Adam Gentile
Strip club owner Adam Gentile began training in martial arts from a young age, and in his late 30’s he increasingly had the urge to actually compete in MMA.
Gentile, is a former stripe club bouncer who worked his way up to owning the famous Palomino Club in Las Vegas, and he took his love of training seriously enough that he built a gym in the warehouse next to the club.
Gentile certainly had the build of a fighter, standing 6ft 2″ and 260lbs, but his first amateur fight in the King Of The Cage promotion at 38-years-of-age didn’t go according to plan, having to verbally submit to punches in the third round after being overcome by exhaustion.
“A street fight — if it’s a long-ass fight — lasts 30 seconds,” Gentile told the ReviewJournal.com. “I’m extraordinarily good for 30 seconds. But I was not prepared for three minutes per round.”
However, he would come back better prepared next time and won his next three fights in a row by way of submission, including two von flue chokes, before hanging up his gloves at 40.
“I love the camaraderie and the competition and I’m so glad I did it, but I have to take into consideration that it’s exciting, but it’s also so hard on my loved ones. It’s just not fair to them.”
