GILROY – Eric Gonzales has faced challenges in his life. An
amateur career in mixed martial arts, fighting for free sometimes,
and working to gain sponsorship will deliver both literal and
figurative bumps along the way.
GILROY – Eric Gonzales has faced challenges in his life. An amateur career in mixed martial arts, fighting for free sometimes, and working to gain sponsorship will deliver both literal and figurative bumps along the way.
Absent from the sport he loves for two years due to various injuries, including a life-threatening staph infection in his left biceps, Gonzales, a Gilroy native, is poised to make a return to MMA fighting, not for himself, however, but for the youth in the community, he said.
After undergoing emergency surgery to stop the spread of the staph infection, Gonzales made it a point to rededicate his life in a positive manner, and said that returning to the cage isn’t about him but about helping others.
“I want to show kids that if they work hard and try hard and put their minds to something, they can do anything.”
Gonzales will participate this weekend in the Grappling X Nogi Tournament in Long Beach.
“If I win, all the money I get I will donate to at-risk youth to help kids stay out of gangs,” Gonzales said.
The 30-year-old, who works as a counselor, has also started his own gang-prevention program called Gang Education Training or G.E.T.
“If everyone puts in a little effort, we can keep kids stay out of trouble,” Gonzales said.
Sunday’s grappling tournament is not a full-on MMA fight.
“I’m starting out slow,’ Gonzales said, who is entering the event against the advice of his doctors.
“I’m not listening to them,” he said.”
There will be no strikes allowed this weekend only take downs and submission moves, Gonzales added.
“I have been training with South Valley wrestling coach Armando Garcia. He has been helping me out with the wrestling part of it.”
There is a $5,000 purse up for grabs Sunday and Gonzales is determined to capture a piece of it.
“Whatever I can win I’m donating,” he said emphatically.
