Alfonso Leyva has big ambitions for the next chapter of his combat sports career.
The 28-year-old has decided to call it quits in his wrestling career after representing Mexico in the Olympics and international tournaments and is now targeting a spot on the UFC roster.
Leyva (5-0) wrestled for the Mexican national team this past summer at the Tokyo Olympics in the men’s 77 kilos (169 pounds) category. Leyva told MMA Junkie this would be his last wrestling competition as he’s now shifting his focus to his young MMA career.
“I think that’s in my past. I retired due to the lack of support (in wrestling),” Leyva told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “I have a very good level for wrestling, but the truth is that if you really want to grow in the sport, you need to be forming yourself with the European level. Despite not having that, all my matches were close and competitive. I’m respected on an international level, but I want something more.
“I saw that I wasn’t going to grow much more. I saw myself in the mirror with training partners who are 35, 36 years old, and I just didn’t want that for me. I know I can achieve other things, and I like MMA a lot. I love it, it fascinates me. So I’m taking that route, and that’s how I ended up in MMA.”
Leyva started wrestling at age 13, representing his home state of Jalisco, and by 17 he was representing Mexico’s national team. He went to two Olympics – the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Leyva also won silver at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.
Leyva skipped the amateur process in MMA and began fighting professionally in 2020. He’s been very active as he’s fought five times in 14 months, racking up five TKO/knockout wins.
Leyva mainly has used his striking to get his way in MMA, and there’s a reason why his high-level wrestling has yet to be displayed in the cage.
“If you look, the Mexican fighters lack wrestling, but they have very good striking,” Leyva said. “So I thought, ‘Hey, I already have the wrestling. Now let’s implement the striking where Mexico is really strong.
“Since I’ve wrestled for the national team, the training center has the wrestlers and right next to them the boxers. So whenever I got out early from practice or had extra time, I would go and train with the boxer, and I would tell them to teach me and help me – and little by little, I learned.
“A lot of people look at me and think, ‘Oh, he’s a quick learner in the striking,’ but I think it’s this that many don’t know. When I was wrestling, I would also train boxing, and I think that’s the best decision I’ve ever made. If you look at my five fights, they’re all finishes, they’re all knockouts, and I haven’t even used my wrestling. I’ll use that whenever I need it.”
Leyva has been forging his MMA game at Entram Gym in Tijuana under the tutelage of Raul Arvizu – UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno’s coach. All of Leyva’s fights have been in Ultimate Warrior Challenge in Mexico.
Although he’s just a year in his MMA career, Leyva is already thinking big, and that means earning a spot in the UFC.
“I don’t think it’s crazy (to think about the UFC),” Leyva said. “I’ve seen fighters who are 5-0, 6-0 and are already getting an opportunity in Contender Series. Like I said, I think I’m an athlete with a curriculum that no other Mexican has. I have two Olympic games and multiple international medals. It wasn’t luck. I got here for a reason.
“I’m with Entram Gym, working on my striking and learning to adapt my wrestling, and I hope to do training camps in the U.S. next year. So why not? I think about it every day, and that’s an ambitious goal that I’ve set. At the end of next year, I will be in the UFC.”