Andy Branson week 1 blog

Andy Branson

What’s up,

I’m Andy Branson and for any of you who got a chance to check out MCC 21 or MCC 23 you might have seen me sporting my skimpy Vale Tudo Shorts around in the cage.  I started fighting for Midwest Cage Championship last June and I couldn’t be happier.  The shows are over the top and the crowd gets your blood pumping like nothing else, so when MCC asked me to do a weekly blog to tell everyone about my preparations for MCC 24 I jumped at the opportunity.

I grew up in Melcher Dallas, with a population around 1, 200 or so odd people then moved to Indianola when I was in third grade.  I graduated high school in 2003 and have been working on college for the last 6 and a half years.  Now just to set the record straight college did not take 6 and a half years because of crazy partying and bad grades, trust me I’m not cool enough to party that much, but rather school took longer than expected due to my service in the military.  I am a Staff Sergeant in the 132nd Security Forces Squadron out of Des Moines, Iowa.  I have been in the unit for almost 7 years and am proud to say I serve with some of the best people in this world.  This week I will hopefully graduate from the University of Iowa granted I didn’t flunk any classes and will start work as an Air Base Security Officer for the 132nd Fighter Wing.  Kind of ironic I spent 6 years in college to get basically the same job as I had before I went to school but such is life and at this point a paychecks a paycheck.  I am moving into a new place in Waukee with my girlfriend and her two amazing kids Dane who is 6, and Hayden who is 3.  Dane came out to my last fight and I can tell you I’ve never had so much pressure to perform, 6 year olds tell it like it is and if I would have lost I would have lost all credibility of making him think I am tough.  I’m hoping to start Law School in the fall but am very excited to get a break from school and start earning a paycheck again for the time being.
I think the number one Question people ask me is how did you get into mixed martial arts and why on earth would you want to fight for a living.  The how I got into the sport is easy to answer but I’m still trying to figure out the why.  MMA is a sport that test your will and character like nothing else.  I’ve always told people it’s the fastest moving game of chess you can play and the consequences for your mistakes tend to hurt.  Everything leading up to the fight is a battle for your nerves and all you want to do is get it over with.  But what makes it all worth it is the feeling after a win, where all the hard work pays off and you can feel proud about overcoming your fears.
How I got into the sport was a strange chain of events that all led in the right direction.  I wrestled since the time I could walk and I have to give that sport credit for my work ethic and persistence.  To me wrestling matches always came down to who put the most work in leading up to the matches and when you stepped on the mat you had no one else to blame but yourself if you lost.  After wrestling for 12 years going to tournaments all around the country I had my fill and I decided to graduate my junior year of high school to start college.  Realizing that the $300 I had in savings left from my graduation party was not going to be quite enough to cover the $4,000 a semester cost of tuition I quickly turned to the 132nd Fighter Wing Air National Guard.  I left for basic in the fall and ended up doing a year of active duty afterwards serving under Operation Noble Eagle.

After coming off active duty I finally started school at the University of Iowa working toward a B.A. in Business Marketing and Entrepreneurial Management.  When I was in high school I used to go to Toad Holler in Des Moines and watch my cousin Josh Neer fight and I always admired the courage it took for him to walk into the cage and fight anyone they put in front of him.  Seeing Josh fight sparked my curiosity for MMA but I never knew how to get started.  During my sophomore year I was walking to the weight room at Iowa when I walked past a matted room with a group of maybe 10 guys rolling Jiu Jitsu.    Seeing these guys rolling looked like a great way to get into Jiu Jitsu and the next Monday I had my first practice with the Hawkeye Brazilian Jiu Jistu team.  My first experience rolling taught me a lot about how to tap, but after practice was over I knew I found something that could get me started into fighting.  I spent 4 years rolling with the Hawkeye BJJ club where I was able to train with instructors from Canada, Brazil, and all over the US.
One day during a jiu jitsu seminar I noticed a pudgy bald guy that had showed up to work out with us.  He knew the instructor teaching the seminar and I found out that his name was Chris Weitz and he was a former national champion Muay Thai boxer and a retired professional Thai Boxer.  I wasn’t sure how good Chris was since is Jiu Jitsu was a little sketchy but I found out quickly that his stand up was second to none.  I hassled Chris for months to work out and teach me and after a while my persistence and his loneliness finally caved him in and we have been training together ever since.  I have to thank him for everything he has taught me and over the past years he has been a great friend to me.
I had finally learned the ground game and had become somewhat proficient on my feet and I finally felt like I was ready to start fighting.  I lined up my first fight for a show in Decatur, Illinois and began training.  That was until I got a phone call that our Security Forces Squadron had been mobilized and I would be leaving in a couple months to deploy to the Middle East.  Deploying put a serious road bump on my plans to fight but I used my time to workout as much as I could.  I met some amazing friends on the deployment and wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.
I returned in December of 2008 from our deployment and took my first fight in February.  The fight went the distance with me winning the decision and afterwards all I could think about was getting my next fight.  I fought as much as possible in the past year and so far I have yet to suffer a loss.  Right now I am preparing to take my final exams at Iowa to earn my undergraduate degree.  I am very excited to be done with school and get moved back to Des Moines to settle into my training camp at Des Moines Mixed Martial Arts.  Training with Josh Neer, Elvis Mutapcic, and everyone else at Des Moines MMA has me very excited.  It is a great group of guys who all push each other in preparation for their fights.  I will also be training at Spartan Strength which I am excited for and at the same time dreading.  I have had a sample of Nick Rouse’s caveman type workouts and experiencing that kind of pain at 6 in the mourning will be an experience.
The next couple of weeks I will telling you about my training schedule leading up to the fight and about what else goes on in the life of a fighter.  I want to take a second to thank all the great coaches and training partners who have got me to this point in my career and let you know that none of this is possible without you.  To everyone at the Hawkeye BJJ Club, ICOR MMA, and Miletich Fighting Systems I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done to get me to this point, and to everyone in Des Moines I am excited to begin training for whatever fight are put in front of me.
Take Care,
Andy Branson

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