SHAMOKIN - Mixed Martial Arts is a quickly growing sport and the Shamokin-Coal Township area has its own fighter who trains in the city and has a win under his belt.
Brian Knarr, 35, who trains at Elite Performance Combat Club on Market Street, won in his first MMA fight at the World Cagefighting Championship 10 in Allentown Nov. 8.
Although not a big honor in the world of MMA, Knarr is happy with his accomplishments.
"Obviously, in the world of MMA, my little debut as an amateur fighter from a small town, means basically nothing, but for me, it was a dream to realize," Knarr said.
Knarr's journey began about 11 months ago when he made a life decision to pursue one of his dreams.
"I was always interested in it but I was just a guy sitting on a couch and I thought 'I could do that, I could do that' and a lot of things happened in my life," Knarr said. "I changed the way I feel about things and kind of found it in me to go for my dreams and do the things I wanted to so I contacted Chris (Peipher), the owner of the gym."
Peipher told Knarr he would train him, but wouldn't put him in a fight until he felt Knarr was ready for a fight. For nearly a year, Knarr trained with other fighters for the matchup in Allentown.
That training included a variety of fighting styles including MMA sparring, jiu jitsu, wrestling and karate.
"We work on something until we get to our level of perfection of doing it, then move on to something else," Knarr said.
Eventually the time came for the fight, but that didn't mean the grueling work was over.
"Before the fight, I was pretty upbeat," Knarr said. "Weigh-ins were rough to try and get through to cut weight and fight in a weight class you want to fight in. For me, cutting weight to almost 18 pounds. ... To getting to 172, that was pretty rough."
Knarr's fight was against Sean Behm, a 26-year-old also in his first fight. Behm is nine years younger, and took Knarr away from his preffered fighting style in stand-up to ground, but the age difference and style didn't seem to matter.
Knarr won 1:48 into the first round after he put Behm in a Kimura hold, putting Behm's arm in a bad position.
While Knarr was able to walk away with a win in his first fight, victory wasn't something he was worried about before the fight.
"I kind of went in there with the knowledge that I was ready to go wherever it went," Knarr said. "I was confident regardless of what happened, win or lose. I won because I did something I wanted to do and I worked hard and put my all into it and gave everything I have."
But that doesn't mean Knarr won't fight more, he's back training and looking at a return to the cage in February.
"As far as goals I'd like to get one pro fight or even an amateur fight where once you do three fights you can choose pro rules," Knarr said. "Just really do it. Have no restraints."
However, fighting isn't the only thing Knarr is worried about during the break. He wants to get more people in the gym.
"I hope that this and the interest in me can bring some interest to the gym," Knarr said. "Because the gym has been hurting, Chris has been supporting the gym all by himself because it's just really me and a few other guys."
Knarr said he'd like to train other fighters after his fighting days are over.
But for now, Knarr is working toward another fight, and whether his success continues, he can look back at the first one and be proud of what he did.
"I kind of did it more to show myself, and not only that, my kids," Knarr said. "That when you work hard and put your mind to something, you can do it."