Ex-Overlea Teacher Plants His Roots in Mixed Martial Arts

For the past few years, Dan Root's story has been one of rising from the canvas and overcoming adversity.

After being replaced from his coaching and teaching position at Overlea High School in 2008, the 30-year-old former high school wrestler from New York began his mixed martial arts career.

The Abingdon resident lost two of three professional bouts before arriving at Baltimore's Ground Control MMA Academy, where he found excellent training partners and good friends.

"All of the guys work together as a team, I have more partners at my disposal, and I've improved by leaps and bounds by coming here," said Root.

"It's improved every aspect of my game, from my boxing, to my mental status going into fight," said Root. "I believe that I should dominate everybody that I fight. This was by far the best choice for me to come here."

But even Root's first win as a Ground Control fighter did not come easily during November's Shogun Fights III card at 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, where he returns tonight to fight.

"I led with my face, got hit in the chin and got dropped," said Root, a former football player, wrestler and lacrosse player at New York's Medina High. "But I recovered, got the takedown and ground-and-pounded my opponent until I choked him out with an arm triangle choke."

Root is hopeful that his transition will be smoother on Saturday night's Shogun Fights IV card at the 1st Mariner Arena, where he will take on Rich Langley at a catchweight of 180 pounds before what he believes will be a partisan crowd.

"Rich comes from a boxing background, so his main weapons will be to try and knock me out," said Root. "I have to be able to make this fight my fight, take him down, beat him up and, hopefully, submit him."

A disc jockey, bar back and manager of the Gentleman's Gold Club, Root said his fans are "strippers, meat heads and drunks."
 
"It's like, what would happen if you flipped over a barrel and looked underneath it?" said Root with a chuckle. "That's where you'll find the people who are fans of me. They seem to like me and find me to be somewhat cool. I take whomever comes. I'm not too picky."

Other locals on the card include 41-year-old James "Binky" Jones of White Marsh, and 35-year-old Dave Daniecki of Perry Hall, who are competing at 145- and 185-pounds, respectively.

Jones is a former two-time Maryland Scholastic Association champion and National Preps runner-up at Mount St. Joseph who wrestled on scholarship at Morgan State University. Daniecki is a two-time MSA titlist at Loyola.

Jones will fight Jay Haas, and Daniecki will fight Adrian Belcarris, who was named Prince George's County's Wrestler of the Year after going 32-0 for the 171-pound state title at Oxon Hill in 2000.

The event's promoter and organizer is Ground Control owner John Rallo, whose dogged determination led to Maryland's legalization of MMA in May 2008, paving the way for Shogun Fights I in October 2009 at 1st Mariner.

As a then-39-year-old in the main event opposite Jason McLean, Jones was emotionally lifted by the roar of the more than 5,000 fans during his unanimous decision victory.

Jones' repertoire included switching from the right-handed to the southpaw stance, an attempted guillotine from a standing position, and a lateral drop take-down, a defense that prevented McLean from landing clean strikes and an overall ability to dictate the fight's pace from a distance.

Jones was not as fortunate, however, on Shogun Fights II in March, succumbing to Jimmy Hettis' 28-second submission.

"After that last loss, I came down here to Ground Control, packed up my locker and I quit," said Jones. "I went home, sat in my basement, shut down my Facebook and everything."

Jones received inspiration from his children, Kayla, 14, and Savon, 10.

"They said, 'Daddy, you always tell us not to quit.' ... And I said, 'You're right, you're right,'" said Jones, a warehouse curriculum supervisor at the special education school Youth in Transition.

"Sitting on the porch, my son said, 'Daddy, come play my video game with my super heroes.' And he said, 'What super hero should I be?'" said Jones. "He said, 'But you can't be you. You can't be the Baltimore submission machine.' And I was saying to myself, 'Wow, my son just called me his super hero.' I said, 'You know, it's time to go back to work.'"

Jones "should be fine against Jay Haas," said Rallo.

"I think that Binky's ready after winning, like, three straight fights. He's decent on his feet, slips punches well and counters well. But his jujitsu, striking and kickboxing is his strength," said Rallo. "If Binky puts Jay on his back, then he should beat him. If Jay can keep them standing, then Jay has the advantage."

Daniecki took a 5-0 amateur mark into his pro debut on Shogun Fights I, where his D'arce choke hold submitted Wade Drake at 2 minutes, 25 seconds of Round I.

Daniecki's mother, Nancy, said she had "seen MMA on TV, but only for a few seconds," adding, "that's about all that I can watch." Daniecki's father, Ted, was "a little nervous, it being my own son."

But neither apparently had much to worry about Drake.

"Dave really controlled the pace, got two take-downs, was working some ground-and-pound," said matchmaker Bryan Hamper. "He transitioned well from the north-south choke to a D'arce to finish."

But Daniecki's second fight, on Shogun Fights II, did not go as well. While Daniecki seemed in control for two rounds, a hard-striking, swift-fisted Gemaiyale Adkins severely punished him in the third, leaving Daniecki's face mired in crimson.

"I took him down, got him with a couple of head kicks. He definitely out-struck me, I'll give him that. He was a good boxer. But I took him down every round, and sometimes, multiple times in the rounds," said Daniecki, who briefly left the pharmaceutical sales business only to return.

"I went for a couple of submissions, and I feel like I out-did him, but he out-boxed me, which got him the decision," said Daniecki. "Regardless, I learned a lot from the fight. And if I had to fight him again, I would do it differently."

Daniecki rebounded with November's unanimous decision over Elder Ramos at Shogun Fights III.

"I out-struck him, took him down and pounded him out basically every round," said Daniecki. "My cardio was good. Going the distance was a good fight to get back in there with."

Daniecki credits his improvement to Henry Smith, Ground Control's jujitsu coach.

"I'm trying to get more comfortable on my feet, working on muay thai, my stand up fighting and my boxing," said Daniecki. "Got my kicks down, I can mixed it up a little bit, I'm more adaptable to what happens. I'm trying to be a well-rounded fighter."

Sparring with Root has helped Daniecki to prepare for Belcarris, as has City College graduate Reese Ash, a former Baltimore City runner-up wrestler.

But Nancy Daniecki will not be in the stands on Saturday night.

"My parents watched the first one and they loved it, but they didn't like No. 2. They didn't see No. 3, even though they've asked me about it," said Daniecki.

"My dad and my uncles are coming to this one, so they're climbing back over the fence and warming back up to it," said Daniecki. "My mom, though, you know, I'm her baby, so she doesn't want to watch it. There will be no female Danieckis at Shogun IV."

SHOGUN FIGHTS IV

When: Saturday, April 30 at 7 p.m.

Where: 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore

What: MMA fight card featuring 11 scheduled fights

Tickets: For ticket information, go to ShogunFights.com.