Edwin Vera’s opponent for his debut, Daequan Overton, has an incredibly similar story to Edwin. Daequan was also born and raised in New York, except he was over on the other side of the state, in Buffalo, where he currently resides.

When he was 14 years old, Daequan move to Atlanta with his mom (Edwin moved to Atlanta as well). He returned to Buffalo in 2013. Daequan Overton was often discouraged in his upbringing, hearing and feeling that he wouldn’t amount to much of anything was a recurring thing.

It was while watching his uncle and cousin train at a boxing gym that really inspired Daequan to be led to MMA and to his current gym, WNY MMA & Fitness, which he got into about 18 months ago. He started training casually then, on a less serious schedule. As grueling as it was at first, Daequan started to see significant improvements after just a couple weeks. It was at that moment that Daequan Overton began to believe in himself and stop believing what he had been told so many times… that he wasn’t good enough or that he wouldn’t amount to much.

Daequan was still having difficulty making training a regular part of his schedule. At the same time, he was loving the sport and really desired to put his full effort into it. He expanded to taking BJJ about a year ago then his world was shaken.

His uncle, who he looked up to greatly, passed away of cancer. Several months later, Daequan Overton used the passion and ambition that his uncle had and directed it to MMA, wanting to see how good of a fighter he could become. He knew his uncle would stop at NOTHING to reach his goals, and now Daequan had the belief in himself and the motivation to give it everything he has.

This fight for Daequan is to see what kind of fighter he is, what kind of fighter he can be and to fulfill the promise he made to his uncle to keep at this dream of his with everything he has.

Buffalo MMA fans and the WNY MMA & Fitness family, come join us to see Daequan continue to reach for the stars, get your tickets now!