Andy Curtiss "The Rabid Wolverine"
Fayetteville NC - Last night Andy Curtiss or "The Rabid Wolverine" as many now call him; spent his Tuesday evening having stitches removed from his face and then performing an hour long strength and cardio circuit to get him ready for his next fight. A next fight that many thought would never come. Andy is a 29 year old professional Mixed Martial Arts athlete and author of the book Combat Application Techniques. He holds a professional record of 0 wins, one loss and a draw. His draw and his stitches just came from his second pro fight August 8th in Fort Wayne Indiana; where he battled his opponent James Douglas. This fight was Andy's return to the sport after 10 years of non competition and fighting for our country in the U.S. Army.
The real question to all is,"Why come back after 10 years?" Andy started in ElPaso Texas in a Pay Per View event known as Super Brawl 9. Andy was a private in the Army and immediately after his pro debut he was called to the office of his superiors and reprimanded. He was instructed not to fight again; and if he did he was to be court martialed. For 10 years Andy did not participate in the controversial sport, not till August 8th , 2008 at Silver Crown Fights SCF 8-8-8 event. Andy separated from the military in August 2007 and had floated around job to job in the civillian world. "It's not like there is a whole lot out there for a former Special Forces Soldier.", he says. " I have been following the sport for years; and everyone I know asks why I don't try it." "Truth is I wanted to; I really wanted to avenge my loss from 10 years ago, and see if I can make it in the sport.", Andy remarks.
Andy says that getting back into the sport was tough. Before 2008 the sport was banned by the state in North Carolina, that meant a fighter would have to travel to othe rstates where it is legal. Andy was originally supposed to be on a card for a unnamed North Carolina promoter, but the promoter decided to not let him fight at the last minute. Andy believes that it was because he did not have a winning record and had not fought in 10 years making him a high risk fighter. Andy was told by the promoter that he wasn't doing pros at the time. Andy later read an online article that was posted for the night of the event . the article went into detail about the 3 professional bouts on the card that evening. This was all crushing news considering he had cut close to 30 pounds for the fight and had trained so hard.
It was shortly after the upset that Andy received a text message from Elevated Impact's Ryan Johnson, offering him a fight in Indiana. Andy says, "I talked about it with my wife and we agreed to do it." He continued to maintain his fighting condition for two more months. He said that there was still a lot of nerves and doubt leading up to the fight. When fight day came he was ready. The day of the fight Dora Andy's wife was stopped by the refferee and asked if the rumors were true, that he hadn't fought in 10 years. When she affirmed, he then asked her why Andy even wanted to do this. Later that evening the crown at Silver Crown Fights in Fort Wayne Indiana saw first hand why Andy wanted to do this.
Andy fought opponent James Douglas who was a former amateur light heavyweight champion at 185 lbs middle weight. He took the former amateur champ all three rounds to a decision draw. A draw is very rarein the sport! When he stepped out of the cage after a very bloody three round battle that left his face with 5 stitches; he was immediately surrounded by the support of satisfied fans. He was told that their fight was the fight of the night. Since then Andy has been resting and is now getting ready for another. He hopes that he can secure a fight in October and again in December to finish out the year.
When asked why he did want to reenter this very controversial sport after 10 years he replied with," There are so many reasons why." "There are so many jerks that have tried to keep me down and this is a way to put it all in their faces." "I also need to see for my self, if I am cut out for this." "It is something that I always wanted to pursue, but the Army wasn't behind me." "Also after all I have gone through and getting out of the service being hard as it is to fit in;...I just feel like I fit in." "The guys are just like me." "We are all there for the same cause;...it's theraputic."
Andy Curtiss is a Former Special Forces Weapons Sergeant and was nominated for the Silver Star in Combat. He also recieved the Bronze Star with a "V" device for valor in combat. Andy is the author of the newly released Combat Application Techniques book; published by Authorhouse.
Photo:
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