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Duel in the High Desert

How mixed martial arts clawed its way to legitimacy, and its continuous evolution

By Jack Harvel

Courtesy of Mac Danzig

Arena Wars held an event on Saturday, March 5, that featured MMA, Muay Thai and grappling competitions. Arena Wars holds shows across Oregon and is branching out to other states. Its co-promoter, Darrick Bruyn, also promotes for Budofights, which has hosted 17 events in Central Oregon.

In 1993 the world’s oldest form of competition, fighting, found its way into the modern world with the broadcast of the Ultimate Fighting Championship 1. The early days of mixed martial arts weren’t exactly mixed, and practitioners of specific martial arts squared off against one another to find the most effective form of fighting. Since its ragtag beginnings the UFC spawned a new outlook on martial arts—one that utilizes the best techniques from different styles to create the most well-rounded fighters.

The sport had to claw its way to the mainstream, sometimes for good reasons. The first UFC marketed their bouts with the tagline, “There are no rules,” and it was nearly true. Head butting, hair pulling, groin strikes and fish-hooking were all fair play in the first few events, there were no rounds or weight classes, eye gouges and biting were one of the few things that were banned. By 1996, 36 states didn’t allow organized mixed martial arts events after a campaign by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to end the sport in its infancy. Despite immense pressure, early adopters across the country fought in the ring and with statewide athletic commissions to legitimize the sport; in Central Oregon it was J.T. Taylor.

Central Oregon’s UFC pioneer

Taylor first encountered the sport as a teenager at Redmond High School while training in kickboxing and riding bulls. Deciding which sport to pursue, he opted for the one with human opponents and referees rather than 1,500 pound bovines and rodeo clowns. He took the same lesson many did from the first UFC fights and decided to train in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, spending about a year with a local school before meeting his future coach, Marcelo Alonso, at a grappling tournament.

“I went to a tournament, and his team came down like the Cobra Kai walked in. He kicked the dog shit out of everybody and left us going, ‘We don’t know what we’re doing,’” Taylor said. “I was right around 21 when I went to that tournament; his team beat us all and three days later I moved to Seattle to be on his team.”

Taylor cut his teeth at Alonso’s academy, and racked up an 11-0 amateur record before his first professional fight in 2001 against Ronald Jhun, a fighter who eventually reached the highest echelon of the sport in UFC 49. The match wasn’t quite expected for Taylor; he was scheduled for the amateur card when someone had to fill in for a fighter on the main card. It would be his first loss in MMA, and his first time getting psyched out by an opponent.

“I’m in the locker room and here comes about 20 to 30 of his friends and family in my locker room praying for me, all speaking in tongues, putting their hands on me and praying for my safety,” Taylor said. “I was so nervous I forgot my cup.”

Jhun defeated Taylor in the second round via technical knockout from knee strikes. The loss didn’t deter him, and in his next fight he got his first professional win against Ryan Schultz in a second round knockout. After a couple years in Seattle, Taylor started getting homesick and disillusioned with life in a big city. After 130 days straight of rain—more than four times as long as the Biblical flood, he points out—Taylor packed up and went home where he’d start Central Oregon’s first promotion: Desert Brawl.

Desert Brawl

Taylor came back and started a Jiu Jitsu gym in 2002 and began promoting fights. He called his team the Desert Dogs and his promotion Desert Brawl. One of the attendees at early Desert Brawls would become Central Oregon’s most accomplished native fighter, John Gunderson. Gunderson went on to compete in more Desert Brawls than any other fighter, and eventually reached the industry peak, fighting in three UFC fights.

“As soon as I’d seen my first MMA show, which was one of the very first Desert Brawls ever, I watched the show and I kind of fell in love with it,” Gunderson said. “I started training and I feel like I learned quickly that you needed more than just boxing and being tough to be a good fighter.”

When Taylor held the first Desert Brawl at the Bend Armory, the sport wasn’t approved by what was then called the boxing commission, now the Oregon State Athletic Commission, and it forbade any MMA promoters from getting a promoter’s license. The commission could fine promoters over $7,000 for every unlicensed event. Skirting the rules earned Taylor the first moniker he’d use in his career: “The Outlaw.”