Published: April 21, 2008 12:20 am            

Haselrig captures two belts in first pro MMA fight

Carlton Haselrig just keeps stunning people with his athletic prowess.

The Johnstown native, who won a PIAA wrestling title despite not having a high school team and became an All-Pro guard in the NFL without ever playing a down of college football, captured a pair of mixed martial arts (MMA) belts in his first professional fight.

Haselrig beat Shane Ott by technical knockout early Sunday morning at Battle Cage Xtreme IV to win the United States Kick Boxing Association and BCX heavyweight titles. A six-time national wrestling champion at Pitt-Johnstown, Haselrig needed a little more than four minutes to beat Ott at the Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City, N.J.

“That’s the way I prepared and that’s what I expected to happen, a victory,” Haselrig said in a telephone interview on Sunday afternoon. “That’s something I’m accustomed to is winning.”

He certainly was before his athletic career was derailed by drug and alcohol addictions as well as legal problems. But few expected Haselrig to pass his first MMA test so easily.

He used his wrestling skills to bring Ott to the mat and then unleashed a series of fists to his opponent’s face in a classic ground-and-pound strategy.

Ott, who is six years younger than the 42-year-old Haselrig and has more experience, wasn’t really in the match. Surprisingly, he tried to outwrestle the only man ever to capture six NCAA titles.

“If you want to stop a guy’s shot, you crowd him,” Haselrig said. “I guess he thought he could overpower me. I’m not sure.”

Haselrig used a single-leg takedown to control Ott, who eventually turned to his stomach. After absorbing a number of punches to the face, Ott managed to work his way free and get an ankle hold on Haselrig.

“He tried a few submissions, and I somehow came out of those,” Haselrig said. “He tried a Kimura on my arm and tried a heel lock one time, but fortunately I thwarted those efforts and did my thing.”

Many wrestlers have struggled with the transition to MMA because of moves like the ankle hold, but Haselrig wasn’t worried.

“Just like in a wrestling match, you never panic in any situation,” he said. “You just do the necessary steps to get out of it. You never panic. Even in wrestling, you’re in situations like that, although you don’t have to worry about the ankle. I wasn’t uncomfortable. There’s hardly any situations where I’m uncomfortable.”

Haselrig doesn’t have much of a background in MMA, but he made the most of the past few months. He has trained with PA-Grappling in Altoona as well as with the UPJ wrestling team. He worked out at the Cold Steel Gym in Hornerstown as well as Fitness Weights and Aerobics in the 8th Ward.

“It all goes to the training,” Haselrig said. “If you put yourself in those types of situations, you can make it look easy. I’m not going to say it was easy, but the outcome was expected. I prepared myself well enough.”

The 265-pounder has been able to pick up the MMA techniques – which can combine moves from wrestling, boxing, judo, jujitsu among a host of others – in his limited experience.

“You’ve got to have all of it. You don’t have to be great at it, but you’ve got to recognize it,” he said. “I’ve always been able to be coached and learn new things quite fast. I’m still learning and I’m only going to get better. I’m happy with the outcome.”

Haselrig also hopes to bring some of his own techniques to the sport, which is growing rapidly. He tried to lock in a wrestling move to make Ott submit shortly before the match was stopped.

“I was going for bow and arrow,” Haselrig said. “I wanted to finish him like that. I want to bring some new moves to the MMA. I want to revolutionize it.”

Moments after the match, there was talk of Haselrig getting a bout with Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Kevin Jordan, who won Battle Cage Xtreme III. Haselrig isn’t committing to anything yet, but he’s definitely not done with MMA.

“That’s probably still up in the air. Whover’s next, sign them up, I’ll sign up and let’s go,” he said. “I’m ready for a bout whenever. It only went four minutes. That’s not even a whole wrestling match.”

Haselrig had a vocal cheering section in Atlantic City, including friends, family members and former UPJ wrestlers.

“That gave me some more energy and pride in going out there to do what I had to do,” he said. “I’d like to thank everybody from Johnstown for still believing in me and driving all the way to New Jersey to see me.”

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.