Local MMA fighter, Simms, has sights set high

Photo by Paul Zastrocky

Matt Simms, right, trains with coworker and world champion Muay Thai fighter Sakmongkol at the ZBJJ gym in Broomfield.

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Paul Zastrocky

    BRIGHTON – Professional mixed-martial-arts fighter Matt Simms, 29, has a routine when he enters the cage.
    “[I] basically let myself know that, convince myself, I am the best fighter in the world,” Simms said. He then added, “at 155 pounds.”

    Simms has reason to look at the future so optimistically. He defeated fighter Nate Johnson at the Invaders event at the National Western Complex in Denver July 23. Simms won by submission after roughly one minute into the first round, putting his current professional record at 6-3.
    Though Simms has roots at the Zingano Brazilian Jiu Jitsu center in Brighton, he recently shifted the majority of his time and training to the ZBJJ location in Broomfield because it is closer to his home in Arvada.
    Simms was born and raised in Arvada. He played football for Arvada West and lived next door to professional Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Duane Ludwig, the man Simms primarily credits for his entrance into the ring.
    “It was kind of one of those big brother situations where he would ask us to kinda wrestle around with him. Ya know, secretly, (it was) just so he could get a little training in, and he would kinda tie us up or beat us up,” Simms said with a laugh.
    The other person to whom Simms attributes his success is his brother.
    “I grew up in a single-parent household with my mom and didn’t have a father really,” Simms said. “So my brother, who is eight years older than me, was essentially that father figure. He used to get me in fights with his friends and stuff like that. He was into Tae Kwan Do. Having a brother that is eight years older than you, the father figure in my life wasn’t much more than just learning how to fight and defend myself.”
    Simms’ fighting spirit helped him as an athlete. He played football in middle school, high school and, eventually, for Mesa State College in Grand Junction.
    After his first semester at Mesa State, he realized that he couldn’t endure the distance between he and his high school sweetheart, Renee, and he moved back to Arvada. Simms and Renee married in 2008.
    After college, he kind of stayed away from competition while maintaining his fervor for fitness. He worked at a gym, lifted weights, ran and did yoga. But he needed the competition, and rec-league softball didn’t cut it.
    At the time Simms wanted to start fighting, Ludwig was teaching with professional fighter and ZBJJ owner Mauricio Zingano.
    “Being a little uneducated,” Simms said, “I figured everyone knew how to punch and kick. So I wanted to learn the Jiu Jitsu first.”
    Simms fell in love with Jiu Jitsu and Zingano’s teaching style after he visited the gym, noting the pride that Zingano took in his Jiu Jitsu. As Simms started training, the lessons he learned from his middle school football coach echoed in his head.
    “There were times where they (football coaches) broke up kids and said, ‘You’re either gonna be heavyweight, or you’re gonna be lightweight. Everybody can touch the ball, everybody can be anything,’” Simms said.
    One coach advised him to get used to getting hit hard and playing against bigger opponents so that his strength would carry over when he was up against guys his size.
    “I always wanted to get that experience with the bigger guys, bigger stronger opponents,” Simms said. “When I started competing in Jiu Jitsu, I thought the same way. I used to compete in Jiu Jitsu at 190 pounds or plus.”
    Simms’ first three amateur fights were at the 170-pound level. His professional career has existed in the 155-pound level.
    Simms turned professional in November 2009. He discussed it with Professor, the common term used for an experience BJJ black belt, Zingano after he defeated Mike Suski as an amateur. Simms described Suski as being one of the best amateur fighters in Colorado at the time with a record of 10-1.
    “I pretty much just destroyed him, ran right through him and submitted him in, I believe, a little under two minutes,” Simms said. The first two fights of his professional career mimicked his fight with Suski in their expedient nature as he took his opponents to the mat.
    Simms’ continued dedication to the sport leaves him feeling restless when he goes too long without a fight. Right now, Simms does not have any fights lined up but hopes for one in the coming month or so. Invaders was the first fight Simms obtained through his new manager, Zingano.
    “I fight to present goals for myself, to measure myself as an athlete. I don’t fight because I like violence or am overly violent or anything like that,” he said. “I want to fight. I’m already in shape. I might as well fight again while I’m young.”