Thomas Solorio Is a Mixed Martial Artist, and He Wants You to Know It
Wichita's Thomas Solorio, 1-0 as a pro, talks about time, training at two gyms, and the grandfather who always had the pay-per-views on.
Thomas Solorio introduces himself plainly: a professional mixed martial artist. He fights out of Wichita, by way of Garden City, and he sits at 1-0 in professional MMA. In a September conversation with MMA Futures, he didn't spend much time on polish. He talked like a man who knows exactly who he is and how long he has to prove it.
Counting the Years
Solorio is direct about where he stands. He is not a teenager with a decade of runway ahead of him, and he doesn't pretend to be.
"Thirty, bro. I don't got a lot of time in the game."
There is no complaint in that line. It reads more like a reminder he keeps for himself. When a fighter knows the clock is running, every training session carries a little more weight, and Solorio talks like someone who has made peace with that and decided to use it.
His love of the sport runs back a long way. He told MMA Futures that his grandfather always had the pay-per-views on, and that those nights watching fights were part of how the sport got into him in the first place. That kind of start doesn't show up on a record, but it shows up in how a fighter talks about the game.
Two Gyms, One Discipline
Solorio splits his training between Laselva MMA and Press 5 Boxing Club. Spending time in a boxing room could lead some people to put a label on him. He is quick to correct that.
"I am not a boxer. I'm an MMA fighter."
He made the same point more than once in the conversation, telling MMA Futures that he is a mixed martial artist, full stop. The boxing work is a piece of the whole, not the whole thing. For fans trying to get a read on him, that is the clearest picture he gave: a fighter who sharpens his hands in one room and puts the complete package together in another.
You can find his full profile on the SynergyFC roster page.
Owning It
Plenty of fighters work hard to come across as humble. Solorio skipped that step. Early in the conversation, he offered a bit of self-assessment most people would keep to themselves.
"I'm vain."
He said it with a laugh, and it lands as honesty rather than ego. He knows he likes the spotlight, and he isn't going to dress that up. It is part of what makes him easy to listen to. There is no act to see through, because he hands you the act up front.
That self-awareness extends to the rest of his life, too. Solorio isn't a full-time athlete with nothing else on his plate. He told MMA Futures that one of his jobs is working at a bar, which puts him alongside a long line of regional fighters who fit training around shifts and still find the time to show up at the gym.
A Word for the People Watching
Asked to send something out to the fans, Solorio kept it short, in the same voice he used for everything else.
"Stay locked in, bro."
It is a fitting sign-off for a fighter who talks fast, means what he says, and knows exactly what he wants to be called. Wichita by way of Garden City, two gyms, a grandfather's pay-per-views, a bar shift, and a 1-0 professional record. Thomas Solorio is a mixed martial artist, and he would like you to remember the whole phrase.