Job at YPG gives amateur MMA fighter ideal schedule for training

Photo By Ana Henderson | Hinton won his fourth fight in Mesquite, Nevada and had three weeks’ notice to prepare for a championship in Las Vegas for Tuff-N-Uff Promotions, which is where Hinton had his first loss but that loss is not holding him down. From wrestling he learned to be a good sport and not be upset with a loss. (Loaned photo)  

YUMA PROVING GROUND, AZ, UNITED STATES

10.14.2019

Story by Ana Henderson 

U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground

If you work at Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) you might have seen Tyler “Yogi” Hinton walking the halls. He works for Achieve Human Services, the janitorial crew contracted by YPG.

Hinton has worked with the janitorial crew for one year. “It gives me flexibility. I am up at 4:00 AM, I get off work at 3:30 PM and I head to the gym,” he said.

Hinton heads to gym to train because he an amateur Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter who spends up to five hours at the gym daily. Up until three weeks ago his record was 4-0.

He says, “I don’t train like an amateur, I train like a pro,” adding, “I never miss a day at the gym.”

Hinton ended up in Yuma and YPG by chance. While attending college in Goodland, Kansas and wrestling, something he’s done since age six, he became friends with a fellow student and wrestler from Yuma. Hinton visited his friend in Yuma and decided to stay.

After moving to Yuma his friend took him to Torture Training Center, Bully Rehab Awareness Gym (BRAG) Inc., to meet Carlos Flores, who is a former MMA fighter and now a coach.

“I could tell by his face he wasn’t interested, he said ‘I’ve trained a lot of fighters and they all quit’” Hinton said, “I’m different.” Flores responded “I hear that a lot.” He convinced Flores to give him a chance.
“My hands, my kicks, were horrible. It was like I had two left feet. I had no hand eye-coordination but I was a good grappler.” He’s now been training with Flores for two years and has a 4-1 record.

He won his fourth fight in Mesquite, Nevada and had three weeks’ notice to prepare for a championship in Las Vegas, which is where Hinton had his first loss. But that loss is not holding him down: From wrestling he learned to be a good sport and not be upset with a loss. “If I lose, I am like, ‘man that was a tough fight,’ and I hit up the guy on Instagram and tell him, ‘man, that was a good fight.’”

After his recent loss he plans to drop down in weight class from 145 to 135. He will make his debut in that weight class on December 21.
Hinton not only trains for his career, he helps out with teaching boxing, kick boxing, and jiu-jitsu. He invites kids to join the gym to help channel their energy, whether positive or negative, since the gym does have the BRAG program.

Hinton’s goal is to make it to Bellator or the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He would also like to use his degree in Art Education to become a special education teacher.

For now he is very appreciative of his job with Achieve because it gives him the time he needs to reach his goals.

• Date Taken: 10.14.2019
• Date Posted: 10.16.2019 10:23
• Story ID: 347774
• Location: YUMA PROVING GROUND, AZ, US