July 13 – When Drake Randall enters the cage at 7 p.m. today at the Northern Quest Resort and Casino near Spokane, he will do so with one other person by his side.
His niece, Bowy Drake Way, was born Thursday morning.
The Randall family member perhaps most excited about Bowy is his cousin, Drake’s 3-year-old daughter Huxley Randall.
“(Huxley is) my whole world,” Drake Randall said. “She’s pretty much the only reason I’m doing all this, so I get to spend all my days with her.”
Randall is a mixed martial artist and graduate of Lewiston High School and Lewis-Clark State.
He got his start in wrestling, becoming a two-time state runner-up and wrestling in college at Montana State University-Northern and Eastern Oregon, where he became an All-American his senior year in 2019.
He returned to Lewiston and became an electrician after graduating from Lewis-Clark State.
After the birth of his daughter, Randall decided to fulfill his dream of becoming an MMA fighter, with his eyes set on the UFC.
Randall contacted former UFC fighter Austin Arnett, also from Lewiston. After a professional career of his own, Arnett focused on running his late father’s martial arts school and training aspiring MMA fighters.
Austin’s father, Frank Arnett, opened Arnett’s Martial Arts America in 1982 in Lewiston Orchards.
“My dad did this for years,” Arnett said. “He was the head coach of our team. He made probably 15 fighters professional in MMA, and then he passed away in 2020, so when he passed away, it was kind of me taking over and taking that mantle away from him and continuing the legacy that he started here.”
Randall remembers the exact date he started training with Austin Arnett’s Team Execution: July 7, 2022.
In two years, Randall acquired a series of MMA skills, learning karate, boxing and more.
“If you saw him fighting that first week when he arrived and you saw him fighting today, you wouldn’t believe he’s the same person. So he’s made a lot of improvements in these two years, and it’s been kind of just the main focus is to make him a well-rounded martial artist,” Arnett said.
Randall has participated in two amateur fights and five professional fights in the last two years and enters today’s fight against Michael Kuehne undefeated (5-0 as a pro). The fight is part of the “Conquest of the Cage” event and will take place at 7 pm at the Pend Oreille Pavilion at Northern Quest.
He already has another fight scheduled for September 6th, when he will travel to Vancouver, Canada, for an event that will be broadcast on UFC Fight Pass, being his first fight to gain so much attention.
Arnett not only trains Randall but also acts as his manager by booking his fights.
“There are no guarantees in this sport,” Arnett said. “Every day you go to work, and to work, you get punched in the face and kicked in the leg, and you get knocked down and beaten. You have to do this over and over, every day, for years and years and years, there aren’t many people in the world who are willing to go through that to get to where you need to be. And so it’s just that routine – that routine of being in the gym every day and competing and doing well.
Randall said his wrestling experience equipped him with the mental toughness to pursue MMA.
“I feel like the hardest part of the sport is being mentally strong and believing in yourself,” Randall said. “You have no one else to trust except yourself. So if you want to be the best, you have to do whatever it takes to be the best.”
Randall said he learned a lot in training with Team Execution, from different fighting styles to technique to one of the most important lessons in the sport.
“Don’t make this not fun. We wouldn’t be doing this if we didn’t love it,” Randall said. “You’re already getting hit in the face and stuff like that. So you might as well make it fun while you’re at it.”
When he’s not working or training, Randall spends as much time as he can with his daughter. Sometimes Huxley even gets to watch his father train.
Drake Randall said Huxley will begin learning karate soon at Arnett’s school.
Wrestling was a constant in his childhood, whether against his brothers (Drake Randall has three older brothers and a sister) or in an organized venue.
The chance to continue fighting in MMA was always on his mind.
For today’s event, Randall will join three other members of Team Execution on the trip to Spokane: Melvin Joye, Zander Johnson and Darren Phillips.
Joye is a 20-year-old professional wrestler and Orofino High School graduate looking to remain undefeated. and Johnson and Phillips are two amateur graduates of Lewiston High School. Johnson wants to remain undefeated as Phillips makes his amateur debut.
Randall committed to MMA by fighting not only for the financial rewards that come with winning, but also for the extra time it gives him with his daughter and family, who live in Lewiston.
“That’s why I’m not leaving here. I’m doing all of this from Lewiston, Idaho,” Randall said. “It’s the best thing to have my whole family back here now.”
Blake Randall, Drake Randall’s father, said many family members attended each of Drake’s professional fights.
Blake Randall said he grew up playing team sports and also boxing. When his sons developed an interest in wrestling, he supported them. When Drake started MMA, he was excited for his son to pursue his goals.
“His mom, on the other hand, probably wasn’t as excited as I was and still hasn’t watched his fights. She goes to every fight, but she leaves before the fights start,” Blake Randall said.
The same can be said for today’s game in Spokane. Drake Randall’s father and mother will be there, along with most of his siblings, including his sister Demi Way, who on Thursday became mother to Bowy Drake Way.
“They are my number one supporters,” Drake Randall said. “I couldn’t do it without them.”
Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2268, staylor@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @Sam_C_Taylor.
