The Soboba Tribal member said when he was young, he was a big fan of the WWF and as he got older, he got interested in MMA. “The reason for not going for it myself was because I was too busy playing,” Nunez said. “I was drinking and smoking every day, I was making foolish decisions nearly ending my existence on a couple occasions. Also, I hated working a concrete job I was doing. What made me change ultimately was my daughter. Her future is extremely important to me and what kind of person would I be if I died or went to prison and left her with nothing?”

When he made the decision to pursue a boxing career, he was fortunate to find a great coach/trainer in Dave Trujillo at the House of Pain SoCal Boxing and Fitness Club in Temecula. He said the adjustment was difficult because he didn’t start boxing until he was 26.

“I was used to doing whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted,” he said. So not spending time with family or being able to eat and drink whatever he wanted was challenging. “Remaining disciplined is an absolute must; sacrifices are absolutely necessary to live this life.”

Nunez is now a man whose life is ruled by respect, integrity, morals and responsibility.

“I’ve learned to lead a healthy and sober lifestyle; I’ve been shown to a life I didn’t know was out there,” he said. “Without the House of Pain and Mr. Dave Trujillo, none of this would be possible. This man has done everything he said he would, and continues to do so. His work ethic is absolutely incredible. His drive to make miracles happen for others is a blessing from God himself.”

Nunez’s advice for anyone that is going to pursue this life is to realize this isn’t a game. “Your health is on the line with every competition,” Nunez said. “It’s an extremely difficult way of life but a healthy one. You must be dedicated and disciplined with your eating habits and training regime, otherwise I would advise not pursuing it.”

In February, he had the opportunity to fight at the Soboba Casino Resort Event Center.

“It was an amazing experience to fight at home,” Nunez said. “It definitely was a proud moment at such an early stage of my career. I was able to show my people that with effort and discipline they too can achieve their dreams.”

Nunez has fought in many different weight classes, but as of now he plans on making super lightweight his home division. His next fight is April 12 in Colorado. His current record is 9-4.

“The destination of the fight makes no difference in my opinion,” he said. “I do what I do every day regardless of where the fight is.”

He said that “Perfection In this sport doesn’t exist. I’m constantly working on learning and growing because that’s infinite. As far as my style, I would say I’m more of a fighter than a boxer, which are two different things.”

He categorizes a good bout as one where he can replicate what he’s been doing and working on in training. “Also, a good bout in my opinion is two evenly matched opponents, with both refusing to let off the gas; that’s what makes an exciting fight for fans that pay for the event,” Nunez said.

He said boxing is a lifestyle and a year-round sport, so he doesn’t really have an off season or any down time. Whenever he needs to take a break, though, he likes to spend time with his daughter Mila at the beach.

“I feel bad at times because I’m not always able to take her to the pool, park or other things,” Nunez said. “But, in the end, what I do is for her future and I’m showing her the way a man is supposed to conduct himself.”

For more information, www.hopscboxingclub.com.

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Coming In One Month: Jared Vanderaa Ready To Silence The Doubters

Two-time MMA Heavyweight Champion Jared Vanderaa is ready to step back into the cage for his next fight for Ringside Promotions at RUF-39. This fight will take place at Twin Arrows Resort & Casino in Arizona. This will be Vanderaa’s first fight in 2020. He had a late December bout last yearend is fresh off a unanimous decision victory against the very durable MMA veteran Tony Lopez. This gives Vanderaa a 10-4 overall record.

At times in his career, it seemed that Vanderaa was knocking on the UFC’s door. A couple of losses due to highly questionable decisions has somewhat put his career in limbo. Vanderaa has stayed active and is training with UFC veteran “Smilin’” Sam Alvey among many others. The judging in MMA has always been questionable. Many experts like Joe Rogan, Daniel Cormier, Chael Sonnen, Brendan Schaub, and Dominick Cruz have put to question the judges and their lack of qualifications in terms of judging MMA. Jared Vanderaa isn’t the only one who has dealt with this. It’s an epidemic that is systemically plaguing MMA. 

Most recently in the UFC, at the UFC246 event, there were a total of three fights where the announcers openly questioned the decisions made by the judges. This was especially true n the main event between Jon Jones and Dominick Reyes. Many viewers had Reyes winning the fight three rounds to two, including the President/face of the UFC, Dana White, but one judge scored it 4-1 in favor of Jones. Many fighters have to overcome these obstacles and Vanderaa is just one of them. Speaking of the Jones vs Reyes fight, many don’t know that Vanderaa was one of Dominick Reyes’s main training partners for this fight. I’d say, based on Reyes’s performance against Jon Jones, Jared Vanderaa is ready for top tier opponents. 

His Opponent at RUF-39 is no rookie to the game: Rich Hale has been around the block in MMA and has been fighting professionally since 2006. He stopped fighting sometime in 2014 and took a leave from the game. Hale has fought in the top organization, Bellator, ten times and has a respectable 22-7-1 record with 18 finishes. He is a dangerous boxer and submission technician. If Vanderaa could win decisively he would be on the way to turning some heads at larger organizations. Vanderaa is currently holding the heavyweight titles for two organizations: Smash Global and EFC.

If he doesn’t get the call from the UFC soon, he may have to defend one of those titles, but there are a few UFC fighters who need a rebound fight and the UFC might be looking to Vanderaa as an option. That’s not to say that he is an easy fight by any means, but he is relatively unknown to the casual viewers. Tai Tuivasa, IIiar Latifi, Juan Adams, Greg Hardy, and Jeff Hughes would all make great opponents for Vanderaa…assuming he can get the finish against Rich Hale next month.

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A Tough Match For Our Hometown Heavyweight Champ

Jared Vanderaa took on Renan Ferreria at the Riverside Municipal Auditorium last Friday night. Legacy Fighting Alliance put on the fight; it was a heavyweight bout that was important to both men. Jared Vanderaa is currently the Heavyweight Champion in South Africa for EFC, Renan Ferreria is a fighter from Brazil training underneath legendary Brazilian fighters “Big Nog” & “Little Nog” it was heavily suggested before this fight that the winner would get an opportunity to challenge for the LFA Heavyweight Belt or might even get that call that most MMA fighters dream of from Dana White at the UFC.

In the first round, both fighters looked excited and ready to fight; they met in the center of the cage and started trading hard punches and leg kicks. There were a few scrambles and grappling exchanges, but the majority of the first round consisted of great striking exchanges. Jared Vanderaa weighed in at 264 and is listed as 6’5″ he is certainly a huge man, but his opponent Renan is listed as 6’10” and weighed in at 248 pounds. Renan definitely looked like the bigger man, but that doesn’t always mean better, Jared looked great in the grappling transitions and to me appeared to be stronger and got the better of those exchanges. 

In the second round, Renan landed a great right straight that came right down the pipe. Renan’s arms are so long that it looked like Jared miscalculated the distance and let the punch clip him. Vanderaa is usually great at slipping shots like that. The punch put Jared on the mat, but didn’t really hurt him. He appeared to be composed and defended Renan’s barrage of punches from the top. Renan landed a couple of huge elbows that split Jared’s forehead and opened him up, Vanderaa fought his way up to a standing position. The fighters were now both on their feet. Vanderaa executed a beautiful trip and took Renan to the ground. Vanderaa was controlling this position until it looked like he took a deep breath in and threw a punch straight down, at that moment Renan started to position himself to finish the fight, seconds later Jared Vanderaa was caught in a deep triangle choke and tapped out.

Renan Ferreria will have his eyes set on the LFA Heavyweight Championship since currently, the title is vacant. His next bout will probably be in early 2020 and for the belt or in the UFC as a rookie with that organization.

Jared Vanderaa will have to wait for the California Commission to make a decision about a medical suspension since Vanderaa took some huge shots. Vanderaa will be looking at Dana White’s Contender Series for his next fight in order to regain traction on the road to the UFC. Maybe there is a title defense in his future. Either way, we expect Jared Vanderaa to bounce back stronger than ever and keep representing Hemet & San Jacinto in the cage. 

The Hemet & San Jacinto would like to congratulate Jared Vanderaa on an amazing fight and can’t wait for his next match! We wish you a speedy recovery Champ!

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Jared Vanderaa is a heavyweight MMA fighter and current EFC (fight organization based in South Africa) champion. Jared is a hometown boy who got his start on the wrestling team at West Valley High School. When I asked about it, he remembered it like it was yesterday. “I was walking to school, but I was late, and I heard the police sirens behind me. At first, I was scared. I thought I was going to be in trouble. Instead, Officer Nacua (long-time West Valley resident police officer and wrestling coach) took the time to recruit me to the team, and that was it.”

Ever since his sophomore year, Jared has been in love with martial arts. Initially, he was on the football team, but quickly developed a passion for combat sports when he joined the wrestling team. Jared started his amateur MMA career in October of 2010, four months after graduating from high school.

Vanderaa fought as an amateur for five years before making his professional debut in MMA; I asked him what took him so long to start his professional career. He said, “I wanted to make sure I challenged myself to see what I was good at and what I needed to work on; that way I can make sure my game didn’t have any holes in it.”

Vanderaa started his pro career in June of 2015 after failing to find an amateur opponent that wanted to fight him. Fast forward, four years later he was the EFC Heavyweight Champion waiting for his opportunity to fight for the UFC. This chance would be through Dana White’s Contender Series or a UFC fight contract.

He spends his time training at Dan Hendo’s Athletic Training Center in Temecula CA., and teaching classes every week at Team Quest San Jacinto in San Jacinto, CA. Even though Jared has a passion for fighting, he also loves teaching martial arts to the local youth. Jared hopes that he can make a difference in their lives and help some of discovering the love of martial arts just as he did.

Do you know someone who graduated this valley and would like to nominate them to be the Alumni Highlight? Email me at VCsportsKyle@gmail.com and tell me about them. I look forward to hearing about all the great graduates of our local high schools doing big things.

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