Exactly where he wants to be
Hat’s Bitz calm ahead of MMA debut Saturday
Days before he’ll step into the ring in front of thousands of people and an opponent who wants to beat him up, Rick Bitz breathes easily.
His daughter plays nearby on a giant tire he’s been throwing around for the past couple hours at Now and Zen Martial Arts.
His coach, who’s seen plenty of guys train for mixed martial arts fights — but rarely in a debut this big — smiles.
The work has been put in. On Saturday at Canalta Centre, the Medicine Hat firefighter-in-training will find out where it gets him at Fight Night 3.
“I’m surprising myself as we go through this journey... no real negative feelings at this point,” says Bitz, a decidedly spiritual guy whose life as an oilfield worker was turned upside down like so many others by last year’s downturn. “You build it up in your mind, I anticipate it being exciting but my character is the same. It’s not that I don’t get excited, but I don’t get nervous.”
Bitz will fight Grande Prairie’s Randy Mahon (1-2) in a three-round welterweight matchup, among 10 on the card and two involving a pure rookie. The main event of ex-UFC star Joe Riggs and Canadian Ryan Machan is off, with Z Promotions confirming on Twitter a report by Toronto journalist James Lynch that Machan backed out. Riggs will now fight 42-year-old Dennis Hallman, with the other co-main event of Matt MacGrath and Peter Grajcar (for a welterweight title) gaining importance.
The other title fight is Winnipeg’s Steve Roy against Lethbridge’s Josh Heinz in a heavyweight battle. But local fans will undoubtedly be pulling hardest for Bitz, who decided to step up and try something he’s always wanted to do.
“Because I believe in God and because I have faith... you believe you’re able to walk with him,” said Bitz, who’s intentionally avoided scouting out Mahon so that he can focus on himself instead. “I feel an array of things have happened the last little while to set everything up and allow this to work out.”
Bryan Anderson, the coach and owner of Now and Zen, feels Bitz is as ready as he could be for Saturday. But there’s still the unknown of how he’ll react. Mental preparation is still the most important, regardless of how many takedowns, counters and submission moves the newcomer has picked up.
“Sometimes being in the lights, the crowd, that kind of stuff can put you in awe,” said Anderson. “I don’t think that’ll be a huge issue, but between that and the day of, what do I do, getting anxious, getting excited, eating too early or too late, those things might be a bit of a challenge. “I think we’re definitely ready.” Bitz said he lies in bed at night thinking of different things that could happen in the ring. That active mind might not be great for sleeping, but it’s given him lots of questions to pose and figure out. Anderson gives the answer, and Bitz continues to learn. Regardless of the result Saturday — and you know he expects it to be a win — Bitz feels he’s on the right path.
“Bryan will teach me something here and if I don’t have it locked in I’ll run it through my brain so when I come here next time my body does it more instinctively,” said Bitz, who will donate his prize money to David Dale’s efforts raising money as part of the Sears National Kids Cancer Ride.
“I feel like this is where I’m supposed to be, and this is what I’m doing, and I feel a sense of peace and calm.”
Z Promotions’ Facebook page indicated this week that floor seats are sold out, but regular seats can still be found at Ticketmaster or the Canalta box office. The fight card will also be televised live on Fight Network.