MMA Fight Pit: Lenny Lovato Wants To Take Junie Browning to His "World"

Lenny "The Godfather" Lovato: he's a music pastor at his church, he's an accomplished wrestler with close ties to "The Angel of Death" Damacio Page, and he knows exactly where the always-controversial Junie Browning is going after their fight next weekend when the MMA Fight Pit promotion presents "Genesis."

Whether "The Lunatik" likes it or not, he's going to Lenny Lovato's world, and that's a world that the 8-1-0 prospect dominates 99 percent of the time.

From his high school days and even past his college days, Lovato was a sight to behold in the wrestling scene, but it was when he turned pro in the MMA world in 2007 that some people began to take notice of Lovato.

Of course, you can send your thanks to Page, who faces MMA lightweight legend Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto at UFC 135, for helping his best friend Lovato get into the sport after spending years in college wrestling with the New Mexico native. He was a former two-time state champion in high school, was eventually ranked the fourth-best in the nation as a freshman in college and placed fourth as an All-American.

"I've been wrestling now for almost 17 years, and coaching," Lovato said in an interview with Bleacher Report. "I got into MMA because one of my best friends who I wrestled in college with, Damacio Page, which most people are aware of. I've known Damacio for 11-12 years now and he fought at a King of the Cage show down in a little town here in New Mexico."

Now keep in mind, when Lovato was told about this, The Ultimate Fighter hadn't jumped off yet, and Damacio fought twice before the first Ultimate Fighter Finale.

"You gotta check this out man, it's pretty fun; we get paid to do this," Damacio said, and then he took Lovato to Greg Jackson's gym, where it escalated from there.

Lovato tore through his first eight foes but faced a speed bump in the form of Gabe Ruediger last July, a fight in which Ruediger trapped and flattened out Lovato with a tight body triangle and before getting a TKO win by raining down on Lovato.

However, he knows Junie Browning is no Gabe Ruediger.

"Watching a few of those losses," Lovato said, "we've seen him being taken down and being controlled on the ground, and that's something I'm familiar with, with doing. So you know if I get that opportunity to do that, of course I'm going to drag him down and take him into my world."

Lovato may be a wrestler, but he's only gone to the judges once in his current nine-fight career, and if he takes Browning into his world come August 13th, it will not end pretty for the TUF 8 Llghtweight veteran.

Be warned, Mr. Browning.

The Godfather is coming for you, and he's not leaving the fight without a "W" on August 13th.