Fight Path: Guam sparked Robert Washington’s MMA career, but challenges were ahead

Even though Robert Washington came from the difficult neighborhoods of East St. Louis, Mo., and had developed a tough exterior, that wasn’t his inspiration for entering the world of MMA.

Instead, after high school, he found himself almost 7,400 miles from home in Guam while stationed with the U.S. Navy. It just so happened that the island had a strong MMA community even back in 2002.

He was a tough kid who was in the service. But that didn’t mean MMA couldn’t provide a new challenge.

“My first day in the gym I got punched so hard my mouth and jaw was basically swollen shut,” Washington told MMAjunkie. “Ever since then, I thought it was what I wanted to do.”

He faced plenty of challenges in trying to stay involved with the sport he came to love: three children and a wife as a young family, a challenging divorce, custody battle for all three children, earning college degrees, work and a new relationship.

All of that has added up to long days and some difficult periods, but Washington (16-8) feels he has emerged and is prepared to push forward in his MMA career. His next opportunity comes on Saturday with the 30-year-old lightweight takes on Jeremy Castro (10-12) at “Shamrock Fighting Championships: Demolition” in St. Louis.

Since starting his career 8-0, Washington has skidded to his current 16-8, in large part because fighting could only be one slice of a father-employee-student mix that dominated his daily life. But with a new wife and a fourth child, Washington feels he has found the stability that can boost his once-floundering career.

He took a step in October when he secured his latest knockout victory. He hopes the next step comes on Saturday.

“Everyone has a story to tell, and I feel like I’ve been through more than the average male,” he said. “The average male isn’t doing laundry for three boys and cooking breakfast and serving as both a mother and a father. I’ve been through so much adversity, but now I put things in order and I’m on the right track.”

Serving his country

Washington grew up in East St. Louis raised by a single mother. But, his father had served in the Navy, which gave him motivation to do the same.

He didn’t have the early look of an athlete, and old schoolmates who see him now can’t believe he’s the same Robert who was a scrawny little kid in high school trying his hand at football and wrestling but not finding much success in either.

Aside from his father, his sister had also joined the Navy, which helped encourage Washington to do the same. He enlisted after high school, and soon after he was sent to Guam, thousands of miles from his home’s tough streets.

It was a much different environment.

“I loved it there,” he said. “It was always 86 degrees and 100 percent humidity. White sand beaches, perfectly blue water.”

The other thing Guam had was a passionate MMA culture, which he learned when he first went into a gym there. Or, more precisely, he was part of a group from a gym that trained, but they did much of their work outside in the punishing humidity, which Washington said helped to build tough fighters.

He had married young and started having children, but he also wanted to start fighting. After going pro, he appeared in areas throughout the Pacific Rim and built an 8-0 record.

But his personal life soon got in the way.

Finding structure

In 2010, much happened to Washington in a short stretch. He was divorced from the wife he had married young, struggled to gain custody of his three children and moved back to the St. Louis area. His life overall was a struggle, and his fighting career reflected that.

After starting 8-0, Washington went 1-4 in his next five fights, and by the start of 2012, he was 11-5. It was a strong record, but he was going in the wrong direction, especially as responsibilities away from fighting mounted.

“There were about two or two-and-a-half years where I was juggling so many things and I wasn’t as passionate (about fighting) as I should’ve been,” Washington said.

Then stability arrived. He neared finished his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, and he met a woman who would become his second wife. He thought back to the rough training sessions outside his first gym in Guam and the passion the fans there showed for the sport.

His boys grew up (the three from his first marriage are now 9, 7 and 6, and his youngest is six months old). He started working on his master’s degree. He even continued a full-time job, which means he started his days at about 4 a.m. and went until late in the evening with his education.

Despite that busy schedule, Washington said he’s confident he still has plenty of fighting power remaining in his career. Even though he had to find the sport thousands of miles away, it’s now a major significant part of his home.

“I’m not doing the fighting for my kids or my wife, but because I want to,” he said. “It’s good for me, which means it’s good for my family. That’s what I’ve found.”

Award-winning newspaper reporter Kyle Nagel pens “Fight Path” each week. The column focuses on the circumstances that led fighters to a profession in MMA. Know a fighter with an interesting story? Email us at news [at] mmajunkie.com.