Joey Beltran was born in Oceanside, CA, and grew up in Carlsbad, CA.
Joey's main influence growing up was his mother. It was from her that he got his work ethic and will to win and survive.
"You just have to shut up and work. There's no time for crying."
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"Mark Nelson was my high school wrestling coach. He was the first man to ever get me to believe in myself. He told me that I could be great if I put in the time. My first taste of combat sports was boxing when I was about 10 years old. I boxed off and on until I was a sophomore in high school when i started wrestling. I practiced with the school teams in junior high but couldn't compete because of my grades. In high school I was able to get my act together and was the varsity heavyweight all 3 years I wrestled. I also got heavy into Greco Roman Wresling.
I would say my biggest strength is my willingness to stand and bang no matter who is front of me. I would definately say I'm a scrapper with a strong wrestling base. I definately have worked to clean up my technique and my Jiu Jitsu is coming along. But as soon as I get hit in the face, it is no longer a sport. It is personal. And I am going to try to break someones face!
I got into MMA because, well, I was at a very low point in my life. I was living in Hawaii. I had dropped out of school at UH, Manoa. My girlfriend, at the time, dumped me. I was an ocean away from my family. I had no money or job. My plane ticket was dated six weeks away and I was seriously suicidal. I was at one of the lowest points in my life. Then one day I stumbled across this gym called Bull's Pen. It was run by Dino Fernandez and had some stud fighters like Mark Oshiro and Mark Moreno. They let me train basically for free and threw me into the fire with some nice sparring sessions. I just got addicted. It was as if God sent me MMA. So I made it back home. I was going back to community college, hating life again, when I saw an article about the North County Fight Club in the local newspaper. So I found them at Martial Arts International in Carlsbad. And 6 months later, I had my first professional fight for Strikeforce. And it's just been an awesome ride ever since.
I have been training for mma specifically for 4 years. And now, I train at The Compound in Oceanside CA. Also, I have a strength and conditioning coach, Andy Schnaadig, that trains me at Hollistic Performance in San Marcos, CA.
my favorite fighter is josh barnett. I just think he is smooth fighter and a true technician with a killer instinct.
The three main things important to me, are my family (especially the younger generation nieces, nephews, baby cousins etc.), my friends, and my faith.
I enjoy eating sushi and drinking sake. Also I like listening and dancing to some good electronic music... Hop Hop and classic rock also.
I used to be a serious raver (PLUR) and i still go to at least one massive a year. And.... I cry every time I watch the movie Rudy. It's just so damn inspiring!"
- Joey "The Mexicutioner" Beltran
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