Oklahoma is best known for three things – football, wrestling, and tornados – but soon Oklahoma may also be well-known for something else: it’s mixed martial artists. And with fighters like David Heath, Aron Lofton, Matt Grice, and Mike Budnik all emerging from The Sooner State, who could argue?

Triton Fight Center is one of the gyms currently at the forefront of Oklahoma’s ascension up the MMA ranks and has helped to develop some of the aforementioned talent including Lofton and Budnik.

Not surprisingly, Triton also has one of the best instructors in the state, Piet Wilhelm. A four-stripe Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt (out of American Top Team’s Renato Tavares) and a former fighter himself, Wilhelm, knows what he’s looking for when he sees it.

“I look for three traits within a fighter before I even consider taking them on,” said Wilhelm.” I call them my three c’s: coachability, conditioning, and consistency.

“The first time I met Aron [Lofton] he was at a regular gym lifting weights. I managed to get him into my gym and test him – I rolled him up into a big pretzel pretty quick – but he was in immediately. He obviously had the conditioning, but it was that coachability and consistent improvement that really came through.”

Where did the keen eye for talent come from, exactly? The Marine Corp. – Wilhelm spent nine years honing his instructional craft as a head instructor of hand-to-hand combat in the Marine Corps.

“My time with the Marines was really valuable because I got good at evaluating situations,” said Wilhelm. “I also learned the value of structure, good communication, hard work, and dedication – things that I preach to my fighters on a daily basis.

“I’ll admit, though, that [switching from training marines to civilians] was a bit of an adjustment at first. I’ve slowly come to learn that I can’t exactly train civilians the way I would train a marine. I can’t chew someone out for being late to one of my classes, because ultimately they’re paying my wage and it’s not a mandatory program.”

While still a member of the Marines, Wilhelm began preparing for a career in MMA. However, after amassing a perfect record of 5-0, Wilhelm made the decision to retire in 2007.

“It ultimately came down to me doing too many things,” said Wilhelm. “I was running a business, I was managing, and I needed to take care of my family – those were my priorities. I came to terms with the fact that I’d done my time as a fighter.
“I’m at the point now where I feel it’s more rewarding to help my students grow and become better fighters. It’s about them now and I’m happy with that.”

Wilhelm, 35, is now entering his fifth year of operating Triton Fight Center out of Tulsa and he’s finally starting to reap the rewards of his difficult choice.

The 3,000 square foot facility is home to over 200 students of all ranges and abilities and features a number of highly-skilled trainers. Even more encouraging is the new lease agreement Wilhelm is about to sign that would move the gym to a new, 7,000 square foot location.

However, the capper, according to Wilhelm, is just being able to represent Oklahoma and watch guys like Lofton start small and make it big.

“I remember that first day when Aron was curled up at the edge of the rolling mat, puking his guts out,” said Wilhelm. “Now he’s fighting for the Maximum Fighting Championship and on TV in front of millions of people.”

www.tritonccsd.com

www.maximumfighting.com