Shootfighting
I started competing in Shootfighting back in 1996.
Many of my fights were not accounted for in any database which seems to be the common norm for many at that time due to being the inception of MMA etc. They were often titled exhibitions and held underneath boxing and kickboxing cards. Unless you were on one of the considered main stages back then aka Hook-N-Shoot, UFC, Extreme Fighting etc. I competed all over the New England area in the 90's. I'm now #fitover50 but I want to share what my actual record was from a newspaper excerpt recently sent via my former Coach Tim Gillett.
Don't take my word for it, I always bring FACTS/RECEIPTS.
I've got over 38 years of wrestling experience with skin in the game. Never was a world beater or considered elite. But, competed regularly back in the 90's and amassed a pro record of 18 wins, 5 losses with 13 wins by submission. From Thre SOUTH-COAST TODAY NEWSPAPER ARTICLE 1999 NEW BEDFORD/FALL RIVER Mike Bruce, Gillett’s protege and top student, had a fight earlier this year in which he held his opponent in an arm lock and was applying increasing pressure. The opponent refused to submit. So Bruce broke the arm. Snap! Like a stick of wood. “But that’s uncommon,” said Gillett, a Fall River native and Durfee High graduate. “That doesn’t usually happen. The kid just wouldn’t give up, and Mike Bruce means business.”Bruce, who only started submission fighting a year-and-a-half ago, is 13-4, but it is a tribute to his growing reputation that he was invited to train at Severns club. The way fighters in Ventura’s gym talk about Bruce, you would expect a giant of a man, but he is only 5-10 and weighs less than 200 pounds. “He looks 225,” said Ventura. “That’s what it is with those guys,” said Tony, who still works out with Gillett. “They pack so much into that small frame. He’s an ex-Marine and that Marine mentality has never left him.” “He was telling me about one fight he had, how he put the guy out with three elbows to the face,” said Ventura “He had the guy pinned down when he delivered the three elbows. He’s something else.”“But when you talk to him,” said Tony, “he’s always a gentleman. Still the Marine.” Bruce lives in Milford and comes all the way to New Bedford once or twice a week to work with Gillett.
*2x New England Grappling Champion
*Ct State Judo Champion
*VA Beach State Shootfighting Champion (Pro)
*Western MA Submission Wrestling Champion (Pro)
*East Coast Shootfighting Champion (Amateur)