Parilloâs gym also provides regular classes for employees of the RVCA store, which is connected to the gym. They believe fitness is vital to keeping the blood flowing and the morale up with the employees.
PACK A PUNCH
Jason Parillo Comes Out Swinging From Boxer to MMA Coach WRITTEN BY: ELAINE CUTTING | PHOTOGRAPHED BY: NOBLE ANDREWS
Advice for aspiring fighters: âMake sure itâs the love of your life. If itâs not the love of your life, you should think about doing something else. Itâs not something you can disrespectâyou disrespect MMA itâs gonna disrespect you back; you disrespect boxing, itâs gonna disrespect you back. You gotta have a lot of respect for it and put it before everything in your life.â Native Knowledge: Parillo is an advocate for RVCA, who is his official gear provider. His gym is located in Orange County at the RVCA headquarters and he is open to training anyone who is willing to learn.
Had MMA been as credible as it is today when Parillo began, he may have competed himself. Parillo was well into his professional career and to him, compared to the science of boxing, MMA was sloppy. He would watch the fighters throw chaotic punches, likening it to âbar-room brawling.â Parillo started boxing at the age of 17 and started training beginners at 18. He had a gift, and his coach Jesse Reid aspired to send him to the Olympics. âFor me, fighting was mine,â Parillo says. âI thought to myself, âAll I care about is to be able to do thatâ.â It was a series of injuries that led Parillo to coaching. On his way to boxing stardom, Parillo had a record of 8-0. While sparring, he took a punch that eventually detached his left retina. Parillo took a two-year break and began to train others full time. On the very week he had a chance to restart professional fighting, his arm was snapped in a brawl at a nightclub, officially ending his professional career. Pat Tenore, founder of RVCA, and friend of Parillo, was sponsoring MMA fighter, B.J. Penn. Penn was up against Jens Pulver, a fighter known for his strong boxing, a skill Penn lacked. Tenore introduced the two and Parillo began coaching Penn on boxing. MMA was picking up popularity after being acquired by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As a boxer, Parillo could see the weaknesses in the fighters in the cage. He could feel where work needed to be done. Most of the attacks seen in MMA fights are
punches and, without proper boxing training, these attacks are usually sloppy. If a fighter masters the basics of boxing, it can be a powerful defensive and offensive tool. Penn defeated his opponent in two rounds, then went on to win NABC and IBC world titles. Pennâs boxing skills are still praised as some of the best techniques in MMA.
I BUILD THEM IN A POSITIVE WAY. AND THEY FEEL THAT AND THEY BELIEVE IN IT. AND THEY KNOW IT TO BE TRUE BECAUSE THEY SEE IT IN THE FIGHT.â âJASON PARILLO
Parillo now pours his love for boxing into coaching other fighters. âItâs like osmosis,â he says. âI know how important it [is] to them and itâs important to me. That secondhand osmosisâitâs a feeling that you canât get through money. You just get through understanding of what this kidâs been through, and what heâs sacrificed.â Parillo works alongside a fighterâs trainers who incorporate other styles of martial arts. Parilloâs coaching isnât only technique however, he also deals with the mental aspect of fighting. âI try to get into their subconscious,â he says. âI build them in a positive way. And they feel that and they believe in it. And they know it to be true because they see it in the fight.â And it must pay off, because Parilloâs fighters trust him. They keep winning, and even if they donât, they keep coming back; they keep fighting. Parillo serves as an example that hard work and a love of what you do can overpower obstacles, and it shows in his fighters when they overcome their next challenger.
JASON PARILLO Credentials: Ex Professional boxer; trained world champions in MMA, Kickboxing and Boxing Current Project: Training 2 world champions of MMA, Michael Bisping and Cris Cyborg
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