Joey is owner of Lebanon Jiu-Jitsu in Lebanon, MO. In addition to being a gifted instructor, he is also an accomplished MMA fighter and jiu-jitsu practitioner and has won a number of titles. In jiu-jitsu he was: 2017 White Belt MO State Champion, 2018 Blue Belt MO State Champion Runner-Up, 2020 Purple Belt MO State Champion Runner-Up, and 2021 Expert No Gi NAGA World Champion.
Fuji Absolute Division
In MMA the list is even more extensive: WFC Strawweight Champion, Collision in the Cage Flyweight Champion, MFL Strawweight and Flyweight Champion, Caged on Campus Flyweight Champion, Capital Entertainment Flyweight Champion, Ron Garrison Promotions Flyweight Champion, and Title Quest Bantamweight Champion.
I first met Joey about ten or eleven years ago. He was one of many young guys at the Brazilian jiu-jitsu school where I’d just started training. While he was young, I actually thought he was a high schooler at the time, although he’d graduated a couple of years prior.
Three things stand out to me about Joey when I think back on those years. First was the time I was rolling, which is what we call sparring in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, with him, and before I knew it, I was, quite unfortunately, lying flat on the mat and Joey was sitting on top of my head choking me with his legs. Of course, as a good training partner, he stopped as soon as I tapped.
My second vivid memory of Joey was the day I walked through the gym door, I think it was a summer month, but all I know for sure is that it was definitely not late October or near Halloween, and one guy was wearing a ninja costume, not the kind that you would see in the movies, but the kind you get for little kids at Walmart. He looked like a nutcase, but then again, I have no room to talk. I’m pretty crazy myself and yes, it shows. All in black with the hood up, the long pants, and fabric covering his face so all I could see was his eyes, I didn’t even know who I was looking at until I asked other students who were taking it all in stride.
It is perhaps my third vivid memory of Joey from that year which stands out in my mind the most. By that time, I was usually the only woman on the mat. There had been a couple of women training when I started, but either because of a lack of interest in continuing or maybe it was from family or work obligations or possibly even for health reasons, usually, the other women weren’t there. This particular night, there were a large number of very young kids at the gym. What makes this so odd is that the gym didn’t teach children’s classes at that time. Only adults trained there, so walking into a room with a bunch of kids was quite unexpected. I felt like maybe it was “Mothers’ Evening Out” and everyone knew about it except me. That was fine. There was nothing I wanted to do more most evenings than train. This is when I found out that Joey was in fact a father. His toddler was on the side of the mat holding a favorite baby blanket. Class began as usual and we all started jogging around the mat to warm up. A couple of the other men where already carrying little people while running. As Joey made his second or third round, a little boy put his arms up, and without missing a step or slowing the pace of the jog, Joey scooped him up, blanket and all. The gym looked like an advertisement for fatherhood, the heart-warming kind, where you see tough guys being great dads. Most of the men looked like they’d just stepped off of a Viking longboat. They looked that tough, until you saw the baby blankets flying in the air as they warmed up while carrying their kids. Simply put, it was amazing.
Many things have changed over the last decade that I’ve known Joey, but his attention to his family and his love of martial arts has not. Following he talks to us about both.
Christina Williams: What prompted you to start MMA and when did you start? What training did you have before your first fight?
Joey Scanlan: I had an unorthodox start to MMA. I actually got into it because I was part of a fight club in school, and we got busted by the police. After that, I decided to find a legal way to continue fighting. Unfortunately, I still had no training. Got my butt kicked a lot before I showed up to the gym to try to beat up one of the instructors, and he beat the crap out of me.
CW: What was your first MMA fight like?
JS: My first fight, I was actually only 16, which you can’t get away with anymore. I fought a 38 year-old instructor. Beat me up worse than I've ever been beat up before. Ironically, my last fight was a former training partner of his that had a similar style as him. I used that as a scale to see how much improvement I've had since I started, since my first opponent has since retired.
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| Judo State Championship |
CW: You do BJJ, judo, and Muay Thai. When and why did you become interested in these and start training them?
JS: I honestly had zero interest in jiu-jitsu before I had come in to try to beat up the instructor I previously mentioned. I realized that day how effective, and necessary that it really was.
As for judo, I never wrestled. I wanted to add some sort of takedowns to my game, so I could stay clear of becoming a 'guard puller' that traditional jiu-jitsu created. My next option was judo. I absolutely hated the ruleset so I've looked at it as a personal challenge to create a version of judo that is well suited for the art of jiu-jitsu.
With Muay Thai, I've always loved striking. I've spent the least amount of time in that area but it's something I've always been interested in. I've tried out a few different striking martial arts, and for a real life scenario, Muay Thai proves to be the most well-rounded, and effective form I could find.
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| Kickboxing Match Against Tod Hecox in 2013 |
CW: Tell me about your first cage fight. (For those who are unfamiliar with the term “cage fight” it refers to a fenced-in octagonal mat in which MMA fighters compete.)
JS: My first fight, I had no training at all. The guy who I went against was an instructor of his gym and he beat the crap out of me. I was definitely overconfident, for whatever reason. I walked out to the song called “My Humps” by the Black-Eyed Peas, and I definitely made a fool of myself.
CW When did you go pro?
JS: I went pro in February of 2017.
CW: How did going pro come about and who was it with? For our readers who aren’t familiar with MMA, what exactly does that mean compared to what you had previously been doing?
JS: I actually didn't originally plan to go pro whenever I did. I had taken a fight for WFC (Walkout Fighting Championships) and I was their Strawweight Champion. I was planning to go up a weight division to fight for their Flyweight Belt, but the champion had gotten injured. That left me without a fight but they were looking for someone to fight as a pro at flyweight so I said, “why not?”
Professional is just a huge step up in competition. As an amateur, you fight for free. Once you go pro, you start getting paid, but there's a reason why. Most of the people you fight have been doing it for years, and they live around it. They built their life around fighting. You no longer get 'easy fights.'
CW: What do you do to prepare for a fight and how has that changed over time?
JS: There's a lot of preparation when getting ready for a fight. You really have to just dial everything back, and put 100% preparation focus into the fight itself. You have to be super selfish about it. Especially when preparing for a professional level. Before, I used to just jump in there. Now, I change what I eat, do a ton of cardio, and increase the amount of rounds that I do.
I realized as my family grew, that it wasn’t something that I could continue doing. My kids are a large reason why I decided to hang up the gloves. I was spreading myself too thin. I wasn't there for them the way they needed me to be, but I also wasn't putting enough focus into fight preparations. This actually caused me to get injured during my last two fight preparations. At a professional level, it just wouldn't suffice so I hung up my gloves and I solely focus on growing my jiu-jitsu school now.
CW: What prompted you to open your own gym? What do you like about it and what are the challenges you’ve faced?
JS: I opened up my gym at a hard time in my life. I went through a pretty nasty separation with my now ex-wife. At the time, I was the assistant instructor at my instructor's gym, but I was left alone at home raising five kids. I needed more financial stability so I had the opportunity to either open up my own gym, and take that risk, or go back to work on the weekends.
I decided to take the route of opening up my gym. It's definitely the best decision that I've ever made. I enjoyed doing things my way. I enjoy being able to build up a second family in the connections that the gym has brought me, and I enjoy being able to sit back, knowing that it's the environment that I created out of something negative in my life.
Joey Scanlan with His Family
CW: What age of kids are you trying to juggle childcare for while running this gym? What have been your biggest challenges in relation to balancing gym ownership and family life? How does that compare to balancing family life with other jobs that you’ve had?
JS: I recently just had a new baby who is a month old! Aside from that, I have a 13 year-old son, 10-year-old son, and an 8 year-old daughter! Balancing gym ownership and family life is definitely not an easy task. I'm always on the move but I definitely make it work, and I always make sure that I have time for both! There's definitely times where there’s more focus on one than on the other but that's just how life goes sometimes.
CW: You mentioned the gym being a second family. What has been the most surprising thing to you since you’ve opened your own gym, good or bad?
JS: I think the most surprising thing to me is how successful it has been in such a short period of time. I didn't really expect to have the success that I was having. My understanding, when I opened, was that I was going to be paying out of pocket for the first 5 years. That has not been the case and I've been super blessed to be in the community that I chose to be in.
CW: You said you don’t have any more fights in the future. How does your family feel about this?
JS: My last two fights, I did fight for the wrong reason. I fought because I needed money so my kids could have a good Christmas. When you are fighting for money, that's the time that you need to really step back and evaluate if it's something you really should be doing. There becomes a health risk at that point.
I decided it was best for me to just step back, and lay down the gloves for the time being at least. My family accepts this, they understand, and honestly, are way more comfortable with it.
CW: You said that money was not the right reason to do an MMA fight. What in your opinion is?
JS: The right reason, in my opinion, is to test yourself. To step out of your own comfort zone and show yourself what you are capable of. Fighting is a very selfish thing, and it has to be in order to be successful. As soon as you are in a spot where you can no longer be selfish about it, it's time to take a step back
CW: What advice would you like to give your younger self?
JS: If I had to go back and give my younger self advice, I would tell myself to get in the gym sooner. To take it more seriously. To get an earlier start in grappling by wrestling in school. When I was younger, I didn't expect this to be my job. If I would have known that, my younger self would have taken it way more seriously.
CW: Your fight name is “Scandalous” Joey Scanlan. Is there a story behind that? I mean obviously Scanlan is your last name. But who came up with a scandalous part? Is that an interesting story and if so, would you tell us the story please?
JS: It was created by James Gohagen in a comment section on Facebook. He jokingly said it as my fight name. JR Dawson, the matchmaker for an upcoming fight, saw it. He made a post about my fight and used it. It stuck ever since.
CW: Thanks so much for your time Joey! I hope Lebanon Jiu-Jitsu continues to grow more and more successful with each passing year. And I hope anyone reading who happens to pass through or move to the area takes the time to check it out!
