-Team EWKK
My name is Fernando Rivera. I am a pro MMA fighter. I was born and raised in Hartford, CT. Being raised in a tough city, from gangs to prison, I had a pretty up and down life.
I was introduced into Martial Arts at the age of seven. My dad thought that I would be okay on the streets if I knew how to kick ass. So, he put me into Tae Kwon Do. I did Tae Kwon Do for almost ten years. This made me a hell of a street fighter.
Throughout my youth I got involved with several other martial arts. I fell in love with anything that had to do with it. I did some Judo and Hapkido too.
When The Ultimate Fighting Championship came to the scene, I felt the sport was made for me. I had to get involved. As the years passed and my involvement with the street life caused me to do some prison time, I felt I needed to do something I knew I would be very comfortable doing. especially if I wanted to live to be a ripe old age.
A little over a year ago, I decided to move to Worcester, MA with my wife to make positive changes in my life. I got a job and enrolled in an American Kenpo Karate school up the street from my house owned and operated by my, now employer, instructor and best friend, Pat Fitzgerald. Being that I had extensive martial arts background, I ranked pretty fast.
While browsing the web, I came across an am league looking for fighters. Hell, I signed up. I then signed up for any and all that would accept applications. Soon after, a pro league out of the Boston, MA area, the WFL was the first to call me. When asked what team I belonged to, I gave my Karate’s school name East West Kenpo Karate. That was the birth of Team EWKK…
I won my first pro fight, and then it got fun. My second fight was to David Woodby. David was the victor in that battle. Since then, Dave and I became close friends and training partners. We then decided that we would join forces. Another force was created, Team EWKK - Hoodlum MMA Fighting Systems.
Unified as one team, our training hit a new level. With backgrounds in all levels of the martial arts field, we have become and will continue to be a force to be reckoned with.
