247 Fighting Championships‘s upcoming inaugural eventSteeltown Throwdown will introduce many new faces to the Pittsburgh MMA scene. Several of the debuting fighters will be coming from New York, but the majority are from the Pittsburgh area. One of the debuting Pittsburgh fighters is is 22-year-old Alan Liu. Liu is an athlete of the highest level, and will be looking to make an impression on the hometown crowd in his first career fight.
Alan Liu Making Debut
Mixed Martial Arts Background
Mixed martial arts wasn’t an activity that Alan Liu was always able to participate in. Many fighters fall in love with martial arts due to wrestling or karate as a kid. That is not the case with Liu. “My combat background is in ping pong and violin, I guess,” Liu said when asked about his origins in the sport. “I wasn’t really allowed to do cool s–t growing up because of my restrictive parents,” he added.
Alan Liu had his first experience with MMA at the age of 13, though it was only a brief experience. “I did it for a couple of months when I was 13 until my parents yanked me out quick. So I was always a YouTube warrior and fan of the sport,” Liu said.
When Alan Liu got to college is when he really fulfilled the desire he had to train MMA. Like anyone with a passion for the sport should do, Liu took advantage of the University of Pittsburgh’s MMA club. “I found the MMA club at Pitt at 18 when I got to college. I met some fighters at my school and we’d meet up on our own time in the Pitt mat room and they’d beat me up and show me some stuff,” Liu said of his experiences at Pitt. As a beginner, Liu took his beatings and learned a lot about the sport in the process.
Training out of Stout Training in Pittsburgh, Liu describes himself as a striker. But, like any good fighter should, he realizes the importance of being well-rounded. “Let’s just say I’m 100% confident in my grappling,” Liu said, keeping it simple.
Photo courtesy of Alan Liu’s Instagram. @TheChineseDisappointment
“If you have a hole in your game, Alan will beat you.”
Ed Gallo is one of the best analysts we have to offer here at MMASucka. It just so happens that Gallo trained alongside Liu in the MMA club at the University of Pittsburgh. Gallo shared some first-hand knowledge of Liu’s skill-set, work ethic, and potential as a fighter.
“Alan is such a silly, self-deprecating guy, you’d never know how seriously he takes his craft or how hard he works,” Gallo said. “When he first came to the Panther MMA Club at Pitt, I saw him as an athletic guy who was still pretty green. He could outspeed and freeze up most of the club on the feet, but the more seasoned members could exploit some holes.”
Gallo continued to compliment Liu’s work ethic and dedication to becoming a well-rounded fighter. “I don’t think anyone showed up to practice more consistently or put in more work than Alan did. His ethic is freakish. As soon as I saw that, I knew he was going to surpass all of us. Sure enough, he turned into the most well-rounded martial artist I’ve seen among amateurs. Alan was always seeking out the best training partners; this was bound to happen.”
He doesn’t want to give away too much information on Liu, but Gallo is very excited for Liu’s debut and watching him develop as a fighter. “I don’t want to give away too much. Alan’s skill set is deep and it’ll be more fun to watch every aspect slowly emerge from fight to fight. If you have a hole in your game, Alan will beat you. I’m certain of that. Of course, Alan is a complete lunatic and I’m looking forward to his future interviews.” Clearly, along with the rest of the Pittsburgh area, Gallo is excited to see what’s in store for Alan Liu.
In a recent episode of the Couch Warrior Podcast, host Mike welcomed Charalampos Grigoriou, who recently won a contract during season 7 of Dana White's Contender Series after knocking out Cameron Smotherman one minute into the fight. The conversation delved into Grigoriou's martial arts journey, his feelings on representing Cyprus and Greece, and future plans.
