Fire in the fighter

Published 12:01 am Tuesday, April 12, 2011

MONROE — Curtis Greiner proudly listed off his souvenirs from April 2.

He had a swollen black eye, a bloody lip, a bloody nose, some scrapes and a swollen foot. Various aches and pains chimed in the next day.

Greiner, a paramedic and firefighter with Snohomish County Fire District 3 in Monroe, won his first mixed martial arts fight that night at “Fight Night ‘Round XIV’ Combat at the Cabaret” at the Swinomish Casino.

His first fight also was his last, Greiner said.

His wife, worried about his safety, only let him have one.

“She felt bad that I’ve been training for all those years and never did a real fight,” he said.

He’s happy nonetheless. More than 30 Monroe firefighters, paramedics and their families cheered him on from the audience.

“As soon as I walked out, all you could hear was the crowd,” he said.

Greiner started training for the fight in January. He’d been kickboxing at C.T.E.T., a martial arts school in Monroe, for about seven years, he said. The school started adding jujitsu lessons a couple of years ago.

Shane Williams, C.T.E.T. owner and head instructor, joined Greiner inside the fighting cage during the breaks, along with grappling instructor Steve Cabana. They wiped the blood off Greiner between rounds, and gave him drinks of water and words of encouragement.

In 2006, Williams took Greiner to Thailand to train in the Muay Thai boxing, he said.

Greiner’s victory was a great day for the C.T.E.T. team, Williams said. The years of training paid off, but it was emotional to watch Greiner enter the ring.

“The guy’s got heart,” he said.

Greiner trained up to 12 times a week to get ready for the fight, mixing martial arts with lifting weights, running and swimming, he said.

He dropped 15 pounds to make weight, he said. It helped that a lot of crew members at the fire station were watching their nutrition for New Year’s resolutions.

The fight itself was harder than he ever imagined, he said. He won all three rounds but was dead tired afterward.

“(There) was nervous energy all day, but right when I came out to get in the ring with all the people yelling and the music, I just seemed to get into the zone and forget about everything,” he said.

Greiner celebrated his win by digging into a burger and fries after the fight, his first junk food in 2011.

He won’t be taking it easy, though. He’s already set his next fitness goal: climbing Mount Rainier next month.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com