NORWAY – Local mixed martial arts fighter Josh Corey will fight for the lightweight title this weekend at the Burlington (Vt.) Brawl VI.

After winning his MMA  match in Burlington this past July by defeating Jason Ingleston of Whitehall, N.Y., by submission, Corey is slated to fight Nick Massaro.

Coming from an extensive background of martial arts training and competition, Corey brings an explosive mix of martial arts skills to the ring. Starting his training in martial arts well before age 5 in Shaolin Kempo Karate, Corey spent his childhood training at Oxford Hills Karate with Instructor Mariel Geiger.

Being the son of the school’s instructor and growing up in a dojo introduced Corey to many opportunities in the martial arts world and many long hours of competition training. Having been in the ring for so many years, Cprey exhibits a natural aptitude for the MMA environment. After years of point competition as a child and introduction to full contact competition, he set his sights on the Mixed Martial Arts scene and began working his ground-fighting skills training in combat juijitsu with Josh Webb and Gabe Weigand of United Martial Arts Academy – Combat JiuJitsu and now judo with Scott Nichols of Xtreme Champions Judo Center.

Corey stepped into his first MMA match in April 2008 against Brazilian Juijitsu fighter Noah Wiseman, where it became clear he was at home in the ring. Corey displays an inherent advantage in his stand-up fighting game and now has matched that with his ground fighting skills, taking his last opponent out of the fight by submission.

Training partners Joe LaChance and Weigand will be seconding Corey as cornermen saturday night. Looking forward to a career in the MMA world, Josh’s future plans include stepping into the professional ring in the next year.

For more information and video, visit www.oxfordhillskarate.com.