JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Walking into the arena, the announcer started screaming ‘Trey The Truth Waters.” He was the next fighter on the UFC card.
“It feels amazing,” Waters said. “It’s honestly a dream come true. It’s a blessing.”
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Growing up in Atlantic Beach, Waters dreamed of becoming a professional athlete. Instead of following the NFL or MLB route like so many athletes born and raised in Northeast Florida have done, Waters decided he wanted to become a professional fighter.
“When I was 17 I had some friends, my boys Colin and Seth,” Waters said. “They were already involved in MMA. We were like skipping school together, getting in trouble together. One day they invited me to the gym and I fell in love with it.”
Now 12 years later, Waters is a professional MMA fighter competing in the welterweight class of the UFC. He’s pretty good, too, with a 9-1 record (2-0 in the UFC). Like any professional fighter, Waters has a nickname that he embodies, “The Truth.’
“Jesus,” Waters said. “I feel like the spirit of truth I kind of embody it.”
Waters also gives back to the community he grew up in. He mentors incarcerated youth in a local detention center.
“When I was 15 I got into a fight,” Waters said. “Ended up spending two weeks in the detention center. The same one that I volunteer and mentor the kids. It’s just amazing. God does not waste anything. Everything comes full circle. Honestly that’s one of the things that I enjoy to do more than any other thing. The VERB Kind is actually the organization that I mentor for. VERB stands for Victory Everyday Restoring Belief. Us restoring belief for these kids. It’s beautiful. I did not have a mentor and that is a part of me stepping into this position now wanting to be something for the kids that I did not have.”
Each time Waters steps into the ring, he remembers the kids in the detention center as motivation for his fight.
“I think about them all the time,” Waters said. “They’re like one of my main focuses leading up to the fight and in the fight. They be on me so if I lose they’re going to let me feel it for sure.”
Waters continues to train in Jacksonville Beach while preparing for his next bout on the UFC circuit. His plan? To keep winning, while also championing troubled teens to become a success story just like The Truth.