Cruiserweight North American Pro Am Title
- IMATF Bronze medal at World Muay Thai Championships in Thailand
Currently Ring trains under Roy Harris brown belt Brian Bird at BDB Martial Arts and has spent the past few years teaching Muay Thai with Mike Miles at National Kickboxing in Calgary. He recieved his blue belt in BJJ last year I believe but that's probably an underestimation of his skills as many good Canadian grapplers have to wait a long time before they are promoted belt ranks (My instructor is a blue belt but competes in and has won black belt levels in grappling comps). In MMA he has a record of 4-0 but took 2004 off after suffering a concussion. This is what helped his "legend" in the area grow as people talked about how he might never return to the ring and talk was abound with how awesome he was and how he would have been good in major MMA events. It was probably good for him as it allowed him to work more on his BJJ and it shows with winning the last 2 Absolute Submission Challenges in the LHW division.
In MMA he has wins over TKO veteran Alex Gasson, former top ranked fighter in Alberta Wyatt Lewis and a knockout win over Bill Mahood which is his most notable opponent. Mahood was #1 ranked LHW in Canada when he fought Cote and was actually rumored to be heading to the UFC if he won that fight, but he got knocked out by the hard hitting Cote in 15 seconds. Ring dominated Mahood standing and on the ground at 23 years of age, after only training BJJ for a matter of maybe a year.
I got a chance to meet him at the last ASC tournament where I was 2nd at HW. Just a great guy to talk to and was goofing around when he wasn't coaching or supporting not only his teammates but also others he knew from his years of competition and training. He is 6'1 and his natural weight is right about 190 so he would be best in any 185 division that Pride created. I made this thread because people are wondering who these winners are and I felt it to be a good chance to let people know about who Nick Ring is and why he was picked by Pride. He definately deserves the chance, all the guys at the gym were super pumped for him when I told them he was chosen. Couldn't have happened to a better guy.
Good luck to Nick Ring in his quest to Pride......although I still hope he shows up for the 3rd ASC in March because I plan to be in his weight class and get murdered by him....I just wannt grapple the guy so I can say I did.