ZANESVILLE — The call that has driven R.J. Harris’ fighting career finally arrived in the most inconvenient of places.
For the past three years, the Zanesville native has built his portfolio as a professional mixed martial arts fighter, combining a heavy punch, heavyweight wrestling background and a rangy 6-foot-6 frame. All he needed was an opportunity.
It finally arrived last week.
“I was at work one day (on a power pole) when I got the phone call,” said Harris, of his job for Thayer. “My manager (Jason House) called me. I answered, and he’s like, ‘Hey man, what’s up? I just got you into the UFC.”
Harris was stunned.
After compiling a 5-0 record as a professional in the Legacy Fighting Alliance, which followed a dominant career with Caged Thunder, the sort of game-changing moment that has driven him to keep pursuing a fighting career about knocked him off his pole.
“It’s like a roller coaster,” Harris said, prior to a workout on July 10. “I really don’t how to feel. I was a shocked, surprised, stomach instantly turned. It was every emotion you could think of hitting me all at once, and I was trying to continue to work. I was walking around the job site, like ‘how do I go about this?'”
Harris eventually signed a four-fight contract with UFC on July 7, which begins with a bout against Alvin Hines on July 18 at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. It will be streamed live on Paramount Plus.
Harris said he “never once” considered the possibility of a promotion to UFC, adding he was “mind blown” by the news. He had little time to make a decision — 10 minutes, to be exact. He made a quick call to his wife, Jocelyn, to inform her, and they collectively chose to take the contract.
It was only the beginning of what was to follow in the coming days. Specifically, he had 10 days to make the 265-pound weight limit for the fight, or else the contract would be voided.
That meant intense training at Sprawlin’ and Brawlin’ MMA, located just outside of Zanesville, to ensure he makes the number. He is already in Oklahoma City to prepare.
“I’ve been taking the things I know and tightening things up,” said Harris, whose UFC profile lists him at 6 foot, 6 inches, 258 pounds. “Just overall, cardio and everything like that is the big thing. The biggest thing I will probably work on is being able to do things and overcome or being in a weird spot and figuring it out.”
Balancing life with fighting has been a whirlwind of late, as Jocelyn is almost eight months pregnant with their first child. R.J. will also retain his job with Thayer, which works on powerlines.
“Luckily, she is very supportive,” Harris said of Jocelyn. “With work, I’ve got a super cool schedule, and we train Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. … I do whatever I’ve got to do, change train and go home. If I’m deep into (training), I will go seven days a week.”
Jocelyn admitted she has been “a little overwhelmed” with the turn of events but also hasn’t been able to hide her excitement. She has seen first hand the amount of training and sacrifice that R.J. has put into making this career a possibility.
“I don’t think it’s going to hit him until we get there,” Jocelyn said. “I was 20 weeks pregnant with his last fight, in Minnesota, and I was a wreck. So no being 35 weeks pregnant is a whole another ballgame. It’s just hard. My nerves are always shot.”
Jocelyn feels the opportunity has been a long time coming but is grateful for the chance her husband is receiving.
“I know that everything takes time,” Jocelyn said. “There are tons of fighters that aren’t in UFC that are fantastic. Sometimes I just feel like it was just hard to wait. We just had to wait our turn.”
At 27, Harris knows this is no time to rest on laurels.
“I ain’t got much time before the clock stops ticking on this stuff,” Harris said. “I definitely want to get on while it’s good. The wheels fall off, pretty much. Once it becomes no good, then take off somewhere else.”
He’s aware of what his opportunity means coming from a city of 26,000, precious few of whom can relate to the magnitude of being a professional athlete. Faces young and old will be watching intently.
“There is definitely a bigger picture to everything,” Harris said. “All of the stuff you do — school sports, whatever — even if it’s not school sports, whatever it is that you want to do, if you just to it and make it happen, it will happen.”
sblackbu@usatodayco.com; X: @SamBlackburnTR
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: R.J. Harris riding emotional roller coaster entering first UFC bout
Reporting by Sam Blackburn, Zanesville Times Recorder / Zanesville Times Recorder
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Sam Blackburn, Zanesville Times Recorder | USA TODAY Network
