Bellator 147: Virgil Zwicker, Thankful to be a "Rez Dog".
11/26/2015
As surging Bellator light heavyweight Virgil “Rez Dog” Zwicker (14-4-1) wakes up and prepares to spend the Thanksgiving holiday surrounded by friends and family on the San Pasqual Indian Reservation, he knows he has a lot to be thankful for: a loving family, a Mixed Martial Arts career brimming with promise, second chances, and the heart and mind of a warrior given to him at birth as a Kumeyaay Indian. For many Natives like Zwicker, the holiday serves as a time to reflect and honor the Natives that came before and celebrate the resiliency of a people who have overcome so much. At the dining table, Zwicker’s discipline and self restrain will be on full display as he prepares to make weight for his light heavyweight contest at Bellator 147 December 4th in San Jose against opponent Brian Rogers (11-8).
Riding high on a two fight win streak and a ferocious knockout (KO) victory over Razak Al-Hassan in May at Bellator 137, Zwicker is building the kind of momentum in the Bellator light heavyweight division which can’t be ignored. However, with each passing victory, Zwicker refuses to be showered with praise and accolades as he deflects the credit to Kumeyaay tribe standing behind him:
"There is no Indian word for I; it’s always we. That has always been a big driver in my career. It has always been an important part for me. It’s always one of those things where they [the Kumeyaay Indians] are always on my shoulders, always in the back of my mind. I’m always doing it for them. Regardless, I never really want the credit. I’ve never been that type of person."
For Zwicker, one of the keys to victory in this fight against Brian Rogers he feels will be his ability to stay calm and collected when things get out of control in the Bellator cage. Traits early on in Zwicker’s youth and journey to manhood he feels he failed to embrace which consequently resulted in unnecessary stints in juvenile hall and jail for fighting. Upon discovering the marital way of thinking and the values of discipline and self respect embodied in Mixed Martial Arts, Zwicker used MMA as an outlet to turn his life around for the better and to help inspire others:
"We all make mistakes, and I’ve really taken it at a personal level and as a personal challenge to do this 100% for all my Rez dogs to know they need someone to look up to. I am a professional fighter, but I am not carrying myself as a disrespectful individual. I’m not yelling or screaming or putting anyone down; I’m not like that. It’s having that respect and giving people respect when you don’t even need it. You just give it automatically. The last 5, 6, 7 years of my life, the humbleness has really helped me grow as a man and as a fighter."
"I was always fighting for the wrong reasons. Giving them that path, knowing that you don’t have to walk around with your chest high ready to fight. Just be a proud individual on your own."
These days and for the last four years, when Zwicker isn’t at Team Quest training for his upcoming fights, you can find him out in the community contributing and working with troubled youth. It is here he works to instill the ideals of working to be strong individuals who can stand on their own and champion what they believe in no matter what.
"I am working with some special kids out here; I have a basketball team, two football teams. For me, being able to come down to their level and help them understand on the Reservation its important to have our heads up and our pride up and always be ready to go."
Inside the ring on fight night, Zwicker will proudly display the heart and grit which earned him the “Rez Dog” moniker he wears as a badge of honor:
"Rez dog comes from the men being out there, being vicious, being rough. Roaming the reservation and cruising around the Reservation being the tough guys and standing up for our community. For me, I take it as a warrior mentality. ‘What’s up Rez dog’ is kind of how we all talk to each other. You really have to kind of earn being called a Rez dog rather than just growing up on the Reservation; [You have to be] somebody of a stature nature."
As for his opponent Brian Rogers, Zwicker isn’t looking past him and plans to give him the hardest fight of anyone he has ever faced in his career:
"[Rodgers] is dangerous opponent, and I respect him as much as anybody else. I have to stay focused on the task at hand which is getting through Brian Rogers."
"I know for sure that my strength is that I am always going to be the toughest, hardest fight anyone has ever faced because they know they are facing someone who will not go away. I’m not going to turn around and quit."
Virgil Zwicker strikes Houston Alexander (Photo Credit: Bellator MMA)
With a victory at Bellator 147, Zwicker will be on a 3 fight win streak and his goals for 2016 remain clear:
"I want to continue to climb [the light heavyweight division] and be a part of a big show. I want to travel. I notice [Bellator] are doing a couple shows overseas and that has always been a part of what I wanted to do when I first got in this business. To travel and see the world. I would love to get in there with Linton [Vassell]. That is one of the fights where he was better that night. He has motivated me to be a better fighter this year. Tito [Ortiz] would be another one. I would definitely get in there with Tito. Kimbo Slice, I would get in there with him. Ken Shamrock. All these guys they are using for marketing, well I want to use them too. Let them market me (laughing)."
For Zwicker, in the end, for him its really only about one thing:
"Just getting in there and having everyone [from the Reservation] seeing it on all the social media and all the TV and everything, they are all going to be able to acknowledge it. Knowing that one of their own is in there mixing it up win, lose, or draw. That always makes my heart skip a beat; I am really grateful to have a body that is able to do it."
Virgil would like to thank: His fellow Indians for always being in his corner, Paradise Chevrolet of Temecula, friends Jason Young and J.T. White, Pizza Factory, La Cocina Bar and Grill, his mother/father/family, his son Duke, daughter, wife, and Temecula Valley Pop Warner Bears and the young boys who come out to practice and give it their all.
11/26/2015
As surging Bellator light heavyweight Virgil “Rez Dog” Zwicker (14-4-1) wakes up and prepares to spend the Thanksgiving holiday surrounded by friends and family on the San Pasqual Indian Reservation, he knows he has a lot to be thankful for: a loving family, a Mixed Martial Arts career brimming with promise, second chances, and the heart and mind of a warrior given to him at birth as a Kumeyaay Indian. For many Natives like Zwicker, the holiday serves as a time to reflect and honor the Natives that came before and celebrate the resiliency of a people who have overcome so much. At the dining table, Zwicker’s discipline and self restrain will be on full display as he prepares to make weight for his light heavyweight contest at Bellator 147 December 4th in San Jose against opponent Brian Rogers (11-8).
Riding high on a two fight win streak and a ferocious knockout (KO) victory over Razak Al-Hassan in May at Bellator 137, Zwicker is building the kind of momentum in the Bellator light heavyweight division which can’t be ignored. However, with each passing victory, Zwicker refuses to be showered with praise and accolades as he deflects the credit to Kumeyaay tribe standing behind him:
"There is no Indian word for I; it’s always we. That has always been a big driver in my career. It has always been an important part for me. It’s always one of those things where they [the Kumeyaay Indians] are always on my shoulders, always in the back of my mind. I’m always doing it for them. Regardless, I never really want the credit. I’ve never been that type of person."
For Zwicker, one of the keys to victory in this fight against Brian Rogers he feels will be his ability to stay calm and collected when things get out of control in the Bellator cage. Traits early on in Zwicker’s youth and journey to manhood he feels he failed to embrace which consequently resulted in unnecessary stints in juvenile hall and jail for fighting. Upon discovering the marital way of thinking and the values of discipline and self respect embodied in Mixed Martial Arts, Zwicker used MMA as an outlet to turn his life around for the better and to help inspire others:
"We all make mistakes, and I’ve really taken it at a personal level and as a personal challenge to do this 100% for all my Rez dogs to know they need someone to look up to. I am a professional fighter, but I am not carrying myself as a disrespectful individual. I’m not yelling or screaming or putting anyone down; I’m not like that. It’s having that respect and giving people respect when you don’t even need it. You just give it automatically. The last 5, 6, 7 years of my life, the humbleness has really helped me grow as a man and as a fighter."
"I was always fighting for the wrong reasons. Giving them that path, knowing that you don’t have to walk around with your chest high ready to fight. Just be a proud individual on your own."
These days and for the last four years, when Zwicker isn’t at Team Quest training for his upcoming fights, you can find him out in the community contributing and working with troubled youth. It is here he works to instill the ideals of working to be strong individuals who can stand on their own and champion what they believe in no matter what.
"I am working with some special kids out here; I have a basketball team, two football teams. For me, being able to come down to their level and help them understand on the Reservation its important to have our heads up and our pride up and always be ready to go."
Inside the ring on fight night, Zwicker will proudly display the heart and grit which earned him the “Rez Dog” moniker he wears as a badge of honor:
"Rez dog comes from the men being out there, being vicious, being rough. Roaming the reservation and cruising around the Reservation being the tough guys and standing up for our community. For me, I take it as a warrior mentality. ‘What’s up Rez dog’ is kind of how we all talk to each other. You really have to kind of earn being called a Rez dog rather than just growing up on the Reservation; [You have to be] somebody of a stature nature."
As for his opponent Brian Rogers, Zwicker isn’t looking past him and plans to give him the hardest fight of anyone he has ever faced in his career:
"[Rodgers] is dangerous opponent, and I respect him as much as anybody else. I have to stay focused on the task at hand which is getting through Brian Rogers."
"I know for sure that my strength is that I am always going to be the toughest, hardest fight anyone has ever faced because they know they are facing someone who will not go away. I’m not going to turn around and quit."
Virgil Zwicker strikes Houston Alexander (Photo Credit: Bellator MMA)
With a victory at Bellator 147, Zwicker will be on a 3 fight win streak and his goals for 2016 remain clear:
"I want to continue to climb [the light heavyweight division] and be a part of a big show. I want to travel. I notice [Bellator] are doing a couple shows overseas and that has always been a part of what I wanted to do when I first got in this business. To travel and see the world. I would love to get in there with Linton [Vassell]. That is one of the fights where he was better that night. He has motivated me to be a better fighter this year. Tito [Ortiz] would be another one. I would definitely get in there with Tito. Kimbo Slice, I would get in there with him. Ken Shamrock. All these guys they are using for marketing, well I want to use them too. Let them market me (laughing)."
For Zwicker, in the end, for him its really only about one thing:
"Just getting in there and having everyone [from the Reservation] seeing it on all the social media and all the TV and everything, they are all going to be able to acknowledge it. Knowing that one of their own is in there mixing it up win, lose, or draw. That always makes my heart skip a beat; I am really grateful to have a body that is able to do it."
Virgil would like to thank: His fellow Indians for always being in his corner, Paradise Chevrolet of Temecula, friends Jason Young and J.T. White, Pizza Factory, La Cocina Bar and Grill, his mother/father/family, his son Duke, daughter, wife, and Temecula Valley Pop Warner Bears and the young boys who come out to practice and give it their all.