LIHUE — Just two fights into his professional career, local mixed martial artist Timothy “War” Teves has already won a championship.
“I took out a veteran in the sport. My second pro fight, it was great, man,” Teves said Wednesday. “My performance was amazing. I finished him in the second round due to some brutal elbows — standup elbows and knees.”
Teves, 26, of Kapahi, was featured in the main event of Oahu promotion Destiny MMA’s Fight Night 4 last weekend at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu.
He challenged title holder Ryan Dela Cruz for Destiny’s featherweight (145 pounds) championship. Teves won via technical knockout to claim the belt.
“The fight, it went very well for me. Everything was adding up perfectly,” Teves said. “My combinations, my striking, everything was landing correctly. I stunned my opponent real early in the first round. I put the pressure on him, and he couldn’t handle the pressure, man. It was pretty brutal.”
Teves made his pro debut last July. At the War Memorial Stadium in Kahului, Maui, Teves defeated Chase Pico — also by TKO.
Prior to turning pro, he was an amateur fighter for three years. He has an 8-2 amateur record, and he won four titles in that time span.
“It means a lot to me. I look back at it, and I see how far I’ve come. Through my whole fighting career up until I turned pro, I came across battles. Obstacles,” he said. “It means a lot to me. I came really far, and I told myself, ‘I didn’t come this far just to come this far.’ This is my passion. This is what I love to do. I want to go as far as I can.”
Teves said he trained for 10 weeks preparing for Dela Cruz. For most of the day, though, he works for his brother’s company “Justin Time Cesspool and Septic Services.”
To make up for time, he’d start his day very early. Then after he’s done with work, depending on the day of the week, he’d either train at Boars Nest Kauai MMA in Kilauea or Longman Jiu-Jitsu in Koloa until about 8 p.m.
“We usually start our jobs at 7:30. So in order to get the right training I needed, I needed to wake up at 4:30 every morning, go to the gym and do my strength and conditioning before work. I’d get to the gym at 5 a.m. and leave the gym at 6:30.”
Teves had a lot of support cheering for him on Oahu. He was, however, without one person — his 5-year-old son,
Titan.
Though Titan couldn’t be with him, Teves said he was able to fulfill his promise to bring back the belt to him.
“I told him, ‘You can’t come this time, boy. I’m sorry.’ I just explained it to him, and he understands,” he said. “I told him I’m going to bring the belt back home for him. I brought it back, and he was so stoked. He grabbed it from me, and he ran straight into the house. But that feeling of accomplishing that, that’s what I live for.”
His pro career, he said, is coming along faster than he expected. Teves just signed with a management company SuckerPunch Entertainment, which also represents current UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway from Waianae.
“It’s all happening pretty quick, and I don’t know how to handle it. I’m just going with the flow,” Teves said. “All my fights, I managed all by myself. Now, I have to sign a contract and follow their rules. I don’t know what I’m getting into, but this is what needs to happen in order to get to where I need to be.”
Soon enough, Teves said he’ll defend his Destiny belt.
“As a fighter, you want to be the best you can be. You train to be the best, you know what I mean? That belt makes you the best,” he said. “You got to get that belt to consider yourself the best. When you get that belt, in order to consider yourself the best, you got to defend it. Protect your title of being the best. It’s a good feeling to take that title off another champion.”
He added: “I’m known now. I’m going to be a target now. This is the ‘hurt business.’ People are going to start coming for me now that I’m the champ. So, I got to be ready and stay ready.”
As for what’s next in his fight career, though not official yet, Teves said he’ll likely challenge X1 145-pound world title holder Canaan Kawaihae in April.
“After my last performance this past weekend, I feel great about it,” Teves said. “I took out a tough veteran. I’m ready, you know what I mean? I feel great. I (want to win) that world title. I’m one step closer to the UFC. That’s the goal.”
Teves wanted to thank his teams at Boars Nest and Longman Jiu-Jitsu, his girlfriend, Chantel, and all his supporters who’ve helped him get this far.
