Sacramento State creating Combat U Program

[Walt Kowalsky]

https://hornetsports.com/sports/2024/1/18/combatu.aspx

This forum tends to orbit around Penn State and hopeful dreams of D1 universities restarting programs but this is an interesting read. Sacramento State is creating a Combat U Program.  They are still working out the details but they will be collaborating with nearby Urijah Faber's Ultimate Fitness for instructors and programs.  The Sac State President (Luke Wood) is a young guy who trains at the gym and is always looking for new ways to drive enrollment and create a destination university. Sac State has a club wrestling program and the odds of a CSU restarting their team are on par with winning the lottery (although Humboldt State's program is on the horizon), but having a university president with a visible interest in combat sports is always a good thing.

[CHROMEBIRD]

Isn't there a club level college MMA league? IIRC, ASU and tOSU both had teams. I forget who else. I wonder if Sac State will join and compete with those schools.

It's interesting that the Athletics Dept is providing support and funding for the program. I'm conflicted about the idea of a possible NCAA MMA. Two sport athletes could be good for wrestling but if MMA blows up, I could see it siphoning a lot of money or NIL opportunities that might otherwise go towards mens and womens wrestling.

[OMW]

August Westley is a previous coach of the SacState (club) wrestling team.

[FanOfPurdueWrestling]

4 hours ago, Walt Kowalsky said:

https://hornetsports.com/sports/2024/1/18/combatu.aspx

This forum tends to orbit around Penn State and hopeful dreams of D1 universities restarting programs but this is an interesting read. Sacramento State is creating a Combat U Program.  They are still working out the details but they will be collaborating with nearby Urijah Faber's Ultimate Fitness for instructors and programs.  The Sac State President (Luke Wood) is a young guy who trains at the gym and is always looking for new ways to drive enrollment and create a destination university. Sac State has a club wrestling program and the odds of a CSU restarting their team are on par with winning the lottery (although Humboldt State's program is on the horizon), but having a university president with a visible interest in combat sports is always a good thing.

I didn’t know this about Cal Poly Humboldt, found this article! Any college program is a good add!

https://www.times-standard.com/2023/06/07/cal-poly-humboldt-to-add-wrestling-in-2024/amp/ 

[FanOfPurdueWrestling]

4 hours ago, Walt Kowalsky said:

https://hornetsports.com/sports/2024/1/18/combatu.aspx

This forum tends to orbit around Penn State and hopeful dreams of D1 universities restarting programs but this is an interesting read. Sacramento State is creating a Combat U Program.  They are still working out the details but they will be collaborating with nearby Urijah Faber's Ultimate Fitness for instructors and programs.  The Sac State President (Luke Wood) is a young guy who trains at the gym and is always looking for new ways to drive enrollment and create a destination university. Sac State has a club wrestling program and the odds of a CSU restarting their team are on par with winning the lottery (although Humboldt State's program is on the horizon), but having a university president with a visible interest in combat sports is always a good thing.

Reading the article they have wrestling coaches, they could easily add a wrestling team and let this combatU and wrestling team cohabitate one facility. 
 

PSU has created a pipeline to MMA, they could also do the same. 

[Ohio Elite]

Sounds like a good idea to me.

[Tripnsweep]

7 hours ago, CHROMEBIRD said:

Isn't there a club level college MMA league? IIRC, ASU and tOSU both had teams. I forget who else. I wonder if Sac State will join and compete with those schools.

It's interesting that the Athletics Dept is providing support and funding for the program. I'm conflicted about the idea of a possible NCAA MMA. Two sport athletes could be good for wrestling but if MMA blows up, I could see it siphoning a lot of money or NIL opportunities that might otherwise go towards mens and womens wrestling.

ASU had a longtime club run by a wrestling alumni who also placed at the Olympic trials a few times. But things happen and the club is no more. 

[AgaveMaria]

Do they have ROTC or military affiliation?

You want real combat sports/training - they are the ones who actually use it.

[CHROMEBIRD]

On 2/13/2024 at 5:22 PM, Tripnsweep said:

ASU had a longtime club run by a wrestling alumni who also placed at the Olympic trials a few times. But things happen and the club is no more. 

Was that the NUCA MMA club? It looks like the teams were

Arizona
ASU
GCU
OhioU
St. Peters
SUNY-Albany
UCF
UNF
West Chester
Western Illinois

But it sounds like the league shutdown during the pandemic and only announced plans to reestablish itself last August. The NUCA MMA website looks pretty bare, so who knows if it's still running.

[Tripnsweep]

8 hours ago, CHROMEBIRD said:

Was that the NUCA MMA club? It looks like the teams were

Arizona
ASU
GCU
OhioU
St. Peters
SUNY-Albany
UCF
UNF
West Chester
Western Illinois

But it sounds like the league shutdown during the pandemic and only announced plans to reestablish itself last August. The NUCA MMA website looks pretty bare, so who knows if it's still running.

They ceased being a club around 2019. Before the pandemic. There was an on campus MMA club run by a bunch of fanboys. Different people though.