An Interview with Pro MMA Fighter and RKC Instructor, Bobby Moffett
by Adrienne Harvey, SrPCC, RKC-II, CK-FMS, Primal Move Nat'l Instructor
Dragon Door: How were you introduced to martial arts?
Bobby Moffett: Like most kids, I did about 1 year of karate/self-defense when I was little. In 3rd grade I tried wrestling—but at the time thought that it would be like professional wrestling on TV and was disappointed not to be suplexing people! But I continued wrestling through school, for three years before high school, and for all four years of high school. After I graduated, I worked out on my own and started to learn Jiu Jitsu because I knew I wanted to fight.
Dragon Door: What inspired you to transition from wrestling to MMA?
Bobby Moffett: The first time I heard about MMA was when I saw the Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV my freshman year of high school. I had no idea what it was, but thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. I’d seen UFC videos at the video store when I was renting professional wrestling videos, but had no idea until then that they were actually fighting each other in the UFC. And that’s what I wanted to do!
Dragon Door: When did you win the NAGA competition?
Bobby Moffett: The NAGA win was in 2012, and the 2nd time I’d competed in NAGA. Both times I competed in Expert, but this time I got the belt. Now I have actually won the expert belt twice—once in Chicago and once in St. Louis.
Dragon Door: How did you find out about kettlebells?
Bobby Moffett: The first time I heard about kettlebells was when some recruitment officers told me that all their training involved kettlebells and Gracie jiu jitsu. Since I was already doing jiu jitsu, hearing that all these guys liked to use
kettlebells a lot too really peaked my interest.
Dragon Door: Were there any big surprises for you at the recent Seattle RKC workshop?
Bobby Moffett: Yes! Apparently I'd been working out the wrong way my whole life! At the
RKC, I felt like everything was a big eye opener, I learned how to correctly do the kettlebell movements and workouts. It was just so much more dynamic than what I’d been doing with just barbells.
Dragon Door: Have you noticed any differences in your training—even though it’s only been about two months?
Bobby Moffett: Yes, even though I haven’t had an MMA fight since the RKC, I have been in some jujitsu competitions. I feel like every time I work out with kettlebells, or do a kettlebell circuit it’s helping to improve my grip strength. I feel stronger from head to toe as opposed to just strengthening disconnected parts of my body.
Dragon Door: How do you think RKC style kettlebell training can help MMA fighters?
Bobby Moffett: RKC is the only style I know. I don’t know any other way to train with kettlebells—and I don't want to know any other way! I feel like it’s perfect for MMA fighting, because MMA is about using your whole body—one man's greatest strength against another. Kettlebells really help to make everything stronger and faster. I am using muscles now that I wasn’t developing before when doing regular workouts. With kettlebells, I'm actually getting stronger in places that weren’t getting stronger before because I wasn’t working out the right way.
Master RKC, Max Shank told how he told how us to formulate workouts for ourselves and other people. I feel like that has changed my workouts a lot. And Max is really cool, I like him a lot.
Dragon Door: What’s the most valuable thing you learned at the RKC?
Bobby Moffett: It's hard to pick one thing, because I learned how to do the movements correctly, how to teach the movements, how to make up my own workouts, and how to train someone else. The best thing I learned for myself was how to do the kettlebell movements correctly—that and how to set up my workout routines. But, in general, after my professional fighting career is over, I’ll have something else I can teach.
Dragon Door: Are you currently training anyone or leading fitness or martial arts classes?
Bobby Moffett: I teach an MMA class and a ladies kickboxing class. Every once in a while we will do a kettlebell workout too with the basics like goblet squats or swings. I am working on setting up a kettlebell class at a local gym, especially because I’m pretty sure there’s no one else nearby certified in kettlebells. Before the RKC I had never worked with kettlebells! Max told me that he thought I was the most improved person who attended, so I felt pretty proud when he said that!
Dragon Door: What’s your favorite kettlebell move?
Bobby Moffett: I like to snatch a lot because I feel like I need to work on it a lot. I also really like the bottoms-up press because I feel like I have to concentrate a lot and use a lot more grip strength than with a regular kettlebell press. My grip has always been really strong, which is another reason why I like the bottoms-up press.
I am also trying to work on the explosiveness in my hips, so I like to use a lot of the kettlebell hip movements especially swings and the get-up with a high bridge. The kettlebells have helped me a lot—there’s a lot you can’t just do with a dumbbell.
Dragon Door: When's your next fight?
Bobby Moffett: I am looking to get a fight in July, but if that doesn't happen I know there will be one before the summer is over. Near the end of June, I have two jiu jitu tournaments—the ADCC, and Five Grappling. After that there’s a few more in July, so I have a lot of jiu jitsu tournaments before hopefully fighting in July.
Dragon Door: And you’re coming into that fight 4 and 0 as a professional MMA fighter?
Bobby Moffett: Yes, I had my fourth fight the weekend before the RKC. I am 4 and 0 now, and 7 and 0 as an amateur. So, I haven't lost a fight. Every time I go out to fight, I don't think about my record, I think I’m about to be as close as I can get to being an animal. I feel like MMA is the only sport, where I am doing something that I would have done in primitive times. If I wanted to get someone's land, I wouldn't play a game of football for it, I would have fought them for it. When I step into that cage, my mentality is that I am fighting that person to the death, of course I’m not because there’s a referee, but this is what is in my mind. I fight because I want to be the best, winning is the most important thing to me in the cage.
Dragon Door: What do you think is the best kettlebell move for MMA?
Bobby Moffett: I think the most practical move—and one I would actually use in a fight is the get-up. It’s similar to a technical stand up in jiu jitsu. In the get-up, the arm that’s holding up the kettlebell would be the arm that I’d use to protect myself. While I am guarded, I can stand up using my back leg then back away. So I am holding up the weight like holding up a shield—trying to protect myself from any attacks. The get-up is probably the closest thing to a fighting movement.
Dragon Door: How often do you usually train?
Bobby Moffett: I train usually every day. Obviously, since fighting is my focus, I will train to get better at fighting every day. I use kettlebells about 3-4 times a week. I also run, box, and practice Muay Thai, kickboxing, jiu jitsu, judo, and mix it all together in the MMA class. Even on days where I start late, I can get in some rounds of boxing, then do kettlebells, teach a class, then practice jujitsu and MMA. Even if I start the day late, I can get in more workout time than someone who has to wake up at 6AM to do a workout before going to work and sit at a computer. That's the last thing I ever wanted to do with my life, and was a big motivation for me to start fighting.
I looked at where my life could have headed. I went to community college for a little bit, but didn’t finish. At first I wanted to study biology because I love animals—but that’s also why I like fighting. Fighting is the closest I can be to being an animal other than living out in the wild and being a crazy hill man! I started out studying biology, then switched to learning to be an electrician, but hated that.
I looked at the possibilities that I had—working in construction, or being an electrician, carpenter, plumber, or pipefitter—and while none of those are bad things, and we really need people to do those jobs, I kept coming back to fighting. I’d also considered art because I’m pretty good at drawing what’s in my head, and want to make a graphic novel one day. But, fighting seemed like my best option, so now I am fighting professionally and teaching classes.
Dragon Door: What's your next big goal?
Bobby Moffett: The next step is to win as many fights as I can and eventually get into the UFC. Usually they look for people who have 10 fights, and I am only at 4 right now, but within 3-4 fights I could start to get noticed.
Back