Local Chiropractor to Fight Pan-Am Champion in Regional Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Competition

| July 27, 2017


CLARION, Pa. (D9Sports) – By day Isaac Greeley spends his life helping people avoid or overcome pain as one of the Chiropractors at The Rehab Centre, which has five locations including one in Clarion.

But in his off hours, Greeley, a Roulette, Pa., native and a 1994 graduate of Port Allegany High School, lives a life that one might not expect from a chiropractor.

He helps run The Mat Factory, a wrestling, MMA and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu club in Lower Burrell outside of Pittsburgh while also doing some Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighting of his own and also dabbles as an assistant wrestling coach for powerhouse Burrell High School.

And Greeley has a big fight coming up July 28 Center Ice Arena in Delmont, Pa., when he takes part in the Fight to Win Pro 42 Pittsburgh.

“I got picked through an application process,” Greeley explained. “I was actually picked for a prior event in Cleveland, but I couldn’t do it because one of my MMA fighters, Dominic Mazzotta, had a Bellator fight the same day. So, I reapplied, and they picked me for the Pittsburgh card.”

Greeley, a black belt, gets a stiff test at Pro 42, which starts at 6 p.m. when he takes on Chris Bower, a fellow black belt out of Frederick, Md., who is a four-time Pan-American Games champion.

“He is definitely going to be a big test for me,” Greeley said. “I’m just looking to do my best, compete my best. It’s really at the stage of the game where I’m 41 and have competed my whole life. I definitely want to win, but I want to represent myself and push myself and get myself out of my comfort zone. That is sort of what my motto has always been in my coaching. Get yourself uncomfortable, and you grow from that. I’m really excited for the challenge and see what it brings. He is a world-level competitor.”

Greeley doesn’t fight as much as he might want to, this is only the second competition of the year for him.

“I’m just excited to get back on the mat,” Greeley said. “I’ve done some competitions. I usually like to compete at least once a year. That has always been my goal, and Jiu Jitsu has been a great way to continue to do it. I have competed this year already, but this is a big stage.”

Greeley, who went on the compete in college in wrestling at Pitt-Johnstown and is a member of that school’s athletic hall of fame as a member of the 1999 NCAA Division II National Championship team (he was also an All-American that year at 149 pounds), got started in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu after he finished chiropractic school and moved to Pittsburgh.

“I kind of fell into it,” Greeley said. “I started training with one of my friends who I have coached high school wrestling with at Burrell for 15 years now, Chris Como. We started training on the side with it. At the time, this was 2002, no one really knew what it was. I didn’t really have a great understanding of what it was either. But it was a great transition from wrestling. It’s a little less physical, a little bit more therapeutic for what I was doing. I was still doing a lot of wrestling, and it translated well. I fell in love with it and ended up getting my black belt in 2012. I have been having a lot of fun with it and really enjoy it. It’s just a great supplement to my training. It’s great therapy, and it’s a great break from all the external stress I get from work and family and everything else.”


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