Fight Path: Team BombSquad offered Dez Green a second chance and new career

Dez Green was finishing up his studies at the University at Buffalo, though no longer a member of the wrestling team, when a friend called with an offer.

The friend was taking part in a small amateur MMA show that weekend. The organizers needed another fighter, and the friend knew Green was a skilled wrestler at Buffalo before several failed marijuana drug tests ended his career.

But the friends knew how well Green performed in competitions, and he thought MMA could be a good fit for him.

"I said, 'Sure, I want it,'" Green told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "I won in the first round, and I had never had any training. Right after people were asking where I trained or what gym I was with, and I didn't have one."

After landing with Team BombSquad following that first fight, Green has built a successful resume. At 5-0, after a 3-0 amateur career, Green next takes on Brandon Fleming (2-1) in a 150-pound New England Fights bout on Saturday with the chance to stay undefeated.

Beyond staying unbeaten, Green is hoping to both back up his decision to enter MMA and advance to a higher level. He moved from Buffalo to Ithaca, N.Y., to be closer to Team BombSquad. To balance his training needs with helping to support his daughter, he works mostly 2 a.m. to 7 a.m. shifts at Target outside of training.

Still, he trains at least twice a day, or as much as three times a day if a fight is coming up. The former lacrosse player has taken to MMA's man-on-man setup, which also drew him to wrestling in high school and led him to Buffalo.

Now the 23-year-old is advancing in a new career, and it has all happened quickly.

"If I keep doing well, after this fight, it could be the call I've been waiting for," Green said. "I just have to be as committed as I can."

Gifted from the start

The way Green tells it, he was a pretty good wrestler before he ever had any practice at it.

To underline that point, Green mentions that when a friend first asked him to participate in a summer wrestling tournament before high school, he thought to himself, "Like WWF? They have that in high school?"

They didn't, of course, but Green was looking for another opportunity. He had played football, basketball and lacrosse throughout his youth, but his smaller size made those more difficult by high school. He had been raised by a mother who worked in the school cafeteria and a father who worked for an airline to be active and adaptable.

So when a friend asked him to try a summer wrestling tournament, he agreed.

"I won the tournament," he said. "I was just being physical like I had done in football, and I liked that about wrestling."

So he joined the high school wrestling team in Henrietta, N.Y., near Rochester. After a successful high school career, he thought about taking some time off to enjoy life with his brother and his friends. But he saw his brother get into some trouble when he left sports as a high school student, and he kept getting calls from Buffalo.

Finally, he decided to wrestle for Buffalo. After redshirting his first year on campus, he became a skilled member of the team and ranked in some individual national polls. As a sophomore, though, he failed the first of three drug tests, which led to his leaving the team.

He promised his mother he would finish his degree in health and human services, so he remained on campus. Until a friend offered him a short-notice, no-training amateur MMA opportunity.

Things happen quickly

Once Green impressed in his amateur debut, he decided he wanted to try MMA as a career and went looking for the right place to train.

A friend knew some people in California, and he thought it would be a nice place to go live and train. But, it was awfully far away.

Then another friend pointed him toward Ithaca. He made a connection with Team BombSquad owner, operator and head trainer Ryan Ciotoli, who invited Green to come train at the facility for a week or two to give it a try. Then before long, Ciotoli called back with an opportunity to take a fight.

"They just kept calling me with fights," he said. "I just kept taking them."

After going 3-0 as an amateur, Green turned pro. He moved from Buffalo to Ithaca following his second pro fight to commit himself more to the team. He had finished his degree, and he found the Target job with strange hours so he wouldn't interrupt his training.

In August, Green took on Ryan Peterson at a Cage Fury Fighting Championships show with his first chance to fully commit to preparing for a fight, and he won by split decision. In September, with even more commitment, he topped Matt DiMarcantonio by unanimous decision at Gladius Fights 1.

"I feel I can take anybody down," Green said. "I just need to work on my standup and other things to get better. But I feel I can do a lot."

He hopes to show that on Saturday. Originally, Green was going to have his first title fight in the show, but some changes led to a different opponent. He said he was disappointed he wouldn't be fighting for a title, but he hopes even bigger opportunities will come soon.

"I think I need to get my wins up, and I want to keep moving up," he said. "So that starts this weekend."

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