Warrior Profile: Justin Konia
Destiny’s Unleashed event is just around the corner, and welterweight fighter Justin Konia (5-1) couldn’t be more excited. “This is my biggest challenge so far,” says the 27-year-old 2002 Kamehameha graduate. “My opponent (Jason Rivera) is from Las Vegas and trains under one of my favorite fighters, Wanderlei Silva.”
Konia has been training hard, and he hopes to represent Hawaii well. “A lot of people think that Hawaii boys only have stand up (game), but I started my training with jiu-jitsu and I feel comfortable wherever the fight goes,” he explains.
Training is a serious matter for Konia who has trained for a total of six years: he has trained at 02MMA for five years, HMC for four years and Fitness Ranes for two years. His regimen is rigorous, but that’s what it takes to become a winner. “I train at Fitness Ranes on Mondays and Wednesdays, 02MMA on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and at HMC on Thursdays and Fridays,” Konia explains. “Sunday is my rest day.”
It’s hard to imagine him not taking training and fighting seriously, but his interest started as a way to pass the time in college up in Oregon. “I was stuck in the middle of corn fields,” says Konia, who played football and ran track in high school. “It got really boring and some of the Hawaii boys (Rob Hesia and Po‘ai Suganuma) started a grappling club. I didn’t take the training seriously until I graduated and moved back home.”
Konia also took up wrestling for a year, but wished that he had stuck with it. “I would have gotten a lot further, faster in my MMA career,” he says.
He also encourages those who are interested in fighting to take up wrestling and/or judo. “Also, find a job where you can call everyone you train with family, and become as well-rounded as possible. I’m always working on my weaknesses so they become my strengths,” Konia explains.
While he’s proven to be a talented fighter, Konia has big plans for the future. He lives by the saying, “If your dreams don’t scare you, they’re not big enough!”
“I want to fight in the big show, the UFC, and become a champion,” he says. “Eventually I want to open a gym to help youth who get into trouble and have no goals or discipline.”
Right now, Konia is a high school outreach counselor, and he loves helping students. He explains that opening his own gym would allow him to pass on his passion for training and help people at the same time. “I would never ‘work’ a day in my life,” he says.
