Gilroy's head coach and former UFC champion Daniel Cormier coached at the 2019 CCS Wrestling Championships. Cormier most recently led Gilroy to its fifth consecutive Central Coast Section title in February. (Cody Glenn, Bay Area News Group)
Former Gilroy principal Marco Sanchez said when he hired Daniel Cormier as the school's head wrestling coach in the spring of 2018, he knew the mixed martial arts legend and former gold medal Olympian would be a part of the program. He envisioned maintaining a high level of success.
Sanchez's bet on Cormier paid off.
The former UFC champion led Gilroy to five consecutive Central Coast Section championships, 21 consecutive championships overall for the program and three top-three team finishes at the state championships.
But what Sanchez didn't understand was the knock-on effect that hiring a mixed martial artist to coach a high school team would have beyond Gilroy's wrestling room.
Since Cormier took over the program, more coaches with MMA backgrounds have taken on similar roles across the state. MMA's growing popularity has helped increase wrestling's participation numbers and led to fighters entering the Octagon becoming high school coaches, people close to the sport say.
MMA is a combination of martial arts such as wrestling, boxing, judo, karate, and kickboxing.
“I think the rise of MMA is contributing to a once-defunct sport,” said Joey Ballen, St. Francis girls wrestling coach and former MMA fighter. “Just 10 years ago, this sport was going downhill and dying. Ten years later, you see a lot happening in any industry. MMA, Jiu-Jitsu, it's all (wrestling) I will contribute to.”
It's no secret that great wrestlers make great MMA fighters. Stars like Cormier, Jon Jones, Kamaru Usman, and Tyron Woodley were all college wrestlers who eventually became UFC champions.
Cormier's hiring at Gilroy follows the departure of Greg Barrera to Los Gatos after the 2017-18 season. Barrera's transfer leaves a big void for Sanchez, who was also a wrestling coach himself. The principal had the good fortune of bringing in a UFC star.
“When Coach Barrera moved to Los Gatos, there wasn't really anyone to step in, so it was a little stressful,” said Sanchez, who is currently the assistant commissioner of CCS. “Cormier came to my office out of the blue. I had heard rumors that he was interested, but I didn't even try to approach him…but he was trying his best. I was really impressed with his first impressions, which he took seriously and fully embraced as head coach.”
Cormier didn't show up to Gilroy alone.
Deron Wynn was an MMA fighter who competed in the UFC's middleweight division and was one of Cormier's chief assistants. After spending his five years at Gilroy, Wynn recently was hired as the wrestling coach at Fountain Valley High School in Southern California.
Wynn isn't the only Bay Area-based MMA fighter to take a job as a high school coach. Former UFC middleweight and Vallejo High wrestler Mark Munoz coached at Fairmont Preparatory Academy from 2020 to 2022 and currently teaches club wrestling in Orange County. Up-and-coming mixed martial artist Antonio Andrade, who trains at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, was recently hired as Gilroy's assistant coach.
The new coach grew rapidly.
Under Coach Bullen, the St. Francis girls team had 11 players advance to the CCS Championship and four to the state tournament last season. The Lancers also won the West Catholic Athletic League team title.
While the wrestling used in MMA is very different from traditional wrestling, with most of the techniques used in MMA set up using feints or clinches, Ballen said he has experience inside the cage. That said, there are benefits for fighters transitioning to high school coaches.
“When I started MMA, learning jiu-jitsu and hitting at a professional level really changed my perspective,” Ballen said. “Coaching definitely has its benefits for me. It has helped me look at wrestling technique a little differently. I try to incorporate martial arts principles when coaching wrestling. I think that's what makes it unique.”
Sanchez and other wrestling coaches around the Bay Area are seeing the influence of the rise of MMA spill over into amateur wrestling.
Last year, Alameda High School revived its wrestling program after 40 years without a team. After having just seven wrestlers in 2022, Alameda had a team of 43 last season, with many of the new wrestlers coming from martial arts backgrounds.
“We have a lot of kids at Alameda that have some kind of mixed martial arts background,” Alameda coach Dennis Spencer said. “Kids have a pretty high level of combat presence and awareness. But having kids with martial arts backgrounds fosters competition and that's a good thing.”
Sanchez said the growing popularity of MMA has allowed more athletes to try their hand at wrestling.
“This year we had 500 more wrestlers than last year just in our section,” Sanchez said. “You have to wonder how much of that has to do with getting MMA attention. I can't put a number on it, but anecdotally, MMA has led to more kids trying out wrestling. I think it's increasing.”
Although sports such as MMA, boxing, and jiu-jitsu are not sanctioned high school sports, wrestling provides a good baseline for potential MMA fighters to one day compete in the Octagon.
Gilroy had three wrestlers win state titles in their weight classes this season: Cody Merrill (285 pounds), Moses Mirabal (144 pounds) and Daniel Zepeda (138 pounds). Cormier said he believes all of them can one day produce exciting MMA fighters.
“A lot of my kids have a background in martial arts,” Cormier added. “They were born, bred and developed with the sport. I believe all of them could have a pretty good career in MMA if they choose.”
