Michael Billups
Tulsa native fighting out of Ranger MMA in Dallas under Kyle Crutchmer (a longtime friend who recruited him a year ago); trains daily with UFC-level partners — "I'm not the best in the room, so that gives me a lot of space to grow and a lot of puzzles to figure out. And I feel like that's just what fighting is, is just figuring out puzzles." Started in karate at Apollo's Martial Arts wanting to be a Power Ranger — now fights for Ranger MMA ("it's funny how God works"). Karate black belt, high school All-American wrestler, wrestled at Ouachita Baptist for Coach Kevin Crutchmer (Kyle's father). UFC vet Mikey Burnett told him as a kid to come back after high school; he did, got his teeth knocked out, and returned to practice the next day. THE defining night: won his amateur belt at 20 with Frank Mir cage-side — got his MCL snapped and was taken down for the first time in round one, fought through it, then finished the man who was beating him. Mir stopped the crowd to say "that amount of heart is what it takes to get to the next level," and later became a mentor. Fights for his family, his Ranger teammates (Nick Piccinini, John Garza, Thaddeus Long, Jacoby Smith, Diego Vasquez) and Tulsa: "We don't got a lot, but we got me, and I'm on the way." Loves hostile rooms — "My favorite thing is walking into somebody's house and everybody's booing me. Then by the end of the fight they're like, who the hell was that guy?" Shoutout: Tisdale Cigar Lounge, Black Wall Street, Tulsa. From FAC 35 prefight interview (full transcript) + tale of the tape, 7/24-25/26.