Brad Darrington is a Mixed Martial-Artist out of The Pit Elevated in Orem, Utah. I was able to stop by The Pit Elevated and Darrington was the topic of the gym. His coaches were saying that he was so good that people did not want to fight him.
Another factor is that he is relatively unknown. Combine that with his talent and anyone facing Darrington is taking a big risk. No other up and comer wants to face Darrington and risk having a loss on their record against somebody that the public doesn’t know about. The last time he fought was in July of 2013, and since then he has been unable to secure an opponent.
His coaches mentioned that he is one of the most hard-working, yet humble guys in the gym. He always shows up and is willing to learn new things to improve his game.
I was able to speak to Darrington and set up a time to talk with him when he was not in training.
During the phone call, Darrington mentioned that he is hungry to fight and eventually wants to make it to the UFC. In training he has hung in there with elite welterweights such as Josh Burkman and Court McGee. Darrington was NCAA National qualifier at Utah Valley University in wrestling and he has been able to train MMA with The Pit Elevated since 2012. He is undefeated in his amateur (4-0) and professional (1-0) fights. He is very strong and healthy at the moment, but is frustrated that he is not getting more fights. His wrestling is of course his key weapon, and his striking is on point.
“I can take down anybody in this state” Darrington said. He can perform well on his feet, but if Darrington gets on top, he is brutal and hard to try to get back on your feet when you face him.
Austin Miller is a fighter that Darrington has faced twice in his career. He faced Miller once as a professional and once as an amateur. “Miller was the toughest guy I’ve faced yet” mentioned Darrington. “I felt I dominated most aspects of the fight in the first match, but was able to solidify that win again as a pro when I was able to do it again and get the unanimous decision.” Darrington is by far the hottest prospect in Utah and just needs to face somebody that will put his name on the map of MMA.
When I asked Darrington what his next possible opponent should expect from him, he mentioned that he would bring 15 minutes of pressure and a fighter that is not going to stop. Darrington is 5’10 and cuts down to 170, but he is packing a lot of muscle for that weight class. Fighters from The Pit Elevated are extremely impressed with his strength and also his endurance. Hopefully Darrington can get a fight soon to let his skills shine in the cage. His story is a lot like UFC elite Patrick Cummins before Cummins was in the UFC because his exposure to the MMA community was not matching how high his skill level was. Darrington is a prospect to watch.
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