Head to Grand Isle for ‘Brawlin on the Beach’

There’s more to do in Grand Isle this weekend than catch fish at the International Tarpon Rodeo and scope out bikini-clad bodies.

On Saturday night, In Ya Face Fight Productions will hold its second annual Brawlin on the Beach mixed martial arts card next to Daddy’s Money Beach Club.

Promoter Justin Verdin anticipates the event being one of his biggest crowds of the year.

“For one thing you already have a lot of people out there. On a Saturday night, there’s nothing to do,” he said. “We give them something to look forward to every year.”

There will be matches scheduled on the card, including three pro fights. The main event will feature Golden Meadow trained boxer Zane “The Train” Marks in his first pro MMA fight versus Rich McClosky, who is also a Baton Rouge police officer.

“Zane and Rich is going to be a UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) style fight right there,” Verdin predicted. “Zane’s a former (International Boxing Association) champion with a knockout punch, and Rich is a very good jiu-jitsu artist.”

The other pro fights will be Lance Foussell vs. James Jackson and Martin Stoilkov vs. Tyler Soudelier.

The amateur card will feature fighters from Houma, Golden Meadow, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Mississippi, Florida and Texas.

Verdin is bringing three fighters from his Extreme Mixed Martial Arts team to Brawlin on the Beach. Roland Molinere, 20, and Mac Callais, 26, will be in the second MMA amateur fights of their career, while Keith Tivet, 18, will make his MMA amateur debut.

Callais will face Dean Guillot from Baton Rouge on Saturday.

The Houma native said he was 90 percent excited and 10 percent nervous for his debut last month in Mandeville. He submitted Steve Fontain with a devastating leg kick that crippled him.

“When I saw him crumble, I couldn’t contain myself,” Callais admitted. “I blew up with emotion. I felt 10-feet tall, standing on top of the world.’

Callais, a former amateur boxer, has only been MMA training with Verdin for three months, but their history goes back almost a decade.

The two first met competing against each other in a “Toughman” contest years ago.

“He used to always break my nose,” Callais recalled. “He’d bloody me up with one of the first licks of the match, and the ref would stop the fight to get it fixed. I would be (mad) cause I didn’t want to stop fighting. I’d always want to fight him again and he always beat me.”

When he’s not training, Callais is a C&C operator and manual machinist at Cajun Cutters in Houma. The 170-pound fighter trains in Muay Thai, jiu-jitsu and boxing.

“That’s the beauty of mixed martial arts. It’s unlimited. Anything you want to incorporate into it is fair game.”

Molinere will take on Steve Lemoine from Baton Rouge in the octagon cage.

Molinere is a former amateur boxer, who has trained in the sport since he was seven. He is not giving up boxing, but he got into MMA because he needed a change of pace.

“Boxing is kind of slowing down in this area, and I just wanted to try something different,” he said.

Molinere submitted Roy Solvinia at 1:50 in the first round of his debut last month.

“I landed a couple of good shots and put him to sleep.”

Although the 2005 South Terrebonne graduate would love to make boxing his full-time job, he is preparing for life outside the ring. He is enrolled at L.E. Fletcher studying anesthesiology.

“One way or another, I’m putting people to sleep,” he joked.

Tivet will battle Cody Day from Mississippi in the cage. The 125-pound fighter has been training with Verdin for three years.

After graduating from South Terrebonne in May, the East Houma native hopes this is the first of many rumbles in the cage to come.

“I train every day, sometimes twice a day” Tivet said. “I train all over – Morgan City, Lockport, over here. I’m just excited about getting in my first fight.”

Verdin, a Dulac native, has had an up and down year since the inaugural Brawlin in the Beach.

Last September, his Extreme Fitness Center business was forced out from the Grand Caillou Road location after two years in operation.

“I had a month-to-month lease with no contract. I was also leasing the workout equipment. Body Elite bought my landlord out and kicked us out,” Verdin explained. “It was really hard when we had to turn around those kids I had trained from outside the door. I only got back like five of the 20 kids I had back.”

After four months and $25,000 of renovations, in January he opened Extreme MMA & Fitness at 1226 Lafayette St. near downtown Houma.

While the facility is open to the general public, it is a fighter’s gym dedicated to boxing, mixed martial arts and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training.

The main trainers for boxing are Verdin and his cousin Martin Verdin; for MMA Scott Porter and Justin Verdin and in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Tory Bienvenue.

“We’re a lot better off here as a fighter’s gym. We’re 18-2 in MMA fights since moving here,” Verdin said. “I think we’re the best gym around here. In Ya Face Productions is promoting other gyms, minus one, doing big shows in Mandeville, Grand Isle, Thibodaux and Houma. Hopefully, I can keep doing that as a business owner and a fighter.”

Verdin, 26, the Louisiana Cruiserweight Champion for the past two years, has added two more champions to the stable in the past year.

Last August in Kansas City, Lanny Dardar Jr. won the Ringside World Championships in the light heavyweight division.

Last month in Mandeville, Brennan Sevin (5-0) defeated John Trahan for the Renaissance MMA 155lbs. title belt as an amateur.

“If I see heart in a fighter, I can make them a champion,” Verdin declared. “We’re trying to build a ‘House of Champions’ here at Extreme MMA.”

It is a major accomplishment for someone who never thought about being a trainer or promoter when he started boxing as an amateur at 19 and turned pro at 21.

“The opportunity fell into my lap because people kept asking me to train them,” Verdin explained. “Then people pumped me up to put on a show. At the same time getting messed over by other promoters, not treating me like I should have been treated, made me start In Ya Face and got me to where I am today.”

These days, Verdin does not get his biggest thrills in the ring, although he will be back in action Aug. 14 at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center for Renaissance MMA.

Instead, his thrills come from training the next generation. Boys and girls age six and up can sign up to learn boxing or jiu-jitsu for $65 a month, no contracts.

Interested parents should act quickly because Verdin and Extreme MMA may be on the move again – this time with good reason.

“This place is already too small,” he declared. “We need a bigger building. I’ll be relocating soon.”

To purchase tickets for Brawlin at the Beach, call Extreme MMA & Fitness at (985) 873-5722 or USA Labor in Golden Meadow at (985) 475-4758.

General admission tickets are $30. VIP seating are $40 and $50. Ten-seat VIP front row tables are $600.

Lanny Dardar Jr. (right), 2008 Ringside World Championship winning boxer in the light heavyweight class, teaches counter moves with an Extreme MMA student. Dardar joins gym owner Justin Verdin and Brennan Sevin as the three Extreme MMA & Fitness champions. * Photo by KEYON K. JEFF