ST. GEORGE - Kelby "Hooch" Lytle is thankful for mixed martial arts.

Without it, the time spent on the wrestling mat would have been for naught.

"There is nothing else for after wrestling," said the former Desert Hills wrestling standout. "There is no pro wrestling, and MMA is the perfect sport for all the wrestlers."

Lytle is set to make his MMA debut Saturday inside the Dixie Center at Crown Fighting Championships 5 against Patrick Bundy.

Before he knew MMA was going to be the global sport it has become, Lytle had interest in another combat sport - boxing.

So when he discovered mixed martial arts combined the two sports he liked, it was a natural fit and Lytle is excited to get into it at a young age.

"As soon as I heard about this sport, I wanted to do this," the 19-year-old fighter said. "We can get into it (at an earlier age) and be able to do (the sport) longer instead of older guys who do it when they hear about it."

CFC co-promoter and Lytle's trainer Aaron Reis is excited to see the young fighter get into the cage and test out his abilities.

Reis said Lytle's wrestling base is a great one to work with because Lytle understands some of the concepts needed to be a solid practitioner of jiu-jitsu, especially when Lytle is in top position.

That said, Lytle still has plenty to work on when it comes to grappling.

"He's definitely good at exploding out of bad positions," Reis said. "It's just a matter of tightening up his fundamentals to make sure he doesn't walk into unnecessary things."

There is also the case of getting punched in the face, which is something Lytle never had to worry about when he was wrestling.

Lytle is working on improving his striking ability, crediting his training partners for helping him get used to getting hit in the face.

"I'm getting better at it. I'm relaxing a more and I'm using my jab more," Lytle said.

There is one benefactor of being able to box with an opponent - it helps set up Lytle's takedowns.

"It's so much easier to get a takedown from striking instead of setting it up with wrestling," he said....

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