Savannah pros bring out their fighting spirit with MMA show on Friday at Convention Center

There's something about being in an enclosed space, on your own in direct conflict with an opponent trying to squash you, that has tremendous appeal to mixed martial arts fighters Eddie Lomonte cq and Brandon Moran.

"It's freeing," Moran said. "It's hard to explain without sounding like a crazy person. I can do a lot of things that most people can't. I've fought all my life. I always wanted to box. It's just something inside me that said, 'I've got to fight.' "

Lomonte also relishes the opportunity for combat, which reminds him of a specific showdown made famous in comic books and movies.

"I just like the feeling of it, just going out there, being myself inside the cage, looking at my opponent," Lomonte said. "I feel like I'm the Predator in 'Alien vs. Predator.' "

He has a tattoo of the Predator on his right arm to prove it.

Update on fight card: New main event for mixed martial arts card Aug. 5 at Savannah Convention Center

Moran and Lomonte are each 28 years old, Savannah natives and residents who train under former longtime MMA pro fighter Muhsin Corbbrey at Champions Training Center.

A wrestler growing up and 2012 Beach High graduate, Moran enjoys the hard work, "the grind" and the routine, resulting in self-improvement he can see.

Moran says he feels at peace when he steps in the ring. The 145-pounder will make his Savannah debut with his second pro bout on Friday, Aug. 5 as part of iKON FC 4 at the Savannah Convention Center's Grand Ballroom.

Lomonte, a basketball player growing up and 2013 Jenkins High School graduate, will make his pro debut at 155 pounds on the card, which is promoted by UFC star fighter Jorge Masvidal and will be streamed on UFC Fight Pass (8 p.m.; card starts at 7 p.m.). The bouts for the Savannahians are on the undercard.

"My two guys are going to steal the show," Corbbrey said. "They're going to have the best two performances."

Such confidence is rooted in the time Corbbrey and his staff such as boxing coach Moses Hickman have invested in Moran (about 10 years) and Lomonte (about seven), who each found their way to the MMA gym as their high school athletic careers were concluding or over.

Lomonte, once a skinny 6-foot-4 hoopster, also played some tight end and ran cross country at Jenkins. He sought to stay in shape after graduating high school and looked up Champions at its old location at LaVida Country Club.

"I started coming in every day," Lomonte said. "I was liking it, learning stuff that I'd never learned before when it comes to wrestling, boxing, jiu-jitsu, kickboxing."

Months went by, and Corbbrey asked him if he was interested in taking it to another level.

"I had no intention on fighting," Lomonte recalled.

After 14 months of training, he made his amateur debut. He remembers beating that first opponent with 10 seconds left in the first round with a standing guillotine choke. It was such a great feeling — for the winner, not the other guy — that Lomonte just wanted more.

He went 5-2 as an amateur before determining it was time to go pro.

"He's probably one of the best athletes I've ever trained," Corbbrey said. "He's a 155-pound fighter and he's 6-4. He's not a clumsy 6-foot-4."

The fact that he has that height and reach advantage, and gets down from 205 pounds to 155 makes him a difficult matchup.

"He is a problem for everyone," Corbbrey said. "The average 155-pounder he will be fighting is probably 5-10, 5-11 or shorter. ... He can literally hold his hand out and they can't touch him. He's got tons of power. One of the best strikers in the gym, elite-level boxing. His Muay Thai is catching up."

A great short story

A height issue also figures into Moran's origin story. He's 5-7 now and says he was always one of the shorter kids in his classes at school. With all of his siblings 22 years or more older than him ("I was unexpected," he said with a cackle), he didn't have much assistance.

He said he dealt with bullies by accepting their challenges with his fists — much to the distress of his mother as well as his teachers who wondered why an academic standout was getting suspended from school.

"One thing I was always taught was just handle it right then and there," said Moran, whose late father Roosevelt Moran Jr. and grandfather on his mother's side boxed in the armed services.

"The thing about it is, people will keep messing with you if you don't stand up for yourself. So I stand up for myself. Now they're second-guessing: 'He might be a little off because he'll fight me for saying some words at him.' Now it's a psychological game happening of, 'OK, I got to think twice before I mess with him because this guy will haul off and hit me.' "

It's on: UFC star fighter/promoter Jorge Masvidal bringing mixed martial arts card to Savannah

Moran said he got the nickname "Bam Bam" not from an MMA promoter or because his initials are B.A.M., but from his reputation as a kid who will fight back if picked on.

He channeled that warrior mentality into wrestling, appealing to him as more of an individual sport. He wanted to improve his skills and recruitment as a college wrestler, so in his senior year he started training at Champions.

All the while, other sides to Moran — studious, cordial, nice guy — were easier to see when making his acquaintance than his participation in a sport he called "controlled violence."

"Everybody who meets me would never guess in a thousand years what I would do," Moran said. "They see the (cauliflower) ear and 'oh, he probably wrestled in college.'

"What I'm doing is high-speed chess with consequences that you can't get back. You mess up one time, you're done."

Moran said he tried to wrestle in college before enrolling at Savannah State, where he said he got as far as his junior year as an electrical engineering major before putting college aside to pursue mixed martial arts.

He knows he has some explaining to do with that life choice.

"It just felt right," Moran said. "You ever done something, going to school, all that was the cookie-cutter thing everyone's supposed to do? I just fell into this and it just felt right — if that makes sense. It's hard to explain."

He was 8-0 as an amateur, fighting mostly in Florida and Atlanta, before winning his pro debut by unanimous decision in September 2021. Corbbrey said Moran "just obliterated everybody" as an amateur.

"I don't think he lost a round as an amateur," the trainer said. "Brandon, in my opinion, is one of the next big things. He's a superstar. I've had him since he was a kid. He knows my systems through and through."

Corbbrey praises Moran's striking and jiu-jitsu skills and improvement in kickboxing. Moran traveled earlier this year to Thailand, where Muay Thai is the national sport, to gain expertise and confidence, before cutting short the visit to compete in Savannah.

With both fighters aspiring to win championships at the highest level of the sport, Cobbrey said shows like iKON FC 4 can help launch their careers by building their records with quality matches, so a run of five, six victories can mean a promotion.

"I think the last iKON show got three or four people into the UFC, which shows they're feeding the UFC," Corbbrey said.

Saluting the troops

The weigh-in for the fight card will be at a special location, Hunter Army Airfield, as Masvidal and his promotional company want to salute men and women in the armed services. The weigh-in, which starts at 5 p.m. Thursday and is not open to the public, will be one of the activities on base involving the fighters and Masvidal.

"Bringing iKON FC 4 to Savannah and including weigh-ins or other fight-week events at a military base will always be a priority of mine," Masvidal said in a statement. "Our troops see violence in the worst of ways; iKON FC will bring violence in the best of ways. I can’t wait to get back in town and show the service men and women at Hunter Army Airfield and the Savannah PD some much needed love.”

The Savannah Convention Center's Grand Ballroom will seat about 2,000, with the doors opening at 6 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 5, and the first bout at 7 p.m. Tickets are $50 for general admission, $1,000 for a VIP table of 10 seats. Tickets are on sale at ikonfc.com.

Nathan Dominitz is the Sports Content Editor of the Savannah Morning News and savannahnow.com. Email him at ndominitz@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @NathanDominitz

Jorge Masvidal's iKON FC 4

(All fights scheduled for three rounds)

Main event bantamweights (135 pounds)

Amun Cosme (4-0) vs. Diego Manzur (5-0)

Featured bout welterweights (170)

Lindsey Jones (4-0) vs. DeWitt Dixon (2-1)

Middleweights (185)

Torrez Finney (2-0) vs. Justin Dorsey (1-1)

Featherweights (145)

Brandon Moran (1-0) vs. Tyler Sigmon (pro debut)

Lightweights (155)

Eddie Lomonte (pro debut) vs. Ilay Barzilay (pro debut)

Bantamweights (non-televised)

Malcom Wellmaker (1-0) vs. Langston Sykes (pro debut)

Amateur welterweights (non-televised)

Lewis Glover (4-3) vs. Chris Brant (6-1)

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah MMA fighters Moran and Lomonte take next steps in pro careers