For those of you who know me, you know how much I love MMA.  I started Kenpo Karate when I was much younger and went through the belt systems. After a while I switched to Tae Kwon Do to learn how to do all the aerial kicks. The thing I loved the most was sparring. I loved competition. When I joined the Navy I competed in a bare knuckles karate tournament in Chicago. It was on payperview, and espn. I got my butt kicked but I fell in love with the sport of kickboxing. When I got my first duty station, in Everett Washington, I looked for kickboxing. Luckily Maurice Smith had a school close by. Mo was the current ISKA heavyweight kickboxing champion, Extreme fighting Champion, and UFC champion. Mo and and I became great friends and he led me into MMA(mixed martial arts). Since then I have extensively studied muay thai and jui jitsu and have dedicated my time to living and breathing MMA. 

   About 9 years ago I picked up Tapout as a sponsor. They were always generous with me. I got free clothes and in turn wore them every chance I got.  For years I got strange looks from people wondering what the heck I was wearing.  Now, with the UFC being mainstream and fighters now being celebrities, those stares have turned into questions. "hey man , do you fight?" Tapout has become part of my wardrobe. 

   Last night Charles Lewis(the founder of Tapout) died in a car wreck. I knew Charles. He was a friend of mine. I'm heartbroken that he is gone. He nearly singlehandedly took a brand ,and in just 9 years went from selling it out of the back of his car to generating 10 million in revenue . No matter how big Tapout got, Charles always had time for everyone. Including me. I miss him already. Tonight I'm going to have a drink for my friend.

"Charles, tell the big man upstairs I said hello"