Fighters of New York: Ryan Castro

At one point in their life, everybody knew that one kid who was a total misfit. For Ryan Castro, an amateur MMA fighter from Patchogue, NY, that kid was him. “I was facing a few felony assault charges and I was pretty much getting worn out with my legal issues,” said Castro. This is the road that lead him to martial arts. He valued his freedom, and instead of letting out his inner issues in ways that could work against him, he decided to pursue a better option. “I was legally blind as a teenager,” said Castro. “I underwent chemo for a lot of years and the doctors told me I couldn’t do anything strenuous — so I basically got to the point where I told the doctors to go to hell and I’m going to do what I want to do.”

As a teenager, Castro experimented with boxing for several months, but didn’t feel fulfilled, so he switch over to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Although his training was halted for a few years, he eventually began taking control of training himself. While idolizing fighters such as Anderson Silva and Georges St.Pierre, Castro did his best to implement their style of fighting into his own. He practiced as frequently as possible by hitting the heavy bag at different gyms and studying fights. At the age of 21, Castro began to take his training seriously. In his eyes, it’s simple and feels naturally embedded within him. “It’s not something I have to do, it’s something I want to do,” said Castro. “A lot of people fight because they feel like it’s the only thing they have, for me it’s more so the only thing out there for me, keeping me in my sanity.”

Castro, who works full time and runs his own electric company called Zion Electric, says his MMA career not really about the fame and fortune as much as it is about having peace of mind, and he clearly will stop at nothing in order to achieve this result. “On the street and in the ring — I had a lot of underground/illegal fights before I had sanctioned fights,” said Castro. “I was the type of kid who would walk into a gym, see who they had and ask if I can spar.” This was imperative to the way he learned at East West MMA, a gym he represented in the past. He was friends with Rick Schaffer, who was an undefeated and up-and-coming amateur at the time. “I hit him up and said, ‘yo I want to spar you and I want to see where I’m at.’” He remembers going into the gym and getting out-classed and out-worked. This intrigued him, so he proceeded to sign up at the gym right away.

At the moment, he is fighting out of Militia Fight Academy, but also trains Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at the Marcelo Garcia Academy. “I’m basically just hopping around gym to gym learning as much as I can, taking in what I can,” said Castro. “I have a specific set of coaches now, though. Chris Lyons, who is one stripe away from his black belt under Marcelo, Jay Isaac, a striking coach at Militia, and my uncle who is a pastor of a church, he is my mental/spiritual coach…those will be the three in my corner.” However, this fight is a bit more sentimental since the head pastor of his church passed away several weeks ago. “I’m actually representing my church for this fight, I’m not representing a gym,” said Castro. “This one is really in memory of him.”

After bouncing back from his first loss, Castro says this camp has finally been a good one. With the help of his sponsors, Hit Music Global, a California based record label, Hummus, a nutritional food prep program, his barber shop King of Blades, and Live Fly, his t-shirt sponsor, he has the tools to get the job done. “I’ve got a very strong support system this time around,” said Castro. More than that, he’s got himself. “I’ve discovered that I have a level of intensity and dedication that’s really unmatched,” he explained. “I’m never the most technical, I’m never the strongest, I’m never the quickest or never really the best at anything, but the thing about me is the determination, the dedication and the ability to keep on pressing forward.” Castro is not a fan of being comfortable, and believes the only way to reach his full potential is to continue with that mindset.  “I’m growing each day and everyday I get a little bit more hungry, a little bit faster, and I’m starting to see that there are very few that have the will to keep on pressing forward like I do, and I think that has really been the definition of this camp,” said Castro. “Every day I learn something new and I’m taking a much more technical approach this fight camp and it’s not a matter of me learning new things, it’s a matter of me working on the things that are already there — so I feel like I’m going to implement things in this fight that people have never seen.”

Castro has always been familiar with being looked at as a villain. “I don’t know if it’s because of my physical appearance or the way I speak, but one thing is, I stay true to who I am and I’m not putting up an act or a facade. I’m one of those people where you either love me or hate me and either way my life goes on.” He told New York Fighting he has always had a target on his back and likes to imagine himself as a bird at times. “I like to view myself as an eagle — I fly high and I fly alone.” At other times, like in the cage, he crouches low and sees himself as a much more dangerous animal. “For me, I view myself as a predator — like a lion — and when I get down and I’m at a lower level and look at my opponent, I feel like I can see every hole in his game,” said Castro. “I don’t know, for me it’s one of those things where if I don’t get into that stance, I’m going to be pacing back and fourth, and I try to stay as calm and cool as I can.”

Like many fighters, Castro hopes to see his career in the hands of popular names like UFC, Bellator, and World Series of Fighting, but more than anything he desires to help those in need. “My vision and my dream is to have academies and be able to take people who are less fortunate in and the misfits, because I was a bit of a misfit myself,” said Castro. “I want to take the people that nobody wants; take the people that suffer from addiction or hardships or health issues.” He hopes his dream of chain of academies will serve as a healthy outlet for those in need, instead of resorting to dark addictions, such as violence and partying. “I’ve gotten lost in both of those things myself and it’s one of those things that when I was younger, I didn’t have the funds and I didn’t have the assets to get into a gym,” he explained. “I feel like if there was somebody out there who took me into consideration at a younger age, it might have changed my situation a little so that’s ultimately what I want to do.”

Ryan Castro will bring his 5-3 amateur MMA record into his fight with Paul Thimote (2-1) this Friday, September 9, 2016, at KTFO, for the Lightweight Title. The bout is featured as the main event, but he isn’t thinking too far into what lies ahead of him and says overthinking the situation can place a fighter in a bad position. However, that does not mean he isn’t thinking of his opponent at all. “What I’m expecting from Paul is his absolute best… I’m expecting him to try and knock me out at every given moment,” said Castro. “For him, it’s a rise up in competition. I have a lot more fights than he does, although he does have more martial arts experience than I do, and I think that he is going to be the one that has to rise to the occasion… but then again, if you look at him physically, he’s a little bit more built than I am, a little bit more physically intimidating I’d say.” Even though Castro believes he has what it takes to defeat his opponent, that doesn’t mean he is taking this bout lightly. “I fight the same way every time — I’m coming to win, I want to put him out and I’ll be looking for a finish, but I’m ready for a war,” said Castro. “I’m very excited for this one.”

Writer/Photos: Janah Campbell/The Fight Chick