There have been countless licensed professional fighters throughout history.
There have even been a handful of martial artists who have achieved higher education in the martial arts. However, Mr. Wayne is the first person to have accomplished both feats.
He received his professional mixed martial arts licence in 2020 and the bachelor’s degree in martial arts in 2015.
He is the first professional fighter that also has a degree in martial arts.
Throughout his life, he always envisioned himself doing something no one has ever done in the martial arts world.
Now, after 31 years of life, he can say that he has accomplished something truly world class. He is honored to be a part of the Official World Records and will continue to strive for great things and make other martial artists proud! When Wayne Rich was just a boy, he always trained his punching and kicking skills while the other children would practice their sports.
He excelled at this but was told regularly that martial arts had no future, it was merely a thing of the past, and there were no feats to be accomplished within it.
He ignored all the opinions of others and keept pursuing martial arts through all middle school and high school.
Upon graduation from high school he did not want to attend any college that didn’t have a martial art program.
Once again, he was told by others that no college offers such a program.
Wayne and his mother searched the earth for a college that had martial arts as a degree and found one, the only one in the United States, the university of Bridgeport.
He went without hesitation over 1,000 miles from his home to a location where he didnt know one person and had zero family there.
He also fought with olympic athletes, taekwondo world champions, karate masters, and the highest level of competition during his stay at the university of Bridgeport.
He dominated in College and upon graduation from the university He knew that he had what it takes to become a professional fighter.
Later, he moved to Atlanta Georgia where he fought at the Battle of Atlanta World Karate tournament in 2017 under the “RCFAI” rules. He won bringing home the gold medal.
In 2018 he re-entered the world tournament and again won gold.
It wasn’t long after this tournament that he wanted even more competition so he decided to finally turn pro.
In the year 2020, amidst the surge of the Coronavirus he finally received his pro license after a childhood full of training, attending a distant college, 2 international gold medals, and going against the opinions of virtually everyone, he had finally attained it.
He is still a young man and have lots of life ahead.
He is unsure of what the future holds, but he does know that he will continue doing martial arts.
He plans on using his story and accomplishments to help the upcoming martial artists of the future.
He wants others to be motivated and never give up on what they want, regardless of the difficulty that lies ahead.
This story will no doubt give a spark to someone who needs a push of motivation.
Now as a professional athlete and world record holder, he feel even more compelled to do other great things in his community, country, and ultimately the world.
He is humbled and honored to have an accolade such as this.
He will go fourth proudly into his upcoming competitions, teaching events, and life with this accomplishment.
