ASU student excels in mixed martial arts
Augusta State has long been known for its student-athletes exhibiting excellence, but one student has extended that reputation to a new arena.
Specifically, the realm of mixed martial arts (MMA).
Jason Faglier, Jr., known as “The Nightmare” on the amateur MMA circuit, successfully defended his amateur bantamweight title in South Carolina in the Caged Chaos V – Vendetta on May 5. The rising ASU sophomore dropped Nichols Vecchione into a submission hold and sealed the win just 1:18 into the match with a rear naked choke hold.
“My walkout song is ‘Nightmare’ by Avenged Sevenfold, and someone made a joke that it was going to be a nightmare fighting me—it kind of spread around and stuck,” Faglier said, laughing at the story.
He improved to 7-0-0 in his MMA career in surprise fashion, entering the ring with a game plan to stay upright and trade blows, his strength.
“I love fighting standing up. But what ends up happening sometimes is I punch someone, and maybe they don’t expect me to hit so hard but they try to take me down, and it goes right into a choke (hold),” Faglier said.
He spoke to his opponent after the match, only to discover two things: Vecchione had been planning to fight in a standing position as well, but told Faglier that was “the hardest he had ever been hit.”
“I like to come in there, and right off the bat blast them so I can throw them off their game plan—I try to put them on the defensive and keep them off-balance,” Faglier said.
In the same night, younger brother Alex Faglier, who works as a custodian in Physical Plant, won to move to 3-0-0, keeping the brothers undefeated so far. Both are keeping with family tradition, as their father used to fight and now runs a martial arts school. Jason and Alex each were in their dad’s corner for his fights—“And now it’s his turn to be in our corners,” Faglier said.
Faglier said he plans to vacate his titles and fight for the Southeast Regional title soon, and he is eyeing turning professional within the next couple of years. His future plans also include enrolling in the physician’s assistant program.
