Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact combat sport that allows striking and grappling, both standing and on the ground, using techniques from various combat sports and martial arts. It has limited state oversight — and has seen six deaths since 2007. It’s not professional wrestling — it’s for real!

Realizing I was way out of my league when arranging an interview with local MMA professional Cameron Chism, what I found was the antithesis of what I was expecting. Two months ago, Chism was victorious in his first professional MMA bout, and at 6’, 255 pounds, the 27-year-old looks the part. But as our conversation continued, it became apparent that the opponents he was overcoming came from both inside and outside the ring.

Chism was born in Louisiana. Both parents were in the military, so he bounced around a lot in his younger years. When he was seven, he moved to this area, attending grade school and later middle school at Roosevelt. The family moved to the Pocono area, where he graduated from Western Wayne High School and participated in track, football, and wrestling. His interest in MMA developed just after he graduated from high school. He was watching TV and became interested in Friday night fights.

He then re-located back to Williamsport and met Nick O’Brien.

“He was a fighter, and I asked him a lot of questions,” Chism explained. “I thought it was cool and wanted to try it. He brought me into the gym, and I began to train in earnest.

My first coaches were John Powell and Scott Diggs. I met a professional fighter named Lou Rumsey, who took me under his wing. He showed me how to become a professional fighter, but more importantly how to act like one and go about the day-to-day life as a professional.”

Undergoing a rigorous six-day-a-week strength & conditioning and sparring schedules, Chism used an amateur fight schedule to his advantage.

“Some people look at my amateur record (6-8) as not being too great. Number-wise, it was not great, but I was able to experience both the highs and the lows. Being an amateur is about gaining experience. I was at the top, and then the bottom, followed by the climb back up. I won three belts across two weight classes. I’ve been ranked in the top five or ten in every weight class I’ve ever fought. I’ve lost bouts and have had issues that came up that affected my training regimen. But, I took on all comers to gain as much experience as possible.

“I like to fight. This is who I am. I am a fighter. This is the result of what I’ve gone through in my life.”
What he has gone through in a whole other story.

As a youngster, he was sexually abused by a caregiver. As the abuse continued, he thought this was the way life was, thinking it was his fault, and he carried the guilt inside him. He developed anger towards his military mother, thinking she was saving the world but wasn’t there to save him. When he began his training as a fighter, he would experience childhood flashbacks.

“I believe the only reason I’m strong today is because I know what it’s like to be weak. The depression is a constant battle and has always been a part of me. Other people are going through these same types of things in their lives, and it is important they need to accept who they are. It is a different kind of fight, but it is not a one-on-one thing. You are fighting the strongest person on the planet – yourself. Never do it alone. Find people in your life that can help you.”

Chism’s fight is ongoing and a bit of a paradox. His ring name is the Dark Shark, in part because they are his favorite animal.

“My son suggested that name for me, and I liked it. Sharks can’t swim backward, and they take on everything head first. That fits because that is the way I like to do things!”

But it may seem unusual that the ‘Dark Shark’ enters the ring to a song from the Disney movie Lion King.

“My walk-up song is I just can’t wait to be king, from the movie. It has a line in the song that goes, “I’m going to be the main event.” That is exactly what I want to be,” Chism confidently said.

As for that first professional MMA fight, “Going into it, I felt really good and was super relaxed. But the pre-fight moments filled him with exploding emotions.

“That moment in the back just before the fight is an experience with so many emotions going thru your body. You experience this overwhelming anxiety. I’m scared. I’m very emotional. Sometimes I’ll cry and bawl with tears rolling down my face. I’m not scared of the person I will be fighting because I have prepared myself for this. Just like me, he is human.

“But inside your head, you torture yourself all the time. When you have issues like depression, anxiety, bipolar, there is not much another person can do to you when inside your head you unwillingly torture yourself all the time.”

Chism’s second MMA fight will take place in December, but like training itself, he is taking a day-to-day approach.

“I don’t like to look too far into the future. I want to focus on what is in front of me. It is easy to overlook what you can accomplish in the short-term.”

Indeed, this Dark Shark is always moving forward.