Lacey's DeBlass Waiting for Big Break

There comes a point in the careers of many fighters where finding an opponent is difficult.

The ones you want to fight – the fighters with more experience – are leery. Then there are the ones looking to make a name for themselves.

“You get guys trying to build their record, some who’re just starting,” who want to beat you, “or you get the guy on the brink trying to protect their record,” said Tom DeBlass, the mixed martial arts champion from Lacey.

The result is struggling to find someone who will challenge your skills and make you a better fighter, while helping you achieve your goals.

For DeBlass, the goal now is making it to the UFC – the Ultimate Fighting Championship circuit.

“I’m really waiting to get picked up by the UFC,” he said. It’s requiring a great deal of patience.

So what’s a fighter to do? Keep scheduling matches, of course.

Easier said than done.

The 29-year-old, who added another Ring of Combat title to his belt in February when he beat Randy Smith for the heavyweight title at the Tropicana in Atlantic City, saw that when he was forced to bump up to heavyweight to find an opponent for that fight.

“My opponent pulled out at the last minute,” DeBlass said, a result of that fighter scheduling fights too close together. When the promoter asked him to face Smith, he agreed.

It was over in 41 seconds. You can see it here, in a YouTube video.

“I feel more confident with every fight,” he said. But that doesn’t mean his takes his abilities for granted. Traveling to Japan to watch his teammate, Frankie Edgar of Toms River, in a fight there reminded him of that, as Edgar lost on a judges’ decision to Benson Henderson in a UFC fight on Feb. 25.

“Nothing is promised, nothing is guaranteed,” DeBlass said. “Frankie went there the champ. To see Frankie lose the title, I think he got the short end of the stick, but he took it like a professional.”

It’s not a feeling DeBlass wants to experience.

“Losing is not something I ever plan to do,” he said. “It’s one thing if you lose a baseball game or a football game, but when you get beat up by another man in front of family and friends, it’s another thing.”

“I even feel bad for my opponents when I beat them,” he said. That was especially true with Smith, whom he forced to submit in 41 seconds.

That’s why he wants to move up to UFC – to face a level of competition that will force him to keep improving as a fighter.

“They have to fill slots with guys on contract,” he said, so he keeps busy in the meantime. A major expansion of his Forked River jiu-jitsu facility is well under way and will create a wider variety of offerings, including yoga, to be a place that meets the needs of a wider group of pupils.

“While students are training in jiu-jitsu, their families can go do strength training,” he said.

He is scheduled to fight Ryan Contaldi on April 27 in the fourth defense of his light heavyweight title in the Ring of Combat event at the Tropicana.

The evening’s card begins at 8:30 p.m. and DeBlass’ fight is the main event. Tickets, which are $60, are available at his school, Ocean County Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, or you can watch the fight live on www.gofightlive.com, he said.

“There aren’t many people you can put in front of me who I can’t beat,” he said. “I hope I get called for the UFC soon so I can prove that.”