Rob Sullivan
Back in 2010, one of the key members of Ruiner, the hardcore punk band from Baltimore, got married.
This can be trouble for a traveling band, and marriage did indeed draw that member away from the group. Ruiner, and its lead singer, Rob Sullivan, were already a little weary of life on the road after tours for six years that took them all over the world.
Years after beginning some jiu-jitsu training while not on the road, Sullivan suddenly had some normalcy in his life, without the traveling, promotion work and dealing with venue operators.
The Baltimore-area native who had been a good high school wrestler and carpenter when he needed the work, the son of a former cop who has a hard time slowing down himself, was calm.
It didn’t pan out.
“At the time I wanted to live normal for half a second,” Sullivan told MMAjunkie. “That lasted about a month.”
Then Sullivan needed to feed his desire to be involved in something, so he turned back to his martial arts training. He built a career that stands at 5-3 heading into his bout against Jon Vinyard (1-1) on Saturday at Shogun Fights 12 in Baltimore.
Fighting in his hometown, the 31-year-old who spent years touring around Europe, Asia and Australia will try to show the continued improvement of his training that had to progress quickly because he started his career while in his mid-to-late 20s. But as he has done with other parts of his life, Sullivan has thrown himself into it, using the personal and professional organization skills he learned touring with a band to enhance his fighting career.
It’s a fighting career whose record he hopes to soon see boost significantly. That can begin on Saturday.
“The idea (while in the band) was to be like a machine,” he said. “Go after it until you hate it. That’s how I do things, and that’s what I’m doing now.”
Touring the world
Sullivan grew up in a blue-collar area just outside of Baltimore called Essex. For many years its main employer was Bethlehem Steel, and the residents took on a tough attitude as a result.
He saw hard work at home. His father worked as a police officer before retiring and pursuing his interest in working as a carpenter. His mother was a school secretary who often worked long hours, as well.
“My father is a workaholic,” he said. “It’s the way I was raised. You can’t complain about how hard you have it, because he’s always been working harder. My mother’s the same way.”
He kept that attitude early in his teenage years when he found two interests that would stay with him: music and wrestling. He competed in high school, and he pursued his interest in music by joining a series of bands.
Sullivan took some of his singing ability from endless nights of going to karaoke events his parents hosted. They sang a strong “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” by Meatloaf, and Sullivan soaked in the environment.
In 2004, a group came together called Ruiner, and they spent the next six years going all over the world: throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, China, Japan, southeast Asia and Australia.
“It was a good way to lose a lot of weight,” Sullivan joked.
When he was home from tours, Sullivan worked in carpenter jobs to pass the time. He also started some jiu-jitsu training, and he enjoyed it (except for a stretch in 2008, when a bad fall off a stage forced him to take some time off).
Then, when Ruiner stopped its run in 2010, Sullivan needed to fill the open time.
Turning to fighting
When Sullivan started more of a normal life back home and began working a few jobs as a carpenter, he came to a stark realization.
“You know what sucks?” he said. “Working for someone else.”
So looking for something he could control, he turned back to his martial arts training. Wanting to get started quickly, he didn’t wait long before taking his first amateur fight, which he won in 13 seconds.
He traveled to train with different teams and coaches (he did always love the travel part of touring). He did only three amateur fights before turning pro, because he was on his second career and he didn’t want to wait any longer.
His pro career has been up and down, with a 2-1 start, then two straight losses, and now two straight wins heading into his Shogun Fights appearance on Saturday. What has surprised him most are the connections between touring and fighting.
“The grind is the same,” he said. “It’s the same how you have to represent yourself and push yourself. You deal with criticism, and you learn when to listen to yourself and when other people know best. There’s the PR, and the pushing and selling yourself. You need sponsors. You travel. It’s so similar in so many ways.”
And now he’s using all of those skills, as well as the intense focus he learned from both of his parents growing up, in a fighting career that might not have the most impressive record so far but that continues to show strong promise.
“I feel the technically best I’ve ever been,” he said. “Everything about it is getting better, because I’m learning. That’s what’s important.”
Catching up
In January, Felipe Efrain told us about his mother becoming his lucky charm in fighting after he was able to commit to training despite his family’s lack of money. After a busy 2014, during which he fought six times, Efrain improved to 8-1 this past weekend when he topped Alisson Lira in the first round at Thunder Fight 3.
In September 2013, Ozzy Dugulubgov told us about his motivation to meet the hard-fighting, warrior reputation of his heritage, as a Circassian (native Russians). He has lived up to that well, as he improved to 7-2 as a pro this past weekend by knocking out Lucas Montoya at WSOF 20. It was Dugulubgov’s fifth straight WSOF appearance, and he’s 4-1 in that stretch.
In December 2012, Will Brooks told us about his early rebellious streak that was rectified with starring roles on the wrestling and football teams and the support of a friend’s mother, whom he continues to call “Mamma J.” The Chicago native continued his seven-fight winning streak this past weekend when he beat Dave Jansen by unanimous decision to defend his lightweight title at Bellator 136. He’s now 16-1.
In November 2012, Steve Mocco told us about his move from the 2008 U.S. Olympic wrestling team (he was seventh at 120 kilograms) to coaching a college wrestling team to training at a nearby MMA gym. He has used those extensive wrestling skills well, improving to 5-1 this past weekend when he beat Juliano Coutinho by fight-round knockout at WSOF 20.
Award-winning newspaper reporter Kyle Nagel pens “Fight Path” each week. The column focuses on the circumstances that led fighters to a profession in MMA. Know a fighter with an interesting story? Email us at news [at] mmajunkie [dot] com.
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