Marine finds second career in mixed martial arts

VIRGINIA BEACH

Phillip Wyman was able to train just an hour a day - and was fortunate to have that much time.

Like many professional mixed martial artists, he fits his training schedule around his full-time job. It just so happened that his job at the time was about as demanding and dangerous as they come: He was serving in Iraq.

Wyman, a Marine Corps sergeant, was in charge of personal security for a battalion commander and sergeant major, protecting convoys as they went to and from observation posts or to meet up with reconnaissance troops. His platoon also supported those troops however it could, taking over security for them so they could grab a few hours' sleep.

Wyman returned from Iraq in April 2007 and went from "outside the wire," as life beyond the barbed fencing of a war zone military post is known, to back inside the cage of MMA competition.

He lost his first bout, but he has not lost since, bringing a four-match winning streak and a 5-2 pro record into his co-main event at the "Elite Fighting Challenge" tonight at Scope. He will fight Mike Medrano.

"I wasn't really prepared for that (first) fight, physically," he said. "Mentally, I thought I was."

Wyman, 33, now projects an aura of squared-away readiness. His current Marine Corps job - he is the equivalent of a civilian human resources manager - allows him to train 4-6 hours a day. He has found a way to balance his primary and secondary careers.

Lessons from one, he said, can be applied in the other. The mental preparation needed to serve in Iraq is similar to what's required to step in the cage.

"You want to condition your mind, do the inoculation effect," he said. "Basically, degrade your opponents in your mind, though obviously as a martial artist, you wouldn't do that in public, in person.

"You just lessen him, become more confident in your skills and go out and do your thing. I don't care how he trains. I know how I train."

How's that?

"Hard," Wyman said.

The Marines actually introduced Wyman to MMA, when it developed a system of self-defense that incorporates some elements of MMA.

"Basically, my Lt. Colonel was like, 'Hey, you guys need to fight.' "

Not a problem for Wyman, who hints that he had a wild streak while growing up in Lynn, Mass., near Boston. His father exposed him to martial arts at a young age.

Wyman joined the Marines in 1994 and has served as a martial arts instructor for the Corps. He had a couple of dozen amateur MMA bouts before turning pro in 2006.

"He's a pretty seasoned guy," said Buck Grant, owner of Hybrid Academy, where Wyman trains.

Wyman, who will compete at 170 pounds tonight, is an unusual fighter because his background is in karate. MMA fighters tend to emerge from Muay Thai, Brazilian jujitsu or even wrestling backgrounds.

Karate-trained fighters are sometimes viewed as stand-up strikers, who are not as strong taking down opponents and grappling on the ground.

"The traditional karate guy doesn't really get the respect that he's earned as a martial artist," Wyman said. "I'd like to change that."

Others are also changing that perception. Lyoto Machida, the light heavyweight champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, has a karate background. Wyman, who also has a background in judo, has rounded out his skills by training in Brazilian jujitsu.

He does a couple of hours of cardio training in the morning and spars and strength-trains in the afternoons. As a Marine, his name has gotten around in MMA circles. Occasionally, though, he has met resistance from superiors who think the sport is too violent.

Others view it as a good training platform. Wyman, who will make gunnery sergeant next month, is senior enough in rank to make his case to his superiors. MMA, he tells them, is actually safer than pro boxing, because fights are stopped more quickly, without the accumulation of blows that boxers often take.

Wyman said he'll fight anyone. Medrano, his opponent tonight, beat Levon Maynard, the last guy to beat Wyman, in a controversial split decision. Promoters are trying to make hay with that, but Wyman says there's nothing personal involved. Just a job to do.

If Wyman keeps winning and gets an offer from the UFC, he'd be all for it, he said. A strong Christian, he has put it in God's hands, he said. His fighting career is important, but not as important as his full-time one.

"I am a Marine first and foremost," he said. "My mission is to protect the country as best I can. My second job is professional martial arts."

Ed Miller, (757) 446-2372 ed.miller@pilotonline.com