Saugerties grad poised for first pro fight in NY
UFC veteran Dennis Bermudez, 30, excited for mixed martial arts fight on Long Island
Former Saugerties High wrestling standout Dennis Bermudez, will face Darren Elkins in the co-main event of UFC on Fox 25 on Saturday at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island.
Bermudez, a 2005 Saugerties graduate, is in his 14th Ultimate Fighting Championship fight, but his first one in New York since state lawmakers legalized mixed martial arts last year.
Bermudez, 30, has a 16-6 record in his professional MMA career and is 9-4 in his UFC career. Bermudez said he’s working on making his body feeling as good as possible and getting his weight down.
He added that he’s excited to fight at Nassau Coliseum, which is about 30 minutes from his home on Long Island.
“I can sleep in my own bed. I can cook on my own stove,” Bermudez said in a telephone interview. “Everything is right here.
“Every fight is a big fight, but it really is something else.”
Come Saturday, Bermudez said he won’t even think about the fight until he’s on the bus heading to the arena.
“I try to relax as much as possible,” Bermudez said. “Usually around noon or 1 p.m. I stretch, kind of get the body moving.”
After that he goes to the locker room to take a short nap.
Once he wakes up, he said he wraps
his hands and starts to warm up.
Bermudez, who was first given his nickname “Menace” by a driver in Pennsylvania, helped lead the charge to convince state lawmakers to legalize the combat sport. He said it’s refreshing to be able to compete in his home state.
“It’s nice to be part of something bigger than myself,” Bermudez said. “I spent days with the owners of UFC speaking to the senators and legislators to have MMA legalized in New York.
“Fighting in New York, it’s pretty rewarding.”
Bermudez said he decided to live and train on Long Island even before competitions were legalized.
“There’s still MMA gyms and training on Long Island, I have close friends and family there and I wanted to live there,” Bermudez said.
Bermudez said he still returns to Saugerties on a regular basis.
“It’s nice to see my father and see some old friends, see all my Saugerties people,” Bermudez said.
Bermudez credits much of his success to his father as well as his neighbor Spencer Chrisjohn. He added his family will be on hand for Saturday’s bout.
During his time wrestling for Saugerties, Bermudez was a Mid-Hudson Athletic League and Section 9 standout wrestler who went on to compile a 53-35 record at Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania. He said fighting professionally wasn’t even his main goal when he graduated high school.
Instead he wanted to be a physical education teacher. Once in college, he shifted towards a dream of wrestling in the Olympics.
“Things came up, and MMA appeared, and that’s where I am,” Bermudez said.
But shifting his focus to MMA didn’t come without a learning curve.
Bermudez said he had to learn other disciplines like kick boxing and jiu jitsu among other things, and to become an all-around fighter. “I’m still learning,” he said. Eventually that earned him a spot on the TV series “Ultimate Fighter 14” in 2011.
He ended up one victory short of winning the featherweight title, falling to Diego Brandao in the first round of the 145-pound final of the reality television series that features MMA fighters living and training together in Las Vegas. The popular show that began in 2005 rewards the champion with a contract with UFC.
It ran for approximately a dozen seasons on Spike TV, then moved to FX before it moved to Fox Sports 1 in 2013.
Bermudez said he never lets a loss hang in his mind too long.
“I just put it behind me, keep my head down and keep on chugging,” Bermudez said.
But Bermudez was adamant that he still wants his friends and members of the community back home to see him as “still the old Dennis Bermudez that went to Saugerties High School.”
“Family keeps me humbled and grounded so it’s just another day,” Bermudez said.
Bermudez now has two sons Bryson, 2, and Maddox, 4. He added that has changed things a bit.
“It’s definitely made me more responsible, to value time and be more organized,” Bermudez said.
And he isn’t about to let his career stop him from watching them grow up.
“I designate full days to them. On Tuesday and Saturday and Sunday I don’t train, I just spend a full day with them,” Bermudez said.
Bermudez said his favorite cities to visit include Las Vegas, Mexico City and Salt Lake city. But he admitted he really doesn’t have time to do much sightseeing.
“The thing with all these places I go to, it’s not like I’m enjoying them, it’s strictly work,” he said.
Bermudez spends about 11 hours a week in hard training, usually in two-plus hour sessions, five days a week.
“Compared to the average person who works a 40hour week it may not seem a lot, but there’s a lot of other things that go into play,” Bermudez said. “It’s 11 hours of people trying to beat you up.”
Bermudez estimates he spends another six hours a week spent recovering in the sauna, taking Epsom salt baths or seeing a physical therapist.
And then there’s his diet, which consists of sweet potatoes, grapefruits, ground rice and grilled chicken.
“Anything that tastes good you can’t have, unless you really like salad,” Bermudez said.
Outside of MMA Bermudez holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest time to drink one liter of lemon juice through a straw.
“I was at the right place at the right time,” Bermudez said.
To see Bermudez break the Guinness record, visit his You Tube page Menacetube.