Any combat sports fan of a certain age in Ames, Iowa knows who Kyven Gadson is. Any wrestler in Ames, Iowa knows what Myriad Submission Fighting was. Introduce the two, add a flood and you’ve got yourself a vision of a powerhouse MMA gym.
“In 2022, I stepped away from Team USA Wrestling and was looking to keep myself active,” Gadson recalls. “I followed Jake [Bower’s] gym on socials, so I popped over to a class and started doing some rolling. From there me and [Bower] kept communicating, talking about things, then we started having conversations about me coaching wrestling then becoming partners, trying to build out the MMA gym.”
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Gym owner, Jiu jitsu specialist and mixed martial artist Jake Bower saw the pieces all coming together just as a flood leveled his gym, forcing him to rebuild from the ground up. The tragedy turned fresh start led to a rebirth and rebrand. Myriad Submission Fighting became Myriad Mixed Martial Arts Academy. Coaches went from almost solely Bower to Bower heading up grappling, Haris Variz handling the boxing, Luis Guillen Montenegro taking the lead on Muay Thai and Gadson coaching wrestling.
Kyven Gadson is out here at the NCAA’s trying to find out who’s got the sharpest shadow boxing skills in college wrestling!#NCAAWrestling@GadsonStrong pic.twitter.com/uH2DEKcK7E
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) March 21, 2024
Strapped with a who’s who of Midwestern combat specialists, Myriad Mixed Martial Arts Academy is all but off the ground and Gadson has plans of turning the gym into the premier destination for heavyweight fighters.
“Being a bigger body, myself, and having a lot of relationships around here with the Iowa State program, it was like, ‘Hey, how can we do something that can be super impactful?’” Gadson explained. “I’ve talked to a few different guys around the area, a football player that’s been coming in and another heavyweight that was a wrestling champion in Iowa. I definitely think we can make it a heavyweight factory, for sure, with the relationships and connections that we have.”
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With the first super gym in the sport residing in The Hawkeye State, Iowa hasn’t stopped producing fighters like Pat Miletich, Robbie Lawler and others, but the talent in the state has largely gone cold in recent years, and Bower feels that it’s only a matter of time before Myriad revives the pulse of the once thriving MMA scene.
Ladies and Gentlemen, live from the NCAA Nationals Kyven Gadson (@GadsonStrong) brings to you PART 2 of NCAA wrestlers shadow boxing!
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) March 22, 2024
(Stick around, ya might see a legend)#NCAAWrestling @NCAAWrestling pic.twitter.com/M5O7GI5cuF
“We actually have two more guys making their MMA debuts as amateurs next month, then two more guys in May making their amateur debut,” Bower said. “I would say most of our guys are going to be at that amateur level, but obviously through the next few years we expect these guys to rise through the rankings pretty quickly.”
Whether it’s wrestling, striking, fighting or grappling, keep an eye on Myriad Mixed Martial Arts Academy going forward.
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