AKO is proud to sponsor athletes of multiple diciplines that include wrestling, martial arts and boxing. This is known as Mixed Martial Arts or MMA to the fighting world. AKO carefully selects well-rounded fighters who not only shine in the cage or ring, but also in their community. Several of these fighters include athletes from Gold Medal Grappling, such as Elijah “The Hero" Harshbarger, Bryan "Bad News" Robey, and new comer and hopeful, Aidan McNulty.

Gold Medal Grappling is founded and run by Elijah Harshbarger. Elijah was a State and Nationally ranked Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestler for most of his life. He has also been a successful, BJJ, Sombo, NHB, and MMA fighter since 1998 under Master Lloyd Irvin.

Since founding Gold Medal Grappling Elijah has trained and coached multiple state and national ranked wrestlers and dozens of MMA champions. Including fighters for such organizations as: World Extreme Fighting, UWC and the UFC.

AKO is proud to sponsor these fighters and looks forward to seeing them move up in the ranks to achieve their goals.  

Wes "The Bad Boy" McFadden

We would like to welcome another MMA fighter to our AKO family,
Wes "The Bad Boy" McFadden. Wes is the next, up and coming, 155 lb amateur champion, hailing out of Michigan. We interviewed Wes to find out what his goals were as an MMA fighter, as well as his philosophy in life.

AKO: What gym do you fight out of and what is your style?

McFadden: I currently fight under New World Karate, based out of Frederic, Michigan. My style is wrestler/kickboxer.

AKO: How long have you been fighting?

McFadden: I've been fighting for a good solid year. It doesn't seem like it, but it's been a short year so far!

AKO: Were you a wrestler in high school? If not, what other sports did you play?

McFadden:  I wrestled four years in high school for Kalkaska High. I wasn't ever ranked, but I always held my own against some of the best in the state. I ended my wrestling career with a record of 86-40 and was a regional qualifier my senior year. I also ran cross country and track in school.

Read full interview >>

Bryan "Bad News" Robey

AKO welcomes another amateur champion to our team; Bryan "Bad News" Robey fighting at 130 lbs. We were able to catch up to Bryan with his busy training schedule and ask him a few questions.

AKO: What gym do you fight out of and what is your style?

Robey: I train at Gold Medal Grappling and am a kickboxing and MMA Instructor there, as well as at LA Boxing in Woodbridge, Virginia. My style is American Jiu-Jitsu.

AKO: How long have you been fighting?

Robey: I have been fighting my entire life; being that I was so small I was an easy target for bullies and fist fights growing up and knew then that fighting was something that was in my heart and didn't bother me. I have been formally training under Elijah Harshbarger of Gold Medal Grappling for 4 years and have had 21 fights.

San Diego Derby Dolls - Roller Derby!

AKO would like  to welcome the San Diego Derby Dolls (SDDD) to our family of "hard-hitting" sponsored athletes! As the name implies, the Derby Dolls are from San Diego, CA and AKO are their uniform sponsors for 2012. SDDD has four teams to include: The Wildfires (pictured below), The Swarm, Hard Corps and The Stripes. They are the nation's first hybrid league of both banked track (inclined surface) and flat track (on the ground) roller derby. The Derby Dolls mission statement is they are committed to achieving the highest level of competition, integrity and production quality while enriching the lives of their members and community through sport.

We at AKO thought Roller Derby and SDDD were a great match with our core mission of empowering young women and men and the "coolness factor" didn't hurt either! The sport has been around since the 1930's seeing its share of glory days. However, now it has taken on a life of its own to include truly athletic women dominating the tracks, far-out pseudo-names like "Brusin B. Anthony" and colorful uniforms to boot. SDDD also has a junior league called the "Junior Dollinquents" ages 8-17 tearing up the track.

If you are on the West Coast and want to catch some great action and fun, come out and see the Derby Dolls. All events can be purchased online and viewed at http://sd.derbydolls.com/events.