And his opponent was just coming off a win from his last fight.
Environmental geography junior Joshua Haga and biomedical and laboratory diagnostics junior Gabriel Stewart acted as the fighter’s cage men and his extra pairs of eyes during the fight, a part of Ron DeLeon Promotions’s Capital City Cage Fights.
The duo pressed themselves against the chain-link cage at the Lansing Center as the astrophysics sophomore fought, remaining vigilant for any weaknesses.
Haga quickly noticed the opponent was an orthodox boxer and would fight with his left foot forward. He instantly shouted this to Radecki so he could set his stance for the takedown.
The opponent swung, but Radecki managed to evade getting hit by twisting and stepping out of the way. Radecki was too fast for his advances.
Once he successfully took down his opponent, Radecki used skills he learned from wrestling to keep his opponent on the ground to earn his first MMA win.
“My weakest part of the game is probably the stand up and striking aspect, but my takedowns are solid,” he said. “I have my ace in the hole there, but coming from a wrestling background, that’s to be expected.”
Radecki has been perfecting his wrestling since he was in third grade. He said wrestling is a fighting style oriented around takedowns.
He started to treat the sport more seriously in high school but couldn’t find a wrestling club to join after arriving at MSU. Missing the thrills of one-on-one fighting, Radecki decided to join the Mixed Martial Arts Club during his freshman year.
Haga, president of the club, said Radecki excelled in MMA because of the skills he brought from his wrestling experience. He only needed training on certain aspects of MMA, such as striking.
Instead of focusing solely on ground fighting and takedowns, he was thrust into a new style of fighting. He learned to incorporate striking into his fights, and figured out how to ensure that he didn’t receive any hits to the face.
“He trained really hard for the fight,” Haga said. “What he did showcased his skills as a wrestler and the new skills he gained from the club.”
Radecki trains two and a half hours per day, three times a week with the MMA club. When he knows a fight is on the horizon, he spends the entire month leading up to it working out.
Radecki said he hopes to compete in his next fight during July. After winning his first ever MMA fight, he said he stepped out of the ring and into a jumping celebration with his cage men feeling only one thing — relief.
“I was obviously really happy,” he said. “I was relieved all the hard work I put into this worked out. It wasn’t just a big waste.”
