"The 25-year-old's focus is currently set on the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, which he will attempt to qualify for during Olympic Trials next April," to quote Bellator's statement posted at the USA Wrestling website TheMat.com. "Regardless of whether or not he does make the team, Fortune hopes to have his first heavyweight mixed martial arts contest in early 2016."
"Wrestling in the Olympics and representing the United States of America has always been a dream of mine," Fortune said. "Now that the dream is nearly a reality, I have taken the necessary steps to make sure I'm able to provide for myself going forward and there's no better place to do that than with (Bellator CEO) Scott Coker and Bellator MMA. I can't wait to show the heavyweight division what I can do inside the cage and I look forward to being one of the names that continues to propel Bellator MMA to the top of the mixed martial arts landscape."
Tyrell Fortune fell in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open to Zack Rey of Lehigh (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Fortune has been training with simultaneous goals of wrestling in Rio and launching his pro MMA career, spending time working out with Ed Ruth, three-time NCAA Division I champ for Penn State who is also pursuing a similar goal of making the 2016 U.S. Olympic freestyle team and launching his pro MMA career later that year, and getting mixed martial arts training with the Blackzilians in Florida.
Back in January 2014, MMA/wrestling writer Mike Riordan declared "Tyrell Fortune is MMA's next great heavyweight" in a detailed profile for MMA website BloodyElbow.com. After citing Fortune's high school and college mat successes, Riordan wrote, "Fortune's true area of expertise lies in the Olympic wrestling styles. Since high school, Fortune has won nearly every national age-group championship in both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. In 2008, he won a double Fargo championship, placing first in the USAW Junior National Championships in freestyle and Greco-Roman. Fortune placed first at the 2009 U.S. FILA Junior World Team Trials in two styles, competing at both Junior World Championships, and placing seventh in freestyle."
"In terms of specific techniques, Fortune has the mobility and versatility to successfully perform a wide variety of attacks, even at his large size ..." Riordan continued. "Unlike most big men, Fortune shoots quality double legs from open space. I hate to say something hackneyed, but he moves like a much smaller man." After providing a detailed analysis of Fortune's matches with Division I heavyweight champs Tony Nelson (Minnesota) and Zach Rey (Lehigh), Riordan wrote, "Stylistically, he is the blueprint for a successful wrestling to MMA conversion."
In concluding his extensive analysis of Fortune, Riordian wrote, "At his current rate of development, Fortune, if he continued wrestling, was not just one of the front runners for the 2016 Olympic team, but also a serious medal threat. Modern mixed martial arts has never received a commitment from a wrestler of this quality in such a vital part of his developmental life. Sweetening the pie, Fortune is a heavyweight, a division with a dearth of true athletes with elite skills."
"In the last few years we have welcomed a number of highly regarded wrestlers into the world of fighting, including multiple NCAA Division I champions and finalists, as well as four of the seven members of the United States 2008 Olympic Freestyle Wrestling Team. Let me say this clearly so as to eliminate any possible ambiguity: Fortune is a much bigger prospect than any of them. In fact, he has the highest MMA upside of any wrestler that has converted to the sport, ever. I fully expect him to establish himself as the best MMA heavyweight in the entire world within five years."
Fortune joins a growing roster of former college wrestlers who have entered -- or have declared their intentions to enter -- MMA. In addition to Ed Ruth -- who signed with Bellator this past May -- and Logan Storley, four-time University of Minnesota NCAA All-American who has his first pro MMA fight this weekend in South Dakota, other ex-collegians now fighting professionally include Chris Honeycutt (NCAA finalist for Edinboro), Paul Bradley (two-time All-American at University of Iowa), Bubba Jenkins (2011 NCAA titlist for Arizona State), and Lance Palmer (Ohio State four-time All-American).
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