Middle school teacher moonlights as cage fighter

By Andy Laughlin, Village Life staff writer

[04.04.07] It’s hard to picture James Fanshier, a Serrano resident and middle school teacher, duking it out in a
steel cage in front of a thousand screaming spectators-unless of course you’ve seen him in action.

Fanshier fights for the Gladiator Challenge-a mixed martial arts association in the vein of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride.
The association holds fights around California at casinos and event centers, and is frequently

featured at Sacramento’s Memorial Auditorium. Fanshier’s professional record is 13-7.

He’s also a Physical Education teacher at Mitchell Middle School in Rancho Cordova. He lives in Serrano with
 his wife and two children and when he isn’t in the ring, usually wears a smile.

“I’m just living the dream,” he said. “I’ve been fighting for six years and I still get people I’ve
known forever saying ‘is that the stuff you do?’”

Mixed martial arts, commonly referred to as “MMA,” is a style of fighting that combines stand up (punching and kicking)
with ground (wrestling and grappling) skills. Opponents compete in an octagonal cage consisting of a canvas or
padded ring surrounded by rubber coated chain link fencing.
Wins are decided by points, knockouts, TKO (technical knockouts) or submission.

Fanshier’s teaching job has earned him the nickname “The Educator” on fighting bills.
He has backgrounds in both freestyle wrestling and San Shou-Chinese kickboxing.
He wrestled throughout high school and college before taking up kickboxing.
Fanshier competed as an amateur kickboxer for a number of years and fought at the
2003 World Championships as a member of the US Sanshou team.

His introduction to MMA came in 2001 while teaching at Mitchell Middle School in
Rancho Cordova. Fanshier had recently moved to El Dorado Hills from San Jose and
was getting acquainted with some of the students in his physical education class.
While he was discussing his kickboxing career with the class one of his students-a
7th grader named Hunter Worsham-told him he wasn’t impressed.

“This smart-mouthed kid with red hair says to me ‘Oh yeah Mr. Fanshier? Well my dad fights for the
UFC,’” Fanshier said. “He said his dad’s name was Cal Worsham,
so I looked him up and found out he was a great MMA fighter.”

Fanshier had Hunter give him his father’s contact information and the two met at Worsham’s Team X
 training camp in Rancho Cordova. Fanshier explained that he felt out of shape and was just interested
in having a place to “train and sweat some.” After seeing Fanshier’s wrestling and striking skills,
Worsham was convinced he would make a great fighter, so he invited Fanshier to join his team.
 Fanshier agreed to take a fight, which he won easily. “Twenty-one fights later, I’m still here,” he said.

Fanshier has since built an impressive history as a fighter.
With a 13-7 record, he’s held several titles and on March 24, was awarded the
Gladiator Challenge Fighter of the Year.

At 34, Fanshier realizes he has a limited amount of years left as a fighter, but he doesn’t
foresee hanging up his gloves any time soon. “I’m making too much money to hang it up,” he said, jokingly.

Fanshier is currently training for an April 14 fight at Konocti Vista Casino
against Ronald Jhun; a veteran fighter who’s fought several organizations, including the UFC.

“This is a big gatekeeper match that will determine whether
I’ll move on to the next level, so to speak,” Fanshier said.

For more information on James Fanshier, including sponsors, photos, a personal bio and upcoming fights, visit www.jamesfanshier.com.