After competing and excelling in wrestling for a decade and a half — starting from when he cut his proverbial and literal teeth on the sport at the age of 8, through his high school days at Hollidaysburg, where he became a two-time PIAA, Class AAA silver medalist, through his college career at Lock Haven University, where he placed 12th in the NCAA tournament as a senior — Brenneman needed another competitive outlet when his wrestling career wound down.
Marathon running, golfing, or tennis apparently didn’t fill the bill. Brenneman sought a much more radical athletic challenge, and the emerging sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) — an ultimate fighting discipline that pits contestants against one another in a competition that combines boxing, wrestling and karate — provided it.
“I realized I needed a new form of competition after I had finished wrestling, and mixed martial arts is a sport that is different than wrestling, but extremely similar, and there’s a chance to make money at it,’’ Brenneman, 26, said recently.
“It’s really pretty much of a lifestyle. I don’t do a lot of stuff that single 26-year-olds would do, because I have to take such good care of my body. In this career, you have to work out every day, and sometimes, you have to work out twice a day. There’s also the physical risk that comes with fist-fighting somebody [in matches] who wants to take your head off. Physically and emotionally, it’s a pretty demanding sport.’’
Even so, Brenneman left a job teaching Spanish in the Hollidaysburg Area School District to pursue the dicey endeavor of a career in mma and the Ultimate Fighting Championships [UFC].
He has never looked back, and at this point, it appears he has no reason to do so.
After going unbeaten in five amateur fights beginning in 2006, Brenneman took to the professional circuit this past fall and won four straight bouts, including the welterweight championship belt with three consecutive victories in the Beast of the Northeast’s Ring of Combat Tournament in Atlantic City, N.J.
“When I first heard I was going to be in the tournament, I was a little bit nervous,’’ admitted Brenneman, who is currently studying for his masters degree in sports management at East Stroudsburg University. “I had only one professional fight in my background [before the tournament]. But my mind was right, and my body was right. I truly believed I was going to win. Fight by fight, I did what I needed to do.’’
Of course, Brenneman has excelled in the wrestling aspect of the competition, but, under the tutelage of two area trainers, brothers Darcy and Dave Regala — who own the Cambria Martial Arts Academy in South Fork — Brenneman has also developed his stand-up attack in the past year and two months.
“It’s incredible how well he’s doing,’’ Darcy Regala said of Brenneman. “Guys with in-depth wrestling backgrounds tend to do well in [mma], and Charlie has always been a super good wrestler. But he’s worked really hard on his stand-up fighting. Usually, it takes a fighter two years to make the progress that Charlie has made in a little over a year.’’
Darcy Regala served as a coach in Brenneman’s fight corner during the Atlantic City Beast of the Northeast Tournament, and watched in delight as the Hollidaysburg native dominated his three opponents.
“This was a major, major fight card,’’ Regala said. “All of the big names in the Ultimate Fighting Championships have come up on this fight card. In three fights, Charlie never got hit with a punch.’’
Brenneman won his first fight by technical knockout, his second one by virtue of a unanimous decision vote from each of the three ringside judges, and his championship fight, on Nov. 30, by referee’s decision.
The paycheck for Brenneman’s championship fight in Atlantic City was $13,000. But nationally-renowned, established Ultimate Fighting Championship stars like Matt Hughes can earn up to six figures per fight.
Brenneman hopes to someday be in Hughes’ category, and he’s taking a step in the right direction this week, when he travels to Illinois to serve as one of Hughes’ sparring partners. Brenneman will use his wrestling skills to help Hughes prepare for an upcoming UFC competition.
“In the UFC, a whole network of connections [determines potential for professional and financial advancement],’’ Brenneman said. “I can’t stress how important it is to know people, and Matt Hughes is to the UFC what [New York Yankees’ superstar] Alex Rodriguez is to baseball.’’
Brenneman got the opportunity to work with Hughes when Hughes’ trainer, Marc Fiore — a friend of former Altoona High School wrestling standout and current East Stroudsburg wrestling coach Jason Kutz — contacted Brenneman.
“To have the opportunity to train with Matt Hughes, especially at [the] request [of the Hughes camp], is pretty huge,’’ Brenneman said.
While the UFC has developed into a nationwide television entity, Brenneman is milking the fruits of his own fledgling success with a website under www.charlie-brenneman.com that promotes his career developments.
“The UFC and mixed martial arts are booming now, and they will definitely keep growing,’’ Brenneman said.
