I went into my professional MMA career with an amateur record of 21 and 3. I had been competing for years. I knew how to win. I knew how to handle myself under pressure. And then I lost three professional fights in a row and I had to rebuild everything including my belief in myself.
I do not talk about that period as much as I probably should. There is a tendency in fighting to only promote the wins and move on from the losses as quickly as possible. I understand why fighters do that. The sport has a culture of toughness and admitting difficulty can feel like showing weakness. But I think that instinct does a disservice to everyone watching, especially younger fighters who need to see that the path is not always clean and that setbacks are part of the deal, not exceptions to it.
The Three Losses
My first professional fight was in December 2021 against Moses Diaz at LFA 119. The LFA is a serious organization that feeds fighters directly to the UFC. Fighting there in your professional debut meant I was already at a competitive level early. I lost by TKO in round one at four minutes and twenty one seconds. It was a hard, fast loss and it sent a clear message that professional MMA was a different animal than anything I had dealt with before.
My second professional loss came in October 2022 against Anthony Dilemme at CFFC 113. CFFC is another high level regional organization. That fight went to a decision and I lost unanimously. Three rounds, fifteen minutes, and I could not find a way to outperform him on that night. A decision loss is different psychologically from a TKO loss. You have fifteen minutes to think about what is not working and you cannot stop it.
The third loss was in July 2023 against Brandon Altomare. That one was particularly difficult because it came at a moment when I felt like I was genuinely progressing and the loss was sudden and early. TKO in round one at one minute and one second. Sixty one seconds into the fight it was over. Afterwards I sat with that for a long time.
What I Actually Did
After the third loss I did not immediately go back to training hard. I took time to be honest with myself about what was happening. That honesty was uncomfortable. I had to look at specific things in my game that were not good enough yet. I had to look at how I was preparing mentally and whether my approach to competition was working. I had to be willing to examine myself critically without that examination destroying my belief that I could succeed at this level.
Those two things, honest self examination and maintaining belief, feel like they should be in conflict but they are not. You can look clearly at your weaknesses while still believing that you have the capacity to address them. In fact the clearer you see your weaknesses the more specifically you can address them. Vague self belief with no honest self awareness does not produce improvement. Specific self awareness combined with genuine belief does.
I made changes to my training. I got more intentional about my preparation with Coach Stanly at 10Kicks. I did work on my mental game that I had been putting off because focusing on physical preparation feels more concrete and more immediately productive. I got honest about areas of my game that needed serious development rather than just tune ups. And I stayed patient with the timeline, which was genuinely difficult.
What Losing Taught Me That Winning Cannot
There are things you learn from losing that you genuinely cannot learn from winning. Winning tells you that what you did worked well enough on that day. Losing tells you specifically where you are not good enough yet. Those are very different kinds of information and the second kind is more useful for long term development even though it is much harder to receive.
Losing also teaches you about your character in a way that winning does not require you to demonstrate. When things are going well it is easy to behave well. When you have lost three times in a row and you are questioning whether you belong at this level and training is hard and results are not coming, who you are under that pressure becomes visible in a much more honest way. I found out things about my character during that period that I am grateful to know, even though learning them was difficult.
I found out that I do not quit when things are hard. I knew this about myself intellectually but three consecutive professional losses gave me proof. I found out that I can be honest about my failures without letting that honesty become an excuse to stop. I found out that the people around me, my coaches, my training partners, my family, were genuinely there regardless of whether I was winning or losing. Those are things worth knowing about your life.
Three Wins in a Row
After the three losses I have now won three professional fights in a row. The win streak started with Tyrell Pless in November 2024, continued with Malique Lee at COGA 86 in May 2025, and extended with the Charon Spain decision at COGA 88 in September 2025. I am proud of that streak and I believe there is more to come.
But I want to be honest about something. The wins feel better because of the losses. Not despite them. The satisfaction of executing well in a fight and having it go your way hits differently when you know what the alternative feels like. Every person who has been through a rough stretch and come out the other side will understand what I mean. The difficulty makes the achievement real in a way that easy success never can.
If you are going through a difficult stretch in your fighting career or in anything else, stay honest with yourself about what needs to change, stay patient with the timeline of improvement, and do not let setbacks rewrite your belief that you are capable of doing this. The path is not straight. It never is. But if you stay in it and keep working you give yourself the chance to write the comeback chapters. I am writing mine right now.
