The Academy Minnesota has always been a place to keep an eye on. Under the tutelage of Greg Nelson, we’ve seen plenty of fighters come through the ranks at major promotions. One guy who has been around for a lot of those fighters has been John Castaneda. The eight-fight UFC veteran started coming by a decade and a half ago and got to see the end of an era there.
“I first started training at The Academy, popping in and out in college was like 2011 through 2014,” Castaneda recalled. “During that time, I think it was kind of like the end of another era like that. There was a lot of guys like Nik Lentz, Jacob Volkmann, Sean Sherk were leaving – Rose Namajunas. They were kind of on their tail end of their career or moving locations.”
While it was cool to see the names that he saw there, it did create a tough time for Castaneda. After some of the larger names departed the gym, he was left with a bit of a void when it came to high-level sparring partners. Although that was rough at first, the gym is coming out the other side of that now.
“I almost like to think like, okay, everybody kind of graduated from that. I was like the lower classmen, and I was able to kind of climb the ranks with a lot of bodies for sure, but not a lot of high level people around me,” he said. “Not quite yet, but over the last few years – that’s evolved. Everybody’s getting better. The team is growing. People are coming to join up.”
Now he has a slew of guys who are high-level and much younger than him – all of which are keeping him on his toes. As a result, he’s enjoying the process and growing as much as ever.
“I got a roster full of guys who are anywhere from 135lbs to 155lbs that are at the highest levels,” he explained. “Those are the names that you mentioned, the Noah Gasho’s, the Cannon Swanson’s, the Tyree [Overton]s – there’s a lot of guys that are that I’m in the trenches with every single day. It’s awesome to go from like the young up-and-comer to now the old established vet and seeing these guys kind of work up those ranks now as well.”
He looks to use all that hard work with the up and comers to make a statement at UFC Winnipeg. He faces newcomer and Dana White’s Contender Series graduate Mark Vologdin in a matchup he believe favors him heavily.
“I’m going to be in his face. I’m going to push the pace. I’m going to break him,” he said. “I see either a TKO or a sub. I’m trying to get the job done inside the first three rounds.”
You can catch that bout with Vologdin on the prelims of UFC Winnipeg. That fight card begins at 5pm EST this Saturday and airs on Paramount+.
