(This first-person article appeared in the September print edition of the Hendersonian.)
What’s often lost on fans of professional sports is just how good the athletes on the court or field—on in the cage—are. When compared with other high caliber athletes, some rise even higher to hall of fame status and some live out successful careers as journeymen or roll players.
It makes no matter their level in their leagues when comparing them to you or me, though. All of them—every single one of them—make us like fools on the court or on the field—or in a recent personal example—on the mat.
For about a year, I’d had it on my radar to visit Mayhem MMA and go through a workout, kind of a George Plimpton “Paper Lion” type of thing, a laugh at the middle-age guy trying to keep up with the kids.
And so this summer, I finally followed through.
It wasn’t pretty. t could have gone a lot worse.
In fact, it was only about a 20-minute workout—Mayhem owners Josh Stanley and Nate Maness were wise to keep it at that length. I’m sure they’ve witnessed other middle-agers coming into their gym chasing their glory days and have seen the results.
The first ten minutes involved a cardio circuit that included some weight work, kettlebells, foot drills, and more. The next bit was glove work, with me hitting on the punching mitts held by Maness.
The final piece, I “sparred” with Maness.
Actually, it wasn’t sparring. Maness is a UFC fighter. He’s in shape. He’s tough. He’s shredded.
What it ended up being is that I put on some gloves and Nate put on some gloves, and then the pro fighter toyed with me, like yarn with a cat.
That’s where I get the analogy that started off this piece. If it were a real scrap, Nate could have floored me in a second. Maybe less.
Even though Maness would have smashed my face were it a real fight, it was cool to get a firsthand account, though truncated, of the world of MMA fighting and take in just a bit of the skill level of the pro. I’ll be sure to always only say nice things about Nate.
Speaking of pros, both Maness and Stanley say they may have some fighters currently training at their gym who could get paid to step into the cage in the future. And beyond those that may be the future “real deal,” the gym, located at 1014 N. Green St., also caters to others who are training as fighters and more casual members who want to get in shape.
The name of the gym came from Maness’ fight nickname—Nate “Mayhem” Maness, and the gym was born from a gym where both Maness and Stanley had trained.
For years, they both trained at TAG MMA. It was associated with Trinity Assembly of God, a church in Morganfield, and when coach Brad Cummings said he was ready to get out of it, he gave his equipment and mats to them.
In November 2024, they first opened in a space on Barret Boulevard but quickly outgrew that gym and moved to the current location on Green Street in May 2025.
Stanley said the business has grown faster than what they expected, and he attributes that to fighting taught at Mayhem.
There are other gyms in the region that focus on a specific style of fighting, but Mayhem covers all the varied techniques that an MMA fighter might use—Brazilian jiu jitsu, wrestling, kickboxing and Muay Thai and any other form of martial art, all which can be used during an MMA match, Maness said.
Now, there are about 70 total members at the gym, with about 10-15 training specifically for fights. The coaches say they take a group to a match about once each month—to places like Louisville, Cincinnati and Bowling Green.
Maness has a 16-3 record in professional fighting. Some of those are UFC matches; he has also competed in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. Maness said an irregular heartbeat was detected before a Bare Knuckle Fighting match in April and he had to withdraw from that. He’s been cleared to fight again, but he’s still making up his mind if he’ll get back into the ring.
Meanwhile, Stanley currently has an 0-2 professional record after going 8-6 as an amateur. Stanley is prepping for another pro fight soon.
Those who want to join Mayhem can take a look at its membership page here.
