Chazz “The Hybrid” Walton is an up-and-coming MMA standout training at KnuckleUp Fitness. His current undefeated record of 3-0 speaks to his hard work and dedication. But just a few years ago, Walton was on a different path—one that ultimately led him back to his Christian faith and a fighting career that was fueled by it.
There was a time in his past when MMA prospect Chazz “The Hybrid” Walton was anything but the dedicated and focused human being who now lives for practice at KnuckleUp Fitness. In fact, he was on a path of self-destruction and destined for failure.
As a child growing up in Douglasville, GA, Walton, his mother and grandmother regularly attended the Douglasville First Baptist Church. “I was raised in a Christian household and it instilled those values in me,” says Walton.
In high school, however, things started to change. “You kind of get sucked away from anything your parents are telling you to do. You go the opposite way and that’s what I did for about three years of my life,” explains Walton.
“I was going down a path in my life that I wasn’t really proud of. I got involved in drugs really bad. I was doing drugs and selling them.”
Walton found himself addicted to Xanax, a Benzodiazipine intended to treat anxiety. “It just gives you like a euphoric, really relaxed feeling, but I can also make you a completely different person. When you’re on it, you don’t seem to care about anything and I started caring about things and noticing things that I didn’t like in my life. I started seeing some clarity. My partner at the time, she wasn’t on the same page as me so we ended up splitting up. I started going back to church more often after that.”
Discussing the changes that were taking place within him, Walton states, “I was hanging out with really bad people and one day I just got sick of it. I felt like I had been lost for a really long time.”
With new-found courage and conviction, Walton was able to refocus and reconnect to his faith and church family at West Ridge Church. “I kind of just came back to it. I started praying and going to church again, kind of going through the motions.”
Once he reconnected to his faith, Walton started thinking about his future away from drugs. “I started training around the same time that I quit taking and selling drugs. I figured my whole life was upside down and I should probably join the military so I started training to get ready for that. I figured there weren’t too many other things you could do to prepare yourself for boot camp.”
Today “The Hybrid” is laser-focused on his mixed martial arts career and is a clear standout at KnuckleUp Fitness as a highly dedicated member and fighter with an undefeated record and is one of the fastest rising stars in the South East.
Walton says it’s his faith that keeps him humble and that the good Lord helps him to continue to push his body and mind and protect himself and his opponents inside the cage. He is also thankful for the physical gifts he’s been granted which allow him to fight in the first place.
