GYM’S ALREADY A HIT
The Daily Citizen
>From Staff Reports
Jun 28, 2011
North Georgia Hayastan MMA Academy hasn’t been around very long, but
owners Scott White and Leonardo Lechuga already have a few points of
pride for the Dalton gym.
One of the biggest highlights so far was delivered Saturday night by
Dustin Dyer when he won the heavyweight title at X Series Fighting
Championship’s “Crossroads” event in Knoxville, Tenn.
Dyer’s technical knockout of hometown fighter Isaac Fine in the third
round secured a belt he’ll defend in October, giving both him and the
Dalton gym’s members something to look forward to in the coming months.
“Right now, it’s actually just a dream come true,” said the 24-year-old
Dyer, who is now 3-0 in mixed martial arts bouts.
“I didn’t see in my third fight actually winning a belt. I saw myself
winning a belt, but not this early into it. Honestly, it kind of
hasn’t hit home yet.”
The gym, located at 805 South Hamilton St. (across from Bry-Man’s Plaza
South), opened only a couple months ago when White, the facility’s
head instructor, and Lechuga, who had been studying under White at
other locations for a year, found a place to settle down.
“For the fact that our gym has not been open that long, (Dyer) did
very well,” Lechuga said. “He’s a fast learner and a really hard
worker. He’s got drive that’s out of this world.
He stays focused and he stays in the gym, training hard.”
But Dyer was joined Saturday night in Knoxville by two other fighters
who work out at North Georgia Hayastan as they made their MMA debuts
while fighting in X Series’ Rising Fight League competition.
David Miles, 20, who like Dyer is from Chatsworth and a former Murray
County High wrestler, won by technical knockout in the first round of
a 135-pound bout against Dustin Wilson of Maryville, Tenn.; 19-year-old
Jake Hall lost to Knoxville’s Andrew Herrington in the 185-pound class.
“It’s great,” White said of the fighters’ opportunity to compete. “I’ve
had them for a little while now, since we’ve been in a couple other
locations, and now we’ve got a spot where we can grow and we’re very
visible in the community.
… I’m glad that they’re doing as well as they are. They put in the
hard work and everything, so I’m glad to see them benefiting.”
Dyer, who playfully toted around his belt Monday evening at the gym
– he was simply hanging out during a mandatory rest day required by
White – said he had worn it into work that morning at Signs Graphics
Printing, eager to prove wrong any “doubters” from when his interest
in MMA emerged.
After his high school football and wrestling days ended, Dyer said he
gained weight, at one point getting up to 320 pounds, but eventually
missed the competition wrestling had provided. A year ago Monday,
he stepped into the ring for the first time by competing in a Tough
Man competition, which he won.
He made his MMA debut in January, winning at the Battle of Rome,
then won his second fight a few weeks later in Chattanooga. He later
made contact with promoters who helped put together Saturday’s fight,
a highlight for the personal journey he’s undergone over the past
few months.
“That’s the satisfaction of it, too. I’m actually in better shape
than I was in wrestling or football,” said Dyer, who now weighs in
at 255. “It’s awesome.”
Miles said he started studying kickboxing when he didn’t wrestle
his junior year at Murray County High. He was getting into trouble
for fighting at school, and believes combat sports helped him find
an acceptable outlet for that aggression. A year and a half ago,
he started training and competing in grappling, while also learning
other fighting forms.
Now a student at the University of West Georgia, Miles trains most of
the year at Defkon 1 in Villa Rica. But having trained under White
in the past, he’s been thankful for the opportunity to work out at
North Georgia Hayastan during his break from school. Saturday’s fight
gave him a chance to help add weight to the gym’s representation in
Knoxville, and he was also happy plenty of his friends and family
got to see him win his MMA debut.
And because it was a No. 1 contender fight, Miles is now in position
to fight for a title himself.
“We had 50 to 60 people there watching,” Miles said of the support
for the North Georgia Hayastan trio. “Leading up to the fight, I was
worried about doing good and winning for them and putting a show on
for them. It finally hit me that they were there to watch me fight,
and it didn’t matter to them whether I won or lost. So then I was
just really excited to get in there.”
While Hall lost against his 34-year-old opponent after taking a square
punch to the head early, White said he fought well overall and should
be able to apply the lessons learned from the bout. That’s something
Hall, who has had success in grappling tournaments, is eager to do.
“Just some things I need to work on,” said Hall, who works as a
trainer under White. “Not letting the buildup of the fight get to
me. My head movement – I’m going to get with a boxing coach.
I’ve got a buddy of mine that’s a world champion in boxing, so I’m
going to work with him some.”
Dyer, Hall and Miles all plan to compete at Chattanooga Extreme Fight
Night VII on July 16 in East Ridge, Tenn., and Dyer is also looking
forward to his Oct. 22 title defense in Knoxville.
“They say you’re not a champion until you make your first defense,”
Dyer said. “And that’s how I look at it.
I’ve still got a lot to improve.”
While the Dalton facility they now train at hasn’t been open long,
several of the fighters – including the three who competed Saturday
night – from North Georgia Hayastan have been working out together
for a while at other gyms.
White, a former Catoosa County deputy, has a wide variety of martial
arts experience as a student and instructor dating back to the late
1990s, although his focus for MMA students at this gym is on the
Hayastan hybrid fighting style developed by Gokor Chivichyan and Gene
LeBell. White is a certified instructor for the system, having studied
under Chivichyan, a native of Armenia who now operates a school in
Los Angeles.
“Since I got hooked up with him around 2002 or 2003, that’s really
been my main focus since then,” White said. “We do a little bit of
everything, though.”
Although White and Lechuga are aiming to start daytime classes in
the future, the gym is currently open Monday through Thursday nights.
They offer instruction in jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai kickboxing, Sambo,
Judo, wrestling, as well as self-defense, and group and personal
instruction is available.
Lechuga said that while some gym members are training to compete
in combat sports, others are simply looking to feel more secure or
find a different way to keep active and in shape. And instruction is
available for a wide range of ages – before older students took the
mat on Monday, a kids class was finishing up.
The gym offers discounts for students, families, public service
members (law enforcement, fire department and EMS) and military,
and currently offers a one-time one-week free pass.
For information on the gym, contact White at (706) 271-8278 or Lechuga
at (630) 301-1743.
© 2011 The Associated Press.