Fight Path: Chase Gormley's road to UFC 104 included brother, He-Man, Scary Gary
Not too long ago, Chase Gormley felt like his mixed-martial-arts career was in neutral.
"How many fights were canceled?" Gormley told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) of his frustrating relationship with Affliction that, in part, stalled his career after six consecutive wins. "Well, four. If you count the Jay White thing."
That was supposed to be October 2008, while Gormley still had momentum following his May 2008 win against Eric Pele at Maximum Fighting Championships 16 that sent the heavyweight into his deal with Affliction. But, like three after it, the fight was scratched.
"It's been a roller coaster year and a half," said the 26-year-old Gormley.
But, it closes with the biggest opportunity yet in Gormley's career. The California native who, after following his older brother into athletics became an NAIA All-American wrestler, will face Stefan Struve at UFC 104 in his first fight since his opportunity-creating win against Pele.
From the time he was stunned with Jon Murphy's strong right hand in the opening seconds of his first professional fight, Gormley has been the one to fear. Combining the striking ability he learned from early boxing training with the Brazilian jiu-jitsu skill he gained starting at age 13, Gormley has hovered among MMA's more promising heavyweights since he began.
"It's easy to say, 'Well, maybe I should've just gotten a job and done something else for awhile,'" Gormley said. "But I had to put a lot into this, and there were a lot of people who weren't getting fights because there just weren't many (Affliction) shows. Now I'm ready for what's coming."
Remember Scary Gary?
Unlike his competitive personality that emerged when he was a star high school wrestler, Gormley grew up in a low-key community in Red Bluff, Calif., near the border with Oregon. His father was a carpenter, his mother was a waitress, and both encouraged their two boys – older brother Josh is 10 years his senior – into sports.
Josh, actually, later became an MMA fighter. He fought under the name Josh Dempsey and went 1-1, which included an appearance at a King of the Cage show back in August 2001.
Gormley first started going to Josh's high wrestling practices when he was about 4 years old, which led to youth wrestling tournaments he can barely remember.
"They tell me I didn't really know what I was doing," Gormley said. "I didn't really know what was going on. I just wanted to play He-Man."
The interest in wrestling soon surpassed action figures. It even surpassed his joy of playing football, even though, at 6-foot-3 and 280 pounds as a senior, many schools tried to woo him with scholarships.
"I just hate to lose, and in wrestling there's no one else to put the blame on," Gormley said. "You put in your own hard work, and you get your own results."
For Gormley, those rewards included placement in national tournaments and a continued wrestling career at Lindenwood University, an NAIA school in St. Charles, Mo.
Even as he considered continuing the MMA training he began at age 13, he saw the effects of a contact sport in his own family. Josh stopped his own MMA career because of difficulties he faced after his boxing career.
"He took a lot of damage in boxing," Gormley said. "He could only get (MMA) fights on Indian reservations because state associations didn't have authority there."
Still, Gormley wanted to move forward with his own career. His first taste came when he was 17 and entered an underground show against the fighter everyone called Scary Gary. Having held his own in that lone amateur fight, Gormley returned to MMA once his wrestling career wrapped.
His first strike opened his eyes.
Road to 6-0
The first few moments against Murphy were somewhat startling.
"I didn't know he was a boxer, so I wasn't worried about his hands," Gormley said. "He hit me with a right cross right away. It didn't stop the fight, but I was certainly thinking about it."
Gormley rallied and topped Murphy (who would later fight for EliteXC in MMA's first-ever major U.S. network TV fight) via unanimous decision. In the next eight months, Gormley fought four more times (including three times in Gladiator Challenge shows) and ran his record to 5-0.
The final fight in that string, at Gladiator Challenge 73, came against Rick Cheek, and it was a defining moment for Gormley. It was the first time he didn't take a fight last minute, and it was the first time he put time in training for a specific opponent.
"I was nervous, but as soon as they closed the cage, I said, 'I'm going to take it to him,'" Gormley said. "In the second round, I broke his arm with a keylock."
That's when it became real. After the win against Pele in May 2008, Gormley signed on with Affliction and was optimistic about his future.
Then it stalled. As fight after fight was postponed or canceled, he became more frustrated. He wondered when his next opportunity would come. Now, he has the opportunity many would dream of. He'll be fighting in a UFC event in the Staples Center in front of what is, basically, his hometown crowd.
It's his chance to show them, as well as everyone else in the MMA world who hasn't seen him for 14 months, what he can do.
"I live right by the Staples Center, so I feel like I have an advantage," Gormley said. "He's coming into my backyard, and I know the chance I have, so I'm going to fight for it."
