A life of fierce competition: Alex Graffagnino is most alive when testing himself
It was a waking nightmare.
Alex Graffagnino, who grew up on Shelter Island and went to high school here, was entering an arena, the The Big E, in Springfield, Mass. It was March 2022, and his first Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) bout. Everything was wrong, he thought, difficult, a walk into the unknown.
“The promotion was very sketchy, so sketchy it no longer exists,” Mr. Graffagnino, now 31, said. “My opponent, who was much more experienced than me, missed weight by 10 pounds on the day of weigh-in, so I wasn’t sure if the fight was even going to happen.”
Another source of the anxiety and uncertainty he was feeling — shared with the MMA community — was the first death of an MMA fighter just a few nights before he was scheduled to fight.
For those unfamiliar with the popular sport, it’s a match between two opponents that combines boxing, wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, often fighting in an enclosed ring called “a cage,” requiring intense training and skill.
That night three years ago at his debut, Mr. Graffagnino was also, to put it mildly, nervous. “The nerves you feel as you’re making the walk to the cage are unlike anything you’ve felt before,” he said. “It feels like you’re in a movie, as you hear your walk-out music and the announcer reads your name. It’s more excited nerves than scared though, a bit of an anxious feeling to finally get to put your hard work over months to the test.”
Since then he’s fought at casinos, and smaller venues, even “in basements,” to learn the craft and hone his skills and technique.
Growing up, he said he was smaller than a lot of his friends on the Island, and there was always, as is usual among boys, a good amount of roughhousing, and so he had to be ready to hold his own. He also mentioned a particular Island quality that creates what he termed “a real pool of talent. Because the school is so small, every kid, boys and girls, played a sport, and some more than one. Everyone grabs a bat, a basketball, a soccer ball, and everyone plays. I’m realizing now that it’s not just sports, but the Island has a real pool of creative talent, in the arts and other things.”
Graduating from Shelter Island High School, Mr. Graffagnino went to SUNY Maritime College. After graduation, he worked on tugboats all up and down east coast waterways. But he soon found the life wasn’t for him.
“I felt really confined, which I really don’t like, and it’s a high stress job,” he said. He also noticed a number of his older shipmates “were really miserable.” Always passionate about sports and fitness, he was on his way to becoming an MMA fighter and running a gym to train athletes and the general public.
Following a girlfriend to Connecticut, he’s put down roots in the Nutmeg State. The relationship didn’t last, but his working life has flourished. He owns and manages Southpaw Athletics, which is a strength and conditioning gym in the same unit as his MMA gym, Heavy Hitters; both are still separate businesses in New Britain, Conn.
As an amateur, his record is three wins against three losses, but he’s peaking, winning his last two in the first rounds. And soon, he’ll be turning pro, where the real money is, eyeing a February or March date. He’ll become the second professional athlete calling the Island home. Growing up, he said, the house right behind his was where his boyhood friend Jay “Jake” Card III, the golfer on the pro circuit, lived.
“Is that cool?” Mr. Graffagnino said. “Two professional athletes from a little island?”
The two have remained in touch and see each other now and then, he said. He also keeps up with other Island friends.
The future is bright, he said, because of the decision to change his life and profession. “Ultimately what made MMA so attractive was the fact that I could not ‘talent’ my way through it. It’s just hard work and consistency that produces the results I desire,” Mr. Graffagnino said. “Being someone who likes to compete, it offers many facets to test me.”
