Release The Bull

A bull in a ring is a dangerous thing. A bull in a cage is downright scary. Jonathan Wiezorek will become that caged bull May 10.

Wiezorek, a VSU senior sports medicine major, graduates that day and while most other grads begin fighting for jobs soon after, Wiezorek’s fight begins that night.

Wiezorek, 24, will step into the octagon cage, nearly 12 hours after the 10 a.m. commencement ceremonies in Valdosta, to fight for the World Extreme Fighting Championship title at Morocco Shrine Center in Jacksonville, Fla. Wiezorek will also have to make a trip to Jacksonville for the May 9 weigh-in and return to VSU to receive his diploma.

His opponent-Tim Catalfo- is the reigning WEFC heavyweight champion and a specialist in neck cranking submissions, trained as a chiropractor. Catalfo, 44, is officially 3-2 in ultimate fighting matches, but has years of wrestling experience.

“He’s fought [about] 1,200 wrestling matches,” Wiezorek said. “He brings a lot more experience to the table than I do.”

Catalfo, who sports a grey Fu Manchu mustache, won the WEFC heavyweight belt in February by defeating Wiezorek’s teammate from the Valdosta Martial Arts Center, James Daniels. Daniels took the fight on one day’s notice and broke Catalfo’s nose early in the fight, but submitted to an arm and neck crank applied by Catalfo, who is nicknamed Obake by the Japanese, meaning ‘monster spirit.’

“From past experience I’ve controlled the situation [with Daniels] when we’ve grappled,” Wiezorek said. “They’ve said Catalfo had to work pretty hard to get position on [Daniels] so that’s looking pretty good in my favor.”

Obake grabbed the title without fighting Wiezorek, who is undefeated in ultimate fighting at 3-0. Wiezorek won the World Extreme Fighting in 2001, defeating Grecko Roman wrestling legend Dan ‘The Beast’ Severn of UFC and WWF fame. WEF management was renamed to become WEFC and Wiezorek’s title was retired, leaving him no chance to defend the belt.

A 1996 state champion wrestler at Lowndes High School, Wiezorek specializes in grappling and submission holds, but hasn’t exactly refined his technique just yet.

“I usually just make the stuff up as I go,” Wiezorek said.

He’ll have a decided size advantage over Catalfo, who stands at 5-foot-8, 240 pounds compared to the VSU senior’s 6-foot-4, 280-pound frame.

“It’s definitely an advantage for me as far as reach goes,” Wiezorek said. “Really what it comes down to is who wants to win more.”

Wiezorek trains at Valdosta Martial Arts Center and goes through a vigorous workout five days a week with trainer James Corbett. ‘Weez,’ as Wiezorek is most commonly known as at VSU, goes through several kickboxing and Jujitsu technique sessions daily under the watchful eye of Corbett.

Corbett has just one problem with training his fighter.

“We can’t get anybody to spar with him because he hits so hard,” Corbett said. “He hits you and it’s like ‘Oh my God.’”

Corbett, along with several other kickboxing and mixed martial arts fighters at the Martial Arts Center, put Wiezorek through a bull in the ring drill for over 20 minutes. Each fighter rotates in to wrestle with Wiezorek and one by one they tap out.

“It’s like wrestling with a damn bull,” one fighter said after a short bout with Weez.

Wiezorek says he stands to make $1,000 to show for the fight and an additional $1,000 if he wins. But this fight, Wiezorek says, could be the boost he needs to become a professional ultimate fighter in Pride Fighting Championships, Japan’s version of the UFC.

“This is a real big stepping stone as far as Pride goes,” Wiezorek said.

Corbett is already working on another fight for Wiezorek June 21 at the IKF Regional Kickboxing and Mixed Martial Arts event in Valdosta. But for now Wiezorek, who plans to get his master’s degree in sports medicine, has only one fight on his mind.

And that fight won’t involve resumes and the job market- just a bull in a cage.