Underground Profile: Shawn Obasi

In December of 2004, a nightclub bouncer named Shawn Obasi stepped into the ring at NYC's Underground Combat League weilding heavy hands and crowd-pleasing intensity. But those attributes were all he had, and the 250-pound Grados Wing Chun representative lost via TKO after nearly seven minutes of fevered scrapping. Fast-forward to the present, where, with grappling knowledge courtesy of Alliance Jiu-Jitsu in Manhattan, the Nigerian-born Bronx native has put himself back on the winning track - first by pounding out one BJJ stylist and then tapping another with a kimura. Obasi is now kicking ass. "I definitely had to focus on my martial arts training and learn all aspects of fighting," he says. "Not just stand-up but groundfighting as well. Before that first fight I had no idea who the Gracies were and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and submission wrestling - really, any other kind of fighting other than what I did." What looms on the horizon for the up-and-coming heavyweight eager to turn pro? "My goal in mixed martial arts is to be number one," says Obasi. "My goal now is to win."