Introducing J.J. Ambrose

The name J.J. Ambrose is likely familiar to those who closely follow mixed martial arts, but if you only follow the older combat sport of , you probably have not heard of him. That is because the young MMA veteran will be making his debut this Friday night at the Orange County Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa, California.

While still a wrestler in high school, Ambrose found his way to sanctioned combat in 2004. Working out at a gym, Ambrose was approached about an upcoming MMA event in nearby Lake Havasu City, Arizona and quickly agreed to fight on the card. “Every weekend we were watching UFC fights, and I remember thinking at the time that if I could just Matt Hughes in the face one time, I could be champion,” recalls Ambrose. “Little did I know at the time, I was just a stupid, ignorant kid.”

Despite his ignorance, and only about two weeks of prep time, Ambrose won his first bout against an equally inexperienced foe by guillotine choke. “The guy wasn’t very good as it was, so it wasn’t a big deal,” says Ambrose in retrospect. “But at the time it was huge. I was a kid in high school that won a fight.”

In the years since, Ambrose has dedicated himself to mixed martial arts, amassing a listed record of 15-3, 3 KOs, 9 Submissions. Currently Ambrose lives in San Jose, California and trains alongside some of the world’s best mixed martial artists at the American Academy. Still just 24- years-old, Ambrose has gained recognition while stomping out much of his competition and gaining titles in various regional promotions. However, when Ambrose has stepped up to the more visible level of the sport he has come up short.

In June of 2008, Ambrose was submitted by current UFC competitor Mike Pyle on the Affliction – Banned show in Anaheim, California. “He just outclassed me,” says Ambrose. “He was a notch ahead of me. I was just 21 and had only broken into the sport for a couple years. Experience definitely played into that.”

More recently, Ambrose was featured on the twelfth installment of the UFC’s popular program The Ultimate Fighter. Fighting for a spot on one of the two teams, Ambrose lost a two-round decision to Sevak Magakian. “It was a good experience, but I know who I am now,” says Ambrose. “I am pretty much a family man/fighter. You take me off my rock and I turn into a mental midget. I need my wife and my kid close by. They don’t need to go to the fight, but the weeks leading up, I like having my wife and kid there. I spend a day without them and I start panicking.”

Had Ambrose won entry into the tournament, he would have been living in a house with the other fighters, without any contact with his wife Francesa and baby daughter Juliet. “It got frustrating being there,” says Ambrose. “Just the thought of being there for six weeks without them got rough. It’s one thing to be shut in a house with a bunch of dudes and not be able to call them, it changes everything.”

While his early exit from The Ultimate Fighter meant a missed opportunity at a contract with the UFC, the goal of just about every serious mixed martial artist, Ambrose feels his time will come. “I want to go when I am absolutely ready,” says Ambrose. “I think The Ultimate Fighter brings in guys that aren’t quite ready, but are perfect for the drama. It wasn’t my time. I think in another year or two I will be ready. But right now I just want to focus on getting more experience and more tough fights.” Since his time on The Ultimate Fighter, Ambrose has fought twice and won both, lastly knocking out Masakazu Taguchi in the first round. Unlike many mixed martial artists that transition or even dabble in boxing, Ambrose is not a striker by trade. “I am more of a ground guy,” says Ambrose. “Recently I went to Thailand for a couple months and did some stand-up, and I ended up knocking out my last opponent with just my hands. I am mostly a wrestler, but I think I am going into uncharted territory for myself and working on my stand-up. So who knows, I may have a boxer-wrestler style now I guess.”

After years of wrestling and mixed martial arts, Ambrose has decided to try his hand at boxing. “I’ve been talking about it for a few years,” says Ambrose. “I have already done mixed martial arts, and boxing is one of the key factors of MMA. I figured I might as well do both. K.J. Noons is real famous for doing both, so I figured I would try the same. I have been practicing for a while and the opportunity came up.”

Ambrose’s opportunity comes this Friday, as he takes on debuting Stephan Lugo of Newport Beach, California in a four- round middleweight bout. Unlike the aforementioned Noons, Ambrose does not have any designs on claiming titles as a boxer. “I don’t think you [can win titles] in both,” Ambrose believes. “Boxers have to box everyday. Mixed martial artists have to do a wide range of things. I think you could be perfect at only one thing. I don’t think you could be perfect at both. K.J. Noons calling out [Floyd] Mayweather, that is either for publicity or he is delusional.”

In preparing for his first pro boxing match, Ambrose has had to make adjustments in everything from footwork to footwear. “It’s funny, I bought my first pair of boxing shoes and I don’t wear shoes too often,” says Ambrose. “If I wear shoes, they are just a pair of sandals or I pick up a pair of those vibrams and go running with those. Other than that, this is the first pair of shoes I have worn consistently for a while.” As one could imagine, there are many nuances an MMA fighter has to pick up on to be successful as a boxer. “I’ve had to drop all of my MMA background and learn how to box,” says Ambrose. “Keeping your hands up is huge. There is a lot more pivoting in boxing. MMA fighters seem to go right at each other. Working with boxers is very different. Boxers like to dip their heads down real low, and in MMA you can’t do that because you will get kneed in the face.”

“I can’t say which training his harder, because in boxing, your arms get tired. They are throwing punches the entire three minutes of a round. In MMA, there is down time. You take a guy down. You lay on top of him for a minute and then you transition to something else. When we are standing up, we throw big bombs and then we take a break. In boxing, there is a lot more punches thrown. I have watched CompuBox, and they are throwing 100 punches a round. That is an incredible pace for three minutes.”

Win or lose, it is more than likely that the next time Ambrose stares across at an opponent, it will be as a MMA fighter. “I am just going to see how this fight goes,” says Ambrose. “If it goes well then I will get another one, but at heart I am a MMA fighter. I already miss wrestling. I haven’t wrestled in two months. I have just been doing nothing but boxing. I am ready to get an MMA fight as soon as the boxing match is over, but as supplemental fighting, in between MMA, I wouldn’t mind doing boxing matches.”

J.J. Ambrose is an athlete that enjoys challenging himself, especially with something new or different. This Friday night one such challenge presents itself, and Ambrose would not have it any other way. “I feel like most of my fights were against guys that weren’t up to my caliber, and that is why I beat them,” says Ambrose. “I don’t feel like I’ve beat too many guys on heart or conditioning. It was always about my skill being better than their skill. I’d like some more difficult fights, and that is why I am doing this boxing match. Obviously this guy is going to have better boxing, but we will see how his heart and his conditioning play out.”

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].