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Sports

Local MMA Fighter 'Battles At The Beach'

Fighter Erik Purcell defeats Aaron Skates at the 3:22 mark.

Local MMA fighter and Neshaminy graduate Erik Purcell took on Aaron Skates at Reality Fighting's Battle at the Beach in Wildwood, N.J. this past Friday. 

Coming into the fight, Purcell was not only on a strict training regimen, he became a vegetarian to increase his endurance. The bout was scheduled for three five-minute rounds.

"For the last seven months, I haven’t eaten any meat. That helped me keep my weight down. Normally, I have to lose around 30 pounds to fight, this time I only had to lose 10 or 12. It definitely helps out with your cardio and strength; it makes a big difference. Plus with Coach Altaf, we were on a strict training regimen. I was 100-percent confident that I could five or six rounds. I felt great. I felt strong,” Purcell said.

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Standing a 6-feet-6-inches Skates had a six-inch height advantage over Purcel, who spoke about his strategy going into the fight.

"I respected his length. He was so tall that I knew it was in my best interest to get him on his back. Usually my game plan is wrestling to some ground and pound and Jiu-Jitsu anyways," Purcell said.

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Skates used his length in the early going by landing some stiff kicks. Purcell said he knew that patience would be key.

"I knew he was an experienced striker, so in that case you can’t rush things too much. I know he was looking to throw a knee or uppercut, so you have no choice to be patient. If you get locked up against the wall, he’s going to be in a dominant position in terms of throwing knees, anything in close range like that. I had to be really careful that I didn’t eat one of those knees," Purcell said. "I noticed he was backing straight up after most of his kicks, so I realized that I had to eat one or two of them and then just shoot a straight in shot."

Purcell waited for the right opportunity. Like a shark, he pounced and took Skates down to the mat.

"Once I got him down, I was able to sink in a good mount. We had a good scramble, I ended up in a dominant position. Then, with the head and arm triangle, I had it in really deep. I was confident it was going to be over," Purcell said.

At the three-minute-22-second mark of the first round, Skates tapped and Purcell's hand was raised in victory.

All of the hard work and dedication paid off.

"I want to give thanks to my phenomenal team. Coach Al -- he's just done wonders with me. Pedro Rivera, my standup coach and my Jiu-jitsu coaches as well. They’ve spent a lot of time with me suring up my technique in my ground game -- Coach Tony Rivera and Professor Brian McPherson, my wrestling coach Chuckie Connor -- they’ve made all the differences in the world," Purcell said.

Make sure to check out Purcell's personal website at erikpurcell.com. Follow him on Twitter @Erikpurcell. Also watch the fight on the following links:

Part 1

Part 2

NOTE: Author Adrian Fedkiw is in a contest to become the next host on 97.5 The Fanatic, a Philadelphia sports talk station. Please take 30 seconds and click the "Like" button next to the comment button on THIS LINK. Adrian would greatly appreciate it. Thanks to those that helped!

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