Bill Speltz 406 MT Sport
MISSOULA — At 32 years old, it may be a little too late to start a mixed martial arts career.
Meanwhile, the timing could be perfect for Missoula's Jake Barritt.
“I made a couple of big mistakes about six years ago that landed me in prison,” said Barritt, who won a split decision over Missoula's Noah Combs in a middleweight bout at Fight Under the Lights on Saturday at Oglen Allegiance Park.
“I turned my life over to God and fought through it mentally and physically. I stayed in shape and started coaching people in prison to get in shape and change their lives. I came here hoping to use my shape to do something that would keep me out of trouble.”
Barritt is doing great outside of the Octagon too, and the passion he developed while in prison to help others is now serving him well outside of it.
Anyone else reading this…
“I have a lot of good friends that are still in prison. Good people,” he said of Deer Lodge prison. “I'm actually a group fitness instructor at VRTX (Missoula Fitness) right now. Great people took a chance on me and hired me. I got certified in CrossFit and I wanted to use my athletic ability in martial arts.”
Unlike most of the fighters competing on Saturday night, Barritt trains independently, something he has been doing for years.
“In prison, I didn't just lift weights or exercise, I exercised to stay sane,” he said. “We were locked up 23 hours a day for 10 months during COVID. You either went crazy or you worked out in your cell.”
“Working out in a cell for 23 hours a day really gets the creative juices flowing and keeps me going all day.”
Barritt will no doubt remember his mixed martial arts debut, competing in front of around 1,000 enthusiastic fans.
“It was great,” he said. “I was just going to go out there and fight, punch after punch, and that's exactly what happened. Now I'm going to train harder and fight again.”
Barritt was one of two fighters from Missoula to win, the other being Isaiah Silveira, who defeated Kalispell's Zahid Magomedov via guillotine chokehold in the second round.
In the middleweight title bout, AJ Hodchins of Texas defeated Nate Lowe of Bigfork by technical knockout in the fourth round. Hodchins' record improved to 5-1.
Other winners included Junior Maldonado of Kalispell (kickboxing), Shaydin Croft of Pablo, Darren Houle of Polson, Lance Regimbal of Great Falls (kickboxing) and Michael Campel of Hamilton.
This story will be updated with fighter comments and additional photos.
Bill Speltz is the Missoulian's sports editor. He can be reached at bill.speltz@406mtsports.com or on Twitter @billspeltz.
