MORELL, P.E.I. – Forgive Tyler Meade for double-dipping, but in his world it’s not bad etiquette.
In fact, it’s a good thing after he defeated Djavan Coleman to win the California amateur mixed martial arts (MMA) state championships in two weight classes in the same bout recently in San Diego.
Coleman unified the California Amateur Mixed Martial Arts Association (CAMO) welterweight and middleweight belts in fights earlier in the year. That lasted until Meade’s modified arm triangle forced Coleman’s submission 1:39 into the first round.
“By beating him, I won both belts. It also won submission of the night (as) the coolest of the night,” said Meade.
Also cool is the Morell native’s 4-0 record in MMA, all first-round submissions. The bout versus Coleman was Meade’s longest.
The Morell native lives and trains in San Diego. He moved to Alberta earlier in the decade and met his wife April in Edmonton. The pair went stateside in 2012, landing in Phoenix, Ari., and Meade, already a longtime student of judo, started training again.
From there, the couple moved to California in 2014, and in San Diego he hooked up with The Arena MMA and Baret Submissions, run by two-time world champ Baret Yoshida.
With Yoshida and coaches Basheer Abdullah and Joe Vargas (boxing), Charles Martinez (MMA, muay thai) and Chris Leben (jui-jitsu, MMA, wrestling) Meade’s seen steady progress culminating in the CAMO title.
But it hasn’t been a simple formula.
Training is six days a week, up to three hours a session, each day working on a different discipline, and that after putting in a full day as a plumber.
Mondays are for MMA instruction, on Tuesdays it’s MMA sparring, Wednesdays jui-jitsu (Meade won a world jui-jitsu world title in 2015), Thursdays are set aside for kickboxing, Fridays mean overall MMA cage work, while Satrudays are less intense and bring lighter fare with his training mates.
“We’re still putting in work, but not trying to kill each other.”
“It’s taxing emotionally and mentally getting ready to fight a human in a cage. It’s not something I like, but you have to embrace it. I’m sometimes unnerved about the fights, but you have to keep fighting.”
Tyler Meade, mixed martial arts fighter, on the sport.
With that schedule, it’s safe to say the 31-year-old is not home much. Good thing April is patient sort, he said.
“I work at my plumbing job from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., come home, have a bite, talk to my wife for 10 seconds. She’s the best person I could have in my corner. She’s a part-time chef, part-time massage therapist, part-time counsellor and full-time support system.”
Meade’s next step is turning pro.
That’s been the goal all along, but he’s in no hurry. Neither are his coaches who, he said, would prefer him to get a few more amateur bouts under his belt.
“I trust my coaches 100 per cent. I went from a white belt with no fights to a purple belt and a state champion. Opportunities will come. If you’re looking to be rich, then being an MMA fighter is not the way to go.”
