MISSOULA — Starting a mixed martial arts career at thirty-two years old may seem late in the game.
But for Missoula’s Jake Burritt, it may just be the perfect time.
“I made a couple bad mistakes about six years ago and it ended me up in prison,” said Burritt, who won a split decision over Noah Combs of Missoula Saturday in a middleweight bout during the Fights Under the Lights at Ogren-Allegiance Park.
“I turned my life back over to God and fought through it mentally and physically. I kept in shape, started leading people in prison to get in shape and change their lives around. I came in here wanting to use my shape and get into something I wouldn’t get in trouble for.”
Burritt is on a roll out of the octagon as well. His passion for helping others blossomed when he was incarcerated and now it’s helping him on the outside.
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“I have a lot of good friends that are still in there, a lot of good people,” he said of prison in Deer Lodge. “I’m actually a group fitness instructor now at VRTX (Fitness of Missoula). A bunch of beautiful people out there gave me a chance and hired me on. I got my CrossFit certification and wanted to take my physical abilities into fighting.”
Unlike almost all of the fighters competing on Saturday night, Burritt trains independently. It’s something he’s been doing for a long time.
“In prison, I didn’t just lift weights and work out, I worked out to keep myself sane,” he said. “It was through the COVID period when they locked us down for 23 hours a day for 10 months at a time. You could either go insane or work out in your cell.
“When you train 23 hours a day in your cell, you get really creative and go all day.”
Burritt will no doubt remember his mixed martial arts debut, competing in front of roughly 1,000 excited fans.
“It was beautiful,” he said. “I expected to come out and bang and throw some hands and that’s exactly what happened. Now I want to train even harder and fight again.”
Burritt was one of two Missoula fighters to win. The other was Isaiah Silveira, who beat Zahid Magomedov of Kalispell with a guillotine choke hold in the second round.
In a middleweight title fight, Texan AJ Hotchins won by technical knockout in the fourth round over Nate Lowe of Bigfork. Hotchins improved to 5-1.
Other winners included Junior Maldonado of Kalispell (kickboxing), Sheadyn Croft of Pablo, Darren Houle of Polson, Lance Regimbal of Great Falls (kickboxing) and Michael Kampel of Hamilton.
This story will be updated with fighter comments and additional photos.
Bill Speltz is Missoulian sports editor. Contact him at bill.speltz@406mtsports.com or on Twitter @billspeltz