Ring Girl: 9/5/14
By Nicole Kato
Check out Joey VonBlankenburg Sept. 26 at Aloha Stadium for an X-1 World Events bout. The Makiki native’s record stands at 2-1 but he hopes to increase that to add another win to his resume. He credits Egan Inoue and training partner/coach Matt Aoki. “Without their help and all my other training partners I wouldn’t be doing this today,” says the Grappling Unlimited fighter. VonBlankenburg took part in his first MMA event this March and says he enjoys the rush he gets from getting into the cage. At the age of 17 he engaged in Muay Thai and fell in love with mixed martial arts. “It led me to look for other things I could add to my toolbox,” he says. “I eventually ended up at Grappling Unlimited, and I started competing in jiu-jitsu and fell in love with that, too.” He took part in Triple Threat bouts and from there “it became an obsession and the only thing I could think about.” Aside from the cage entrance rush, VonBlankenburg also notes that the sport keeps him humble. “You are always having to grow and learn new things if you want to stay ahead of the game because it’s always changing,” he says. He lives and trains by the quote: “I stay ready so I don’t have to get ready.” For VonBlankenburg everything needs to be sharp when he’s training, and even sharper when a fight is coming up. “So I’m in there as much as I can be, working on everything,” he concludes.
