Adam Edgerton
Louisville, KY

Lightweight fighter Adam Edgerton, out of Real Fighters in Louisville, Kentucky, made his GLORY debut the first weekend of August in Las Vegas. That win by decision bumped his impressive amateur record up to 28-12, with 7 wins by way of knockout. Oddly enough, Adam didn’t grow up doing martial arts as a kid, never thought about being a fighter, and had never even watched the UFC. When he first moved to Louisville at age 20, he was just looking for something to do, a way to meet new friends. He did meet Eric and Lindsay Haycraft of Real Fighters and instantly fell in love with the sport. The intense level of training at Real Fighters made Adam’s lightning-fast progression into a real fighter inevitable. Already training like a fighter—Edgerton notes that at Real Fighters, the name of the gym is exactly what it sounds like: “Everyone trains for real. The punches are hard, the kicks are hard—if you don’t block, you’ll probably get a black eye. There are no fake classes.” When one teammate asked if Adam was going fight, the answer was obvious to Coach Eric Haycraft. “He decided for me,” says Adam. Haycraft’s knowledge of both the technique-side and the business-side of the sport is legendary. His abilities as a coach of Dutch-style kickboxing, says Adam, makes his fighters the best fighters in their weight divisions. His knowledge of the business and promotional side of the sport allows him to find the best opportunities for his fighters to showcase their abilities and fight the most challenging opponents.

Adam describes his and his teammates’ training style as intense all-year-round. There is no break time between fight camps: “I train like I need to be ready to fight at any time. I can take a fight on short notice.” He also notes that his sparring sessions are so hard that actual fights just feel like hard sparring. “I’ve never gotten hurt in a fight, actually…I’ve gotten hurt much more just training.” This anecdote pretty accurately describes Adam’s pace at Real Fighters. He angles to put that pace into every fight. “We’re pressure fighters. We don’t go in, throw a little, then step out and relax. I like to be in-your-face, aggressive. We’re high-paced, and we keep the fight going, so win or lose, you know if you’re watching me or one of my teammates, it’s going to be an exciting fight.”

Adam says that Real Fighters is putting the US on the world map of Kickboxing and paving the way for US to make its name. “Our gym is at the level of the best gyms you’ll find in the world.” His personal aim is to continue this legacy: “I want to be the best kickboxer to come out of the US. I want to bring Eric the world title.”

The next exciting step in Adam’s journey will be the 8-man tournament on New York’s longest-running fight promotion, Friday Night Fights, on September 25. Asked if he wants to fight anyone in particular on that card, Edgerton says that at the amateur level, he’s content to fight anyone he’s matched against. “All the guys in that bracket are good. It’s all about the experience—I want to fight three hard fights in one night.” When he goes pro, however, it’s a different story: “I’ve got a whole list of people I want to fight when I go pro.”

Edgerton’s list of titles and belts is exhaustive—to exhaustive for him to even remember them all. Some of the most notable, however, include:

• 2012 TBA B Class World Tournament Champion
• 2013 WKA North American tournament Open Class gold medal (K-1 division) & silver medal (Thaiboxing division)
• Gold medal and World Champion at the 2013 WKA Unified World Championships
• 2013 WKA GLORY Rules US Champion
• 2013 United States National USMTA Champion
• 2014 WKA GLORY Rules US Champion
• 2015 WKA National tournament Open Class gold medal in both Thaiboxing & GLORY Rules divisions

WKA USA wishes Adam the best of luck at the next Friday Night Fights in New York!

 

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