When people in an office setting first notice Mike Stevens, one thing they might be drawn to is the black eye over his left eye.
No, that didn’t come from aggressive stapling or a bar fight, as some of his coworkers have assumed in the past.
Instead, the office worker at Thermal Fisher Scientific fights mixed martial arts in his free time.
The future father of two has fought in mixed martial arts for several years. His journey into mixed martial arts started when he was 17 with boxing. He has since fought in both kickboxing and Muay Thai events.
“I started boxing at like 17 years old because my grandfather fought, my great uncle is a pro fighter and then eventually … the wheels came on,” Stevens said. “… I started going to the gym and then one fight turns into two and then two turns into 20 and then you’re full blown in the lifestyle. So I’ve always been a fan. I’ve always had it in my family so I don’t think I had a choice either way.”
The Cambria native’s transition to kickboxing started in 2020 during COVID-19, when he gained a lot of weight and wanted to work out as a way to lose the weight. After working out for some time, his now coach Pat Soundara offered him a kickboxing fight, which was the start of his career.
The sport has helped him travel the globe, as in 2023, Stevens fought in Germany as part of Team USA in the kickboxing world championships. After his time fighting at the world championships, Stevens made the decision to become a professional fighter. When he thinks about what he enjoys about being a fighter, it is the fact that it keeps him and his family safe.
His first professional fight came on Oct. 11, 2024, when he fought Ron London with the match ending in a no-contest. It came after he first started fighting as an amateur in 2021. In his first amateur fight, he defeated Nace Bailey by unanimous decision.
In the ensuing five years since he first started fighting, he has improved leaps and bounds. In his first four kickboxing fights, he did not throw a single kick out of fear that he would break his leg and he was surviving solely on his boxing acumen. However, he has since put in hundreds of hours in the gym improving his game while getting plenty of cage time.
Over his time fighting as a professional, the welterweight has a 4-1 record with two wins by knockout. His next fight will be on June 27, when he takes on Dan Bunyan in North Tonawanda in a Muay Thai bout. While Stevens usually fights at 169 pounds, he is fighting this match at 175 pounds.
The decision to go up in weight was due to Stevens’ desire to get back into the octagon after having last fought on April 26 of this year.
In the lead-up to the fight, Stevens has been continuing his usual training camps of working in Niagara Falls, Buffalo and Cleveland. He has been paying particular attention to his gas tank.
“It’s been excellent. It’s nice out finally. So I’m not running with a Carhartt jacket on because it doesn’t matter the weather, I’m going to run and get my cardio in,” Stevens said. “… Training camp’s been beautiful, we went to Cleveland twice so far for the weekends to get some sparring out there, get some good with guys, some pros out there. I feel excellent, body’s healthy and ready to go.”
When he fights Bunyan, his parents will be in attendance to watch their son compete in the event. However, Stevens does not bring his son in case the worst does happen; he does want his son to see him get knocked out or badly injured.
Even after fighting for over a decade, there are still things that happen to him that have never happened before. In the lead-up to this fight, he received a message on Facebook from Bunyan telling Stevens that he would be knocked out. It was the first time in Stevens’ career that he was trash-talked by an opponent over social media.
In response, Stevens has a prediction of his own for how the fight is going to go.
“It’s not going to go the full three (rounds),” Stevens said. “I don’t see it at the end of the day, I don’t think he knew I had amateur Muay Thai experience. I think we’re gonna catch him with a knee and split him. I don’t see it going three. I think it doesn’t go past the second (round).”
As somebody who has been fighting for most of his life and has a family with a son on the way, he does have to worry about his brain health moving forward as he gets older. He is worried about the impacts of his fighting on his brain but he believes that his chances of getting CTE might be lowered by the fact that he does not drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes or use marijuana.
As a result of being 32 years old, he knows the time is ticking on his fighting career. He knows that he can not do it forever and he does not want to be somebody who fights until they physically can not fight anymore. In the meantime, he wants to reach the highest level of kickboxing promotions with K1 Supermax or Glory.
“I got a few more years,” Stevens said. “… But at the end of the day, if it ended tomorrow, I would be happy. I’ve done well with it, but I want to keep pushing the envelope and see where it goes. I’m fortunate enough … I invest in myself. I got a good job, (his wife)’s got a good job. We got a good lifestyle, but yeah, I think a few more years. … I like having my son Roman on my shorts. I enjoy the whole ride right now.”