Jun

24

For a friend

Posted by Little Miss Know it All

June 24, 2007 |

I want to take a moment from talking about politics to congratulate two friends of mine–Levi and Julia Adams.   Levi fights in the Mixed Martial Arts, also known as the Ultimate Fighting Championship.  Now, I won’t pretend to understand the sport or even to follow it.  But Levi and Julia have such a passion for the sport.  Ever since I met Levi two years ago, he’s been talking about his dream to become a professional fighter.  The most incredulous part for me was his testimony that he believed God was drawing him to become a fighter, to have a witness to a part of society that is typically overlooked by mainstream Christianity.  That, I admire.  For Jesus did not come to the holier-than-thou types, but to those who were broken, hurting and sidelined by society. 

 And Levi has followed through.  Not only is he a rising star in the world of UFC, but he lives the life he proclaims to believe in.  He and his wife live a godly life without being stuffy or boring people.  In fact, I challenge you to find a couple more full of vitality and life, and just good old plain fun, than Levi and Julia Adams.

 This week has been a whirlwind of publicity for Levi–first on WEBN, then in the papers, on TV, all over the place.  Levi could take the safe way out and talk trash–but instead he sincerely mentions God and his impact on his life.  Levi has fought his way to the top, fighting in amateur fights until tonight, when he makes his professional debut, for some sort of belt.  (Sorry Levi, I just don’t understand it all.)  I just want to say–WAY TO GO LEVI!!!!  Oh, and for his wife Julia, who not only watches, but who encourages her husband to get beat up, God bless you for your courage and your vision!  Its not easy to go after your dream.  Many think it is, but its not.  There are battles, terrifying fears and obstacles all along the way.  I just want to congratulate someone who pushed through those to go after what he really wanted. 

If you want to know more about Levi, check out Cincinnati.com for a video promoting MMA and his upcoming fight.  The Cincinnati Enquirer had two long articles about the fight that quote Levi and Julia, as well as mentioning that MMA or UFC now outdraw WWF and HBO Boxing for audiences.  The best article is below, including a picture of a young Levi growing up in Papau, New Guinea.  I told you, Levi is one of the most interesting people you’ll ever meet!

From the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Faith, fights a shared calling

Adams believes God drew him to pursue MMA

BY JASON WILLIAMS | ENQUIRER CONTRIBUTOR
*

Levi Adams claims there is a photograph of him in the middle of a tribal war as a boy in New Guinea.

An arrow is just inches in front of his face. Huts are burning behind him.

Levi Adams (center) spent part of his childhood as a missionary in Papua New Guinea, where fighting was part of the culture.
Levi Adams (center) spent part of his childhood as a missionary in Papua New Guinea, where fighting was part of the culture.

In the mid-1990s, Adams, the son of Christian missionaries, moved to the United States. But his fight for survival continues. In some ways, it’s more daunting now.Only this time it’s by choice.

Adams, 25, will make his professional fighting debut in the MMA Big Show event at Cincinnati Gardens tonight. But his full-time fighting career began in 2004, when he decided that mixed martial arts was his true calling. Adams’ decision seemingly has brought more resistance outside the ring, where kneeing and elbowing an opponent in the head is within the rules.

Adams is bent on proving the ring is just as much of a gospel-spreading platform as the pulpit or mission field. He is bent on proving to his wife, Julia, family and friends that he didn’t take a vow of poverty in vain to pursue his goal of making it to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the major leagues of MMA.

“It’s been chaos,” Julia says of the journey since Adams made his decision to be a fighter. “We’ve experienced a lot of opposition. But I truly believe that Levi was made to be a fighter. I’ve been at peace with that.”

Adams’ decision has been questioned by some in his church. Julia often has awakened wondering if the couple will have enough money to buy groceries. She says her Volkswagen slowly has been picked apart by drug addicts in their low-rent Covington neighborhood - “Crackville” is what Julia calls it - where the couple moved in spring 2006 after Adams decided to quit his full-time job as a tile-setter. The couple cannot afford medical insurance.

Adams, who was 2-0 in official MMA amateur events, has broken his nose three times and recently suffered a painful knee injury. Julia worries about her husband getting severely injured.

“I always get sick to my stomach,” says Julia, who went to school to become a hair stylist to support them. “But there’s no way I’d say, ‘Don’t do it.’ “

To Adams, though, the daily struggles seem simple.

“I grew up in a country with cannibals, headhunters and diseases,” he says. “This is nothing.”

Adams fought mostly for fun in New Guinea, an island north of Australia infamous for ritualized cannibalism, which was banned in the 1950s.

“All we had was soccer, rugby and fighting,” Adams says. “Fighting was a competition. We did it for fun. Bamboo sticks. Rocks. We had bow-and-arrow fights, but then my mom found out. One of the kids got his eye poked out, so we had to stop.”

The family moved to Oklahoma when Adams was 13. It was quite a culture shock for Adams, who says he got into eight fights during his first week of school.

“My mom and dad sat me down and explained to me, ‘You can’t do that in America,’ ” Adams says. “I thought I’d never fight again.”

Until one night in 2004, when Adams and his wife watched a UFC event on television. Adams immediately turned to Julia and told her that’s what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. They prayed daily for three months before making a decision.

“The only thing I have not sacrificed is God and my wife,” says Adams, adding that he has been guaranteed to make all of $100 for tonight’s fight.

Adams trains every day except Sunday. Wednesday is a short training day because Julia leads a Bible study. Adams helps lead worship songs at Vineyard Christian Church in Florence. He says he prays with some of the homeless in his neighborhood. Adams’ friend Kevin Carroll says he didn’t feel spiritually “complete” until meeting Adams three months ago. Carroll, 29, whom Adams has gotten involved in MMA, describes Adams as “overgenerous to everybody.”

Still, there are some who wonder: Is beating up people for a living godly?

Count Vineyard senior pastor Barry Long among those who initially had questions. But after several conversations with Adams, Long fully supports him. Adams says part of his mission is to debunk the stereotype that MMA is a form of barbarism.

“If you look at all contact sports, you’d have to ask the same question from the Christian perspective,” Long says. “It’s not an anger thing for him. It’s more of an athletic thing for him. I trust him on that. Some good people disagree on this, and that’s OK. It’s not a black-and-white thing. If this was Levi coming to me and saying, ‘Hey, dude, I think I’m supposed to have two wives,’ well, that is black and white. I know who he is. His faith is true. We’re giving him our support. We love him.”


Comments

2 Comments so far

  1. Joe on June 24, 2007 8:23 am

    Great stuff, thanks for mentioning this, well deserved indeed.

  2. Levi on June 25, 2007 11:51 am

    Thanks for that. Actually this article means more to me than the papers and webn. You know me and the struggles that I have gone through to get here. That really means alot to me. Thanks.

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