Last night I got the chance to sit down with JB, a former peer from Saekson Janjira's Muay Thai who wrestled in high school and made his way to Cobra Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Plano, where he teaches wrestling. JB is a young, aspiring MMA fighter in college.

What got you into martial arts?

I used to play basketball, and then coaches choosing whether I got to play or not—I didn’t like that. I knew in wrestling that I would have challenge matches and it would be all up to me whether I would be playing or not. And then I started doing the Muay Thai thing at Saekson’s, and then the whole MMA thing, and then jiu-jitsu, you need submissions and submission defense.

You said you have a tournament coming up this Saturday?

It’s the Lone Star Classic, I want to say? It’s a gi tournament, and you have to weigh-in with the gi. There’s 167.5 and 181, but you weigh in in the gi and the gi is easily five pounds, so I’m going for the 181.

Are you planning on competing in MMA?

Oh, for sure. I’m eighteen, just graduated from high school. I’m trying to get settled down, I need to get consistent stand-up training, what I have here with jiu-jitsu, and college is kind of throwing a wrench in the works. I’ve been working at Domino’s Pizza for a while so I can negotiate the hours, close one day, open one day, you know.

Is wrestling in high school Greco-Roman or folktyle?

You start off folkstyle, that’s what everybody does, and if you want to wrestle after the season’s over on your own then it’s Greco-Roman.

How has your wrestling influenced your BJJ game?

Jiu-jitsu is really different. It’s a lot of little, little details; that’s why it takes so long to get your black belt. That’s why Eddie’s so much better—he knows all the little details. You have to get those inches, every little detail—everything, you have to really master it.

I’m getting really into jiu-jitsu, because if you get a black belt, you’re kind of set. Anybody can get a black belt. You just have to work hard and show up; you’ll learn it and you’ll get it. Wrestling, you have to be an athletic specimen, you have to cut weight, you have to compete in tournaments every weekend, go to the Olympics, get your name out there… And then Muay Thai, I mean, Saekson’s had what, how many fights? I’m not trying to fight 500 times, you know?

What would you describe as the perfect template for a fighter?

You honestly need a little bit of everything. The most successful fighters have a really good wrestling background, enough standup to not get knocked out, and good enough jiu-jitsu to defend against submissions. I guess wrestling is probably your best base, because you can control where the fight goes, you have the cardio, and you’re used to competing in front of other people. So I’d say wrestling is really important.

Wrestling is kind of like a cult. It was crazy, man, you’re up there at seven in the morning running, cutting weight, not eating, working harder than normal people work with a fourth of the food that they eat. So when you’re like fueled up, you’re like way better than all those other people, you know what I’m saying?