The fighter looked down and took a deep breath before making his way to the cage. As he walked under the red lights towards his opponent, U2’s Sunday Bloody Sunday boomed from the sound-system. The room was full of cheers as the pastor walked up the steps into the cage.
“And in the red corner, Fighting out of CMC (Canadian Martial Arts Centre) in Lethbridge… Frank the Tank Allen!” called out the announcer as the room exploded with support for the first-time fighter.
A pastor by trade, Frank Allen, took up mixed martial arts at the age of 41 as a way to lose weight and get into better shape. For eight months he trained five days a week – starting at six in the morning he spent an hour each day doing MMA and fitness training. Since he started training, he lost 50 pounds, he said.
“When I talk about discipline I think it translates into every part of our lives, whether it’s our physical stuff, our spiritual life, all of it. Discipline is so critically important to our lives,” said Allen.
Among the crowd was Jason Allen, Frank’s brother, who came from Victoria, B.C to watch the match. After seeing a post on Facebook about Frank’s first cage fight, Jason decided he would surprise his brother with a visit.
“I don’t get excited about a lot of things, but the week leading up to coming in, I just couldn’t wait for the week to be done. I was super excited to see him… I haven’t seen him in, I’m going to guess, three or four years,” he said.
Jason said it was a great moment when he saw his brother fight in the cage. He was not surprised when Frank first told him he was training as a mixed martial artist.
“We’re very focus driven and have that fitness side. I know growing up he played football for a long time and that was a big drive in his life. Of course, he has the church and God, but the physical aspect of things, that is something for him to focus on and have goals to achieve which has been fantastic for him,” he said.
Frank has been a pastor for 15 years, currently he is at the Lethbridge Christian Tabernacle. He said, though some people are not fond of the idea of a pastor throwing punches, many people from his congregation were at Rumble in the Cage 62 on the weekend to support him.
“Your winner, by tap out, due to arm triangle, at 1:20 of the first round, Frank the Tank Allen!” The announcer called as the referee raised Allen’s arm in victory.
Sunday Bloody Sunday, along with cheering, filled the room as the pastor turned to his opponent, grabbed his hand and gave him a quick hug and pat on the back.
“I was blessed in how it went in the cage, but I feel like the fight was the really the seven months leading up to it. It was every day, trying to get up at 5:30 in the morning, to get to the gym to train and get ready. It feels like all that was the hard fight and I just got to have fun last night,” he said at his church service the morning after the fight.
He was met with congratulations as well as light-hearted jokes. One member of the church referred to him as the “pastor of disaster.”
The next Rumble in the Cage will be in April and Allen has not yet decided if he will continue fighting.
“Originally I got into the program using the fight as the goal to get in shape and I’ve lost some weight, but I still have some to go, so I’m thinking maybe I’ll take one more,” he said.