Jordan Watts is one of Skagit County’s top high school wrestlers.

He’s also shown potential in the up-and-coming sport of mixed martial arts.

“Fighting has my heart. It’s way more intense,” Watts, a Mount Vernon sophomore, said.

Watts has had only four mixed martial arts fights.

Because fighters are allowed only to fight opponents of similar weight and experience, coming up with matches can be difficult.

Watts’ first fight came more than a year ago, at the age of 14, against a 19-year-old.

“I was definitely nervous. I went in not knowing how I was going to react being in the first fight,” he said. “The first thing is, ‘Wow, OK, I got hit.’ Then it’s like, ‘I can get used to this.’”

He has fought — and won — three times since.

“MMA is an extreme sport, and as parents it’s pretty hard to watch our kid go out there,” said Dan Watts, Jordan’s father. “But that’s his passion, his dream.”

“It was more like his natural destination,” added his mother, Allyson Watts. “He just really caught on to wrestling and then just decided this is what he was going to do. We never felt like we really had an option.”

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High school athletes typically segue into mixed martial arts after their high school careers have ended.

Watts has a head start on many in the sport.

The 10-year wrestler had his interest in mixed martial arts piqued as he watched Ultimate Fighting Championship battles on television.

“He said, ‘I’m going to do that. I’m going to be a champion in that,’” his mother recalled. “Anything he can do to make that happen I guess is the bottom line. We just support him, because we’re his parents.”

Mixed martial arts allow fighters to use most fighting techniques.

Early on, the “anything goes” mentality allowed the sport to get so brutal it was banned in many places. Some rules have been added, but combatants still have fewer restrictions than in wrestling, boxing or most martial arts competitions.

“I wanted to get into it. I thought I’d be good,” Jordan Watts said. “I never thought I’d be able to take a punch until I actually started.”

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Watts practices several disciplines at Kalahi Martial Arts Academy in Burlington.

One day he might work on jiu jitsu, the next on general fighting conditioning, then follow up with muay thai kickboxing.

He works out evenings, after three-hour wrestling practices.

“It’s hard to do all the stuff and wrestling and schoolwork,” Watts said. “It’s pretty tough, but I keep my grades up.”

Watts began with jiu jitsu, a martial art developed in Japan in the 17th century that focuses more on throwing and immobilizing an opponent than striking. His background in wrestling provided him with a strong foundation — both rely heavily on balance and leverage.

“It helps me get into positions where I can do extra holds, locks and arm bars that are legal in wrestling,” Watts said. “They definitely help each other out.”

The lock techniques he learned in jiu jitsu have proven valuable in wrestling. Watts said he won his championship match of the Blaine Tournament earlier this season with a jiu jitsu lock his opponent could not escape.

The learning that goes on at Kalahi Martial Arts Academy often goes both ways. Coaches and other jiu jitsu fighters have asked Watts to teach them his wrestling technique.

The parallels between muay thai kickboxing and wrestling are less obvious, but balance, speed, recognition of an opponent’s movements, and conditioning are important in both sports.

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The common thread through both of Watts’ sports is the laser-like focus he has on his target. He seems to easily enter his own little world, with just himself and the other wrestler, the heavy bag or the coach.

“In the mat room he’s all business,” Mount Vernon wrestling coach Doug Nelson said. “He practices with a purpose, and that’s really hard to convey to kids. It’s obvious what his reason is. He hates to lose. He practices like a champion.”

A shoulder injury kept Watts out of wrestling’s postseason tournaments as a freshman, but he has been dominant as a sophomore.

His only loss this season came in double overtime. He is ranked eighth in the state among Class 3A competitors at 140 pounds by the Washington Wrestling Report.

Watts said he plans to keep focusing on both sports. The hope of a college scholarship makes wrestling attractive, but if that doesn’t happen there’s also the possibility of turning pro in MMA.

“I love fighting. I love wrestling,” Watts said. “I look forward to fighting a lot, because it’s a lot more intense. I’ve been wrestling for a long time. You get a lot of adrenaline going into a fight. It’s awesome.”