By Brandon Garrett
During the day he sells mortgages, but at night Derek 'The Gentleman' Downey goes to the gym for his second job: professional fighting.
Downey, who graduated from BYU in philosophy, recently signed a contract for four televised fights with the Ultimate Fighting Championships, making him the first Utahn to go straight to the UFC. His first fight is on Saturday, when he will take on Nick Catone in the 185-pound weight division. The fight will be broadcast nationally on Spike TV.
'I remember it was 3:08 and the UFC called me up,' Downey recalls, 'and told me that the other guy had torn his ACL or something like that. They offered me the contract.'
UFC is the primary organization that pits Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) opponents against each other.
'That''s where it comes from is that some guys said, ''What happened if a karate guy, a guy and a tae kwon do guy fought each other, who would win?''' Downey said. 'They just wanted to know which discipline was the best. Now they''ve found out that you have to know a little bit from each.'
MMA is a combat sport that uses any type of martial art. It started to emerge into American culture in 1993 with the foundation of the UFC. Initially, there were not many rules, but the UFC has started to adopt more rules aimed at increasing safety for the competitors.
Despite its relative newness, UFC has developed a strong following in Utah.
'You''d be surprised,' Downey said. 'From the stats that the UFC has - they follow pay-per-view viewing per-capita and stuff - we''re one of the highest. We''re one of the highest states in UFC fighting. It''s more popular than people think.'
Downey started MMA fighting soon after returning home to Orem, from his LDS mission in New York.
'I came home from the mission and got married pretty quickly after that,' he said. 'I was lucky; I got one of those girls that waited for me.'
Derek and his wife, Jenn, have been married for eight years in August and have four kids.
'My oldest has seen it,' he said. 'Sometimes she''ll be outside the ring and see me all tired and down and stuff. She''ll say, ''Dad, you need to get up.'' She knows that it''s not OK to hit unless you have gloves on. We''ve tried to teach her.'
As a father, Downey credits his own upbringing for a lot of his success.
'I think it goes back to the resilience of the people,' he said 'not necessarily LDS but our culture here in Utah. We''re hard workers and the type of people we are probably helps.'
It''s that same resilient spirit that has helped Downey become one of the best fighters in state history, according to his trainer. It''s also one of the reasons he''s known as 'The Gentleman.'
'It had a little bit to do with the church I guess,' he said, speaking of the nickname. 'I''m not one that gets in your face. I''m not a trash talker. Fighting doesn''t define who I am - it''s just my job. Sometimes they would announce me and say that ''This guy is a real gentleman outside of the ring.'' That''s probably where it came from. I guess I''ve seen worse, so I''m OK with it.'
brandonjgarrett@gmail.com