Homegrown gladiator

Like countless teenagers before him, it didn’t take Daniel Moreno very long to begin feeling like life had passed him by after walking across the stage on graduation day.

“There was a void in my life,” the Culpeper native said. “My life was going nowhere, and, honestly, I hit rock bottom.”

Moreno — a 2003 graduate of Culpeper County High School — watched siblings and friends find their place in life, but never really found his. And that lost feeling manifested itself in ways the 25-year-old would rather forget.

“I started questioning why I was even here,” Moreno said. “I had a lot of anger issues, and I never thought I would find my niche.”

That all changed a little over a year ago. Moreno’s search came to an end when he joined Zamora Boxing Gym, and now he’s looking for his fifth career amateur mixed martial arts victory this weekend and preparing for a 155-pound title shot in his hometown.

“Daniel is really kind of like a sponge, he just wants to learn,” said Eric Zamora, owner and head trainer at Zamora Boxing Gym. “He came out and said this was something he wanted to try, and since then he has just developed and become something almost unreal.”

Back in action

Moreno will step into the cage for his sixth career bout Oct. 2 against Kevin “The Cave Man” Mendoza at the Liberty Center in Stafford as part of Barbarian Fight Club’s “Detonation.” The duo will fight at 170 pounds.

“He (Mendoza) is a guy we’ve wanted to fight for a long time,” said Moreno, referring to the Warrior MMA fight team. “I’m really looking for this fight to get me even more ready and pumped up. It’s almost like a blood lust.”

Less than a month later, Moreno will fight for the lightweight title when Warrior Fighting Championship — a new promotion started by Zamora — holds its first show in Culpeper on Oct. 23.

But Moreno knows he can ill afford to look past Mendoza.

Stiff competition

Mendoza enters the fight with a perfect 3-0 record, and Moreno (4-1) knows the fighter out of The Cave in Fredericksburg is probably his most dangerous opponent to date.

“He’s wild,” Moreno said. “His greatest asset may be that he’s unpredictable, but I don’t think he has ever really been hit. This may be the first guy I really get to stand and trade with.”

Three of Moreno’s victories have come via the ground game — two by submission and one with a ground and pound technical knockout. He is confident he can stand with Mendoza, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to let his opponent dictate that fight.

“He doesn’t know what a loss feels like,” Moreno said. “I know I can’t play around with this guy. He likes to showboat and drop his hands like Anderson Silva, but if I see that I’m throwing a straight punch at his chin.”

Moreno lost a three-round decision in his first career bout, and that memory is what motivates the 6 foot, 2 inch, 190-pounder to push himself to the limit every time he steps in the gym.

“I’m dedicated to never feeling like that again,” Moreno said. “That was a tough thing to deal with.”

Despite the loss, Zamora said Moreno has never really looked in trouble in any of his fights, and he’s confident his fighter will come away with a win this weekend.

“On fight day, Daniel is like a different guy,” Zamora said. “I expect nothing less than a win. All of our guys are developing and getting better to a point where it doesn’t matter who we put them in there with.”

Moreno has been enamored with martial arts since the first time he watched Bruce Lee in “Chinese Connection.” He tried Karate as a child, but never really took to it. The same can’t be said for MMA.

“In MMA, you can learn everything under one roof,” Moreno said. “It’s all combat tested. It’s real, you can use it in the street for self defense just as easily as you can in the cage.”

Training has been as cathartic for Moreno as it has been rewarding, and with every punch or takedown he feels a little more secure in his very own niche.

“Coming into the gym everyday is like going to college for me,” he said. “I learn something new everyday, and I’m going to take this as far as I can. I’m going to be the best.”