My name is Heinrich Wassmer, I’m a 26 year old professional fighter out of Los Angeles California and I’ve been training for just about 6 years now. I guess like many guys who live the Fighter life style there was always a beginning, and mine was pretty straightforward; As a kid I grew up in a rough neighborhood and was always getting into street fights. Like so many of the guys around me I always enjoyed watching the UFC on TV – and back then The Diaz Brothers were kind of my heroes. I identified with them in so many ways drawing similarities with their backgrounds and aspiring to get out of the ghetto. But it never really crossed my mind to give martial arts a try until a good friend of mine convinced me to go to a local gym. I kind of liked it but it wasn’t until after my first fight that I became totally hooked…even though I lost that fight, the bug then sucked me in. I realized it was possible that I could maybe just maybe become like Nick or Nate and become a Professional Fighter – make a living doing what I love and get to the top of the Fight Sports tree.
So now I decided that this was it! I wanted to dedicate myself to mma full time and now martial arts truly has become my life. Like many guys in the same position not only am i a fighter, but I also coach at the academy. I work mainly with our youth program but also help the competition team and pretty much everyone in our academy. I now eat, sleep and breath the martial arts life…
So in the last 6 years I have competed in multiple Jiu Jitsu tournaments, have a total of 12 mma fights under my belt, 8 amateur and 4 professional and I now hold a 4-0 professional MMA record- all finishes. Then earlier in the year I was asked to come do a photo shoot for REVGEAR with some English dude (Alex) and 3 months later he sorts me out an equipment deal with one of the best gear companies in the business REVGEAR … Recently I even met my hero Nick Diaz at Glory Kickboxing in Los Vegas….At the moment I fight for a somewhat new promotion called Combate Americas which is owned by Campbell McLaren, co-creator of the UFC. My next fight which is on August 11th in downtown LA and will be streamed on UFC Fight Pass and can be watched across the world… All in all, things are going well.
I train out of Fight Academy in Pasadena with Savant Young and also for my Jiu Jitsu at 10th Planet HQ with one of the icons of the sport Eddie Bravo. Its one of the cool things about LA – the fact that there are so many top gyms and great places to train. Just for example I also work my wrestling with Antonio Mckee and recently Jason Manly as well.
I’m not one of those fighters that had a long history of sports and athletic activities. I was quite the opposite. As a teenager I got into a lot of trouble and street fights, and was really headed down a bad path. Martial arts not only gave me an avenue for me to take and keep away from trouble, but it also taught me about discipline, respect, honor. Most importantly it taught me to be humble. Martial arts changed me from a boy looking for trouble to a man on a mission. I have met so many great people through martial arts, most who are now a huge part of my life. Our friendships go way past the gym and I am blessed to be part of such an amazing community. I am forever grateful and will make everyone proud with my hard work and dedication. Now I have a 2 year old daughter who is my biggest motivation for anything really, but she really pushes me to be the best I can be as a fighter, as a coach and as a person.
Los Angeles
I train out of Fight Academy in Pasadena with Savant Young and also for my Jiu Jitsu I train at 10th Planet HQ with one of the icons of the sport Eddie Bravo; Its one of the cool things about LA the fact that there are so many top gyms and great places to train for example I also work my wrestling with Antonio Mckee and recently Jason Manly as well, I guess lots of people all over the world consider training here in LA so I hope I can help some people get a flavor of what the LA Fight Scene is all about.
So that’s me Heinrich “Ricky Skraps” Wassmer signing off for now!
