Billiot gets national TV victory

Bourg native Bryan Billiot got an opportunity that fighters dream about two weekends ago.

He fought on a televised MMA card and got to showcase his talents to an audience watching around the country.

Oh yeah, and he won, too.

Billiot improved to 5-0 (4 stoppages) in his young career on Sept. 22 with a second-round submission victory over Brandon Shavers as part of Legacy Fighting Alliance 23 in Bossier City – a televised card at the Bossier City Casino Motel.

Billiot was the fifth bout on the nine-bout card. He said the entire experience was surreal – something he’s going to remember for the rest of his life.

“It’s such a high,” Billiot said. “That’s the best way I can explain how I feel right now. It still feels like a dream. I can’t believe I pulled it off. It’s euphoric and a relief. I can rest easy knowing that my mom or grandma didn’t watch me get KO’ed on national television because they hate that I do this.”

Don’t worry, mom and grandma – your loved one can handle his own in that cage.

Billiot said he’s been a fighter his whole life dating back to his childhood.

“I started boxing when I was 11 in Golden Meadow,” Billiot said. “I was training with Lonny Lerille and then later with Justin Verdin.”

From boxing, Billiot said he got the itch to explore mixed martial arts, though he said he never intended to do it full-time but mainly as an alternative to boxing.

“I figured I would just try MMA once,” Billiot said.

That one-time thing stuck and he got the bug.

“Ten years later and I’m still at it,” he said with a laugh.

He’s awfully good, too.

Because he started in boxing, Billiot said he does a lot of his work as a stand-up fighter, often trying to wear down opponents with an array of blows with the light gloves that can be used in the sport.

But Billiot also was smart enough to understand that being a punishing stand-up fighter would only get him so far. In recent years, he said he’s worked tirelessly on mat techniques and submissions. Now, if the fight goes to the ground, he’s more than capable of holding his own – if not holding an outright advantage.

“I’m a pretty well-rounded fighter,” Billiot said. “For much of my MMA career, I’ve dominated inside the octagon with my boxing, but I’d say in recent years, I’ve developed more of a passion for the ground game. Especially leg attacks. I love attacking that part of the body.”

Those newfound skills were on display for the TV fight.

Shavers, 22, came into the fight 2-0 and he had a skill that Billiot said he’d never encountered before in his career.

“For the first time, I was outclassed by another standup fighter,” Billiot said.

But instead of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, Billiot stayed poised, taking the fight to the ground and doing damage to Shavers from there.

After a close first round, Billiot took over in the second, submitting his opponent with a heel hook 3-minutes and 7-seconds into the round.

Billiot said the feeling of pride he felt when the fight ended and he realized he’d won is a level of positive emotion which can’t fully be explained through the context of a newspaper article.

He said part of the high was that he was scared coming into the fight – not of the opponent, but of the idea that everyone was watching.

To conquer that beast, he said, was one of the greatest accomplishments of his life.

“I was confident because of my training, but at times, the anxiety of it all kept me up until morning,” Billiot said. “Fear will push you harder than anything you can imagine. Most fighters won’t admit that they’re scared before a fight, but they’re lying right to your face. I was scared. But I just had to remind myself of why I was scared. I wasn’t scared of the fight. If you just put me and my opponent in a room by ourselves, I wouldn’t be scared. … It’s the lights, the camera and the crowd that I was afraid of. But I conquered it and it felt terrific.”

So with the big win under his belt, Billiot is now eyeballing the future.

He said he’s watched his fight with Shavers a couple times now and he’s not 100 percent satisfied with his performance. Billiot said he’s let his boxing slip in his last couple bouts and Shavers’ ability to have success against him in stand-up situations was a “real wakeup call.”

But in addition to that, Billiot said he plans to just continuing forward with his progression – working out and training hard, but also living his normal life.

By day, he’s a tugboat captain and the whole MMA thing is a hobby.

If it grows, Billiot said he’ll be ready and willing.

If not, he said that’s OK, too. He’s having the time of his life in there regardless of where the future is headed.

“I just love fighting,” Billiot said. “If one day the opportunity arises and I get a chance to fight for the UFC, that will be the greatest day of my life, but it’s not a main goal of mine. I just want to fight, man. It doesn’t matter under which organization. I have a career already. I live a comfortable life and I am able to provide for my wife and kids. On the side, yes, I punch people in the face and try and rip their limbs off. What more can I ask for than that?” •

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