Pat Magdaleno Trained MMA with His Sister a Month Ago, Now Making His Pro Debut

There are many advantages to living in a small town. The community is typically very tight, family is close, things move at a more leisurely pace, the air is clean. But for someone looking to start a career in the sport of mixed martial arts, it’s not always the best place to get started.

This has been the case for Pat Magdaleno, a 23-year-old from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, who has spent the past two years competing as an amateur.

“I come from a small town, so really there’s not even an MMA gym in town,” Magdaleno told Bleacher Report MMA. “The closest real MMA gym is about three hours away. I didn’t have any management. Pretty much the last year of fighting, I’ve been doing it all myself. I didn’t even have a coach. I’ve been training with my sister.”

Yes, you read that right—while he had a boxing-specific coach, he’s been working with his sister as his primary training partner.

A former high school wrestler and an amateur MMA fighter with a 2-0 record herself, Magdaleno’s sister is no slouch. But the reality is that in order to get into top shape, he needed to join a real MMA gym.

“She’s a lot smaller than me. It was better than nothing, but it wasn’t what I needed,” he said.

Magdaleno made the choice to stay with his cousin for the past month while he trained at one of the top MMA gyms in the country, Roufusport Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Milwaukee, Wis.

“When I got to Roufus’ gym, and I rolled with some real jiu-jitsu guys, it was a whole different world,” he said. “To actually have real training partners is just a big difference.”

In the short time that he has been at Roufusport, Magdaleno has already seen substantial improvements in his overall game.

“When I first got to the gym, I didn’t really setup my takedowns. I’d just kind of shoot in. They’ve been teaching me a lot about how to mix it up and set your takedowns up with your hands,” he said. “I’ve been learning a lot from that gym. It’s a lot different, so I’m just soaking everything up that I can and it’s awesome. I can actually see myself improving every day that I’m there.”

Along with moving to the new gym, Magdaleno also signed with his first management agency, Sterling Entertainment Group, and they began looking to setup a professional fight immediately.

“I needed a good manager. I didn’t just want to jump into the pro’s by myself. I got hooked up with [Jeremy Bjornberg] and I was like, ‘Yeah! I’m ready to do it!’ “

With 12 amateur fights under his debut, Magdaleno had been chomping at the bit to get into the cage and have his first pro fight.

He’ll get that opportunity on Friday evening, May 18th, when he battles Dan Wales at Driller Promotions’ Downtown Showdown V at the Hyatt in Minneapolis.

While he believes that he is ready for the jump to the pro’s, Magdaleno does admit that there are some butterflies in his stomach about it.

“There’s a lot of pressure. If I don’t go out there and win this one, then not too many promoters are going to go out there and look at an 0-1 fighter,” he said. “He’s got five pro fights and he’s got a little experience on me, but I’m young and I’m hungry. I’ve been working hard for this. There’s not much that’s going to stand in my way.”

From training with only his sister a month ago to joining one of the top gyms in the country thereafter, Magdaleno’s journey to the professional level will be highly anticipated—both by himself as well as by fans.

Fans can purchase tickets for Friday’s event either online or at the door the day of the event.

For more MMA news, fighter interviews and opinions, follow Nick Caron: @NicholasCaron.