I was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas on April 24, 1984 and attended Sloan-Hendrix High School. I started traditional martial arts training at eight years old, after my mom gave birth to my kid sister, Kristin Belcher. My first instructor was into cross training with Judo and Jiu Jitsu. We also boxed as he had competed in American boxing in the service. My family couldn’t afford to travel long distances for me to compete in minor competitions, but I heard of a local martial arts instructor named Max Bishop. He was really ahead of the times, promoting a monthly fight night at a sports bar. It took me over five years to convince my parents to let me train with Max. Then with Max’ training, I had my first real mixed martial arts fight at age 14, where I defeated a grown man in his late 20s by submission.

After that victory, I continued to train and fight for the next few years, while playing high school baseball and basketball. Martial Arts taught me a serious work ethic and I out-worked everybody, all the way to college.