Fight Path: MMA provided stability in Cody Stevens' sometimes-turbulent life
One day, in late May of 2006, a friend of Cody Stevens was wasting some time online when he came across information on Next Level Fighting, an organization not far from their homes in Mansfield, Ohio.
He called Stevens and encouraged him to take a fight. On no training. In 10 days.
"We had just been in a bunch of altercations, nothing organized or anything," Stevens told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com). "I said, 'I've just been drinking and doing [stuff] I shouldn't be doing.'
"I finally said OK, ran around the block a few times and watched 'Rocky' a few times."
Stevens, now 28 and living in Mansfield, had strayed from his days as a high-school wrestler to a life around bad influences, drinking, drugs and a full-time job at a drilling company. He had a son he hadn't been allowed to see in more than two years (which has now stretched to nearly seven).
But he also was aggressive and a hard worker, so he decided to throw himself into the fight. He printed up a few shirts that read "Team Stevens," geared up for the nights' first fight and went on instinct. He took a few early hard shots, decided he couldn't go home with both a black eye and a loss, and earned his first win.
"At that moment, I'm thinking, 'This is what I should be doing,'" Stevens said.
Since, Stevens has won 16 of his 18 amateur and pro fights and made himself an up-and-coming talent at 145 pounds. Mixing work at the drilling company (which included a summer spent off the coast of Alaska in 2008) with training and, later, a trip to Thailand, Stevens has committed himself to the sport as he has organized his life.
He has overcome a broken jaw during an amateur win, a broken leg during his only professional loss, a felony charge for four DUIs and an allergy to horses even though he lived a major part of his life on a farm with 34 quarter horses.
He'll fight again in April as he tries to continue his climb from the more directionless life of his early 20s and a 10-month jail sentence to a continuing MMA career.
"Ever since that first fight," he said, "I knew this is what I had to do."
Varied family
Stevens was born in Houston to parents who were young. In the coming years, his mother would marry three times and his father would marry five times, which gave him a variety of family members and influences.
His most stable life came on the 250-acre farm owned by his mother's third husband. The farm life required hard work, including cutting wood, bailing hay, weeding, mowing or whatever his stepfather needed.
He just wouldn't work around the horses – or his eyes would swell shut, and he would have trouble breathing. So he did the work and continued the wrestling career he started in the seventh grade, earning his way to the Ohio state tournament as a junior and a senior.
But after high school, Stevens didn't move on to college, a decision he has continued to regret. He got into a life of drinking and drugs and had a son with his longtime girlfriend (the child that, through court battles and custody hearings, he hasn't seen in nearly seven years).
Then came a stabilizing job. He hooked on with a drilling company, and his work sent him out town for seven to 10 days at a time. Away from the usual crowd, he decided he wanted more. It was around that time he experienced his first fight.
Then everything changed.
Driller to fighter
After his first fight, Stevens became obsessed with improving his fighting ability. After work at a drilling site, he would run back to the hotel. At the hotel, he would push his bed to the side and shadow box while his roommate and co-worker would drink and watch television.
He won his first three amateur fights, and during his fourth, he had trouble clenching his mouthpiece heading out for the second round. His jaw was broken, but he finished the fight and won. It wasn't until he felt extreme pain from the vibration of the driller the next day that he finally went to a doctor.
He became a professional in 2008 after going 9-1 as an amateur. After his first pro fight, he took the money he had and trained in Thailand. He even took part in the Pan-Asian Grappling Games, where he won a gold medal at 62 kilos.
When he returned, he earned an MMA win in 23 seconds, and he was rolling. Then, he broke his hand shortly before a fight, and the figured he would go out drinking with some friends.
By the end of the night, a friend and the friend's girlfriend were fighting, so Stevens decided just to leave. He was ticketed for his fourth DUI, which is a felony in Ohio, and he ended up spending 10 months in jail. But, he said, the experience allowed him to focus.
In November 2009, his first fight after his release, Stevens broke his leg in the opening seconds and suffered his only professional defeat. Since his recovery, he has won four straight.
His next challenge comes April 16 at a Revelation Fight Organization show. He'll have a chance to improve on his 7-1 pro record and continue the climb that started with a jog around the block and a 'Rocky' movie marathon – with plenty of ups and downs since.
"I'm doing exactly what I want to be doing," Stevens said. "There's so much more I could tell you about what I've been through because it's been a lot. But I'm trying to make the most of what I have now."
