WATCH: One-Armed Military Veteran Turned MMA Fighter Secures Destructive KO

Joshua Rector, heavyweight amateur mixed martial artist, secured his maiden first-round finish in his career at a Fight Hard MMA event. What’s so interesting about Rector is that he fights with one arm.

The 32-year-old MMA protégé is a former US army soldier. He lost his left arm after an accident during his deployment in Iraq. Apparently, the Humvee on which Rector was a gunner accidentally ran on his arm.

Following the incident, Rector medically retired from the US military after his left forearm was amputated in 2014. However, this didn’t stop The Wrecking Ball from choosing a different career path.

Rector who has been training jiu-jitsu since 2009 turned towards MMA as an amateur. He recently defeated fellow heavyweight Colby Carter in the first round at a Fight Hard MMA event on June 18. This victory improved his amateur career 5-4.

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Joshua Rector on training MMA and fighting with one arm

The Wrecking Ball is defying all odds by moving forward in his MMA journey. While many would see Rector fighting with one arm as a disadvantage, the 32-year-old has a very different view.

While talking about his MMA journey with My MMA News, Rector said, “I started practicing Jiu-jitsu in 2009 but didn’t really start training to fight until 2011. One of my buddies from my unit, Miles McDonald, was an amateur cage fighter and after going to one of his fights, I found a gym to start training at full time.”

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“Everything I’ve trained, I have to learn my own way. It’s just like anything else. There’s a way to do it. No one wants to be the guy who got beat by a guy with one arm and nobody wants to be the guy who beat a guy with one arm,” Rector said about fighting with one arm.

Rector impressed fight fans by winning his first four amateur bouts via submission. Unfortunately, he also suffered four straight losses. However, he has now bounced back into the win column with a victory over Carter. After his impressive finish, it will interest fans to see how far Rector goes on his MMA journey.

What are your thoughts about Rector’s MMA career so far? What is your reaction to his first knockout victory? Let us know in the comments section below.