Writer Becomes a Fighter - MMAUniverse.com

Jeremy Luchau swapped writing for fighting and came out a winner. Luchau won by submission in the first round over Michael Satumbaga on the Palace Fighting Championship 4: Project Complete mixed martial arts card last Thursday at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in California.

Luchau won by rear naked choke, one minute and twenty two seconds into the first round.

Luchau, a sports journalist for eight years, has been training to become an MMA fighter for 17 months, and recounting his experiences in a bi-weekly column known as “The Project.”

Luchau, a Hanford Sentinel sports writer, slammed Satumbaga to the mat, and landed a dozen to the head before ending the lightweight bout at 1 minute, 22 seconds with a rear naked choke.

With the victory came a ton of relief.

“I’ve been writing about it, doing self promotion for 17 months,’’ said Luchau, who has shared his experiences training for the bout in a Sentinel column called “The Project.” “I didn’t want to lose to anybody.’’

Satumbaga, who specializes in Muay Thai, prefers fighting in a stand-up style.

“I had a game plan if it went to the ground,’’ Satumbaga said. “I was hoping I could hold him and scramble out. But he got me in the back position.’’

Despite his defeat, Satumbaga called the experience “fun.’’ The Fresno State engineering fighter took the fight on just a week’s notice after Luchau’s original opponent — Shahob Nasrabadi — pulled out.

Luchau had originally planned his “Project’ to be a one-fight deal. But he’s planning to enter the ring again.

“I’ll fight again, probably in about six months.’’

Luchau said he loved the feeling of being in the ring.

“I felt strong, I didn’t look sloppy,’’ he said. “I felt like I knew what I was doing and everything.’’

The seeds for his MMA venture began in May of 2006, when he was doing a feature story on Hanford fighter Kenny Ento at the Valley Fight Club in Hanford.

“[Fight Club owner] D. Womack made a suggestion that I train for a week and write about it,’’ Luchau said.

“And then I came back, and we talked about it some more, and than we talked about it with [Palace entertainment director] Christian Printup.’’

Eventually, the discussions evolved into placing Luchau in an actual fight, and the idea took off at that point.

“They wanted to make sure I had proper training,’’ Luchau said. “They didn’t just want to just send me out there and get my head bashed in.’’

So Luchau’s been training ever since — in Brazilian jiu jitsu, wrestling, boxing, Krav Maga and Muay Thai.

“Jeremy’s done a good job,’’ said Luchau’s trainer, Jacob Jeff of Team Ochoa. “He’s come a long way from when he first started.’’

“On a personal level, I’m very proud of Jeremy,’’ Printup said. “He’s taken this very seriously and worked very hard.’’

Since Luchau had never been in a fist fight before, one of the more difficult aspects of his training was learning how to take a punch.

“I do not like getting hit in face. I was extremely... I would just say scared,’’ Luchau said.