‘The Freight Train’ heads for San Diego heavyweight tournament

Cody “The Freight Train” East (8-1-0) has become the third fighter to be confirmed for the All-American ‘Heavyweight Qualification Tournament’ taking place at GLORY 21 SAN DIEGO on Friday, May 8.

The winner of the tournament will earn a spot in the next Heavyweight Contender Tournament, which carries as its main prize a shot at the GLORY World Heavyweight Championship.

East joins Xavier Vigney and Everett Sims in the ranks of fighters confirmed for the event, with one more yet to be announced.

He will face Sims in the semi-final stage of the tournament. The winner of their fight will then face the winner of the fight between Vigney and the final tournament entrant.

East brings a background in MMA and professional boxing to what will be his GLORY debut. As an MMA fighter he sports a 9-1 record with six stoppage wins by way of KO or TKO.

Under professional boxing rules he is 2-1, having made his debut in the sport in 2013 and scored stoppages in both of his wins.

Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he is trained by Mike Winkeljohn, best known as the striking coach to numerous UFC stars. His current stable includes light-heavyweight champion Jon ‘Bones’ Jones and Dutch heavyweight Alistair Overeem

Winkeljohn has made his name in MMA but his background is in the striking arts and he has held an ISKA world title and two Muay Thai titles.

By his own admission East was something of a teenage delinquent. He has used the martial arts as a means of achieving self-discipline and channeling the energies which once threatened to send him down the wrong path.

“I have my wife, my daughter, and another daughter on the way. I coach a high school wrestling team, trying to give back to the community. I go to juvenile detention centers and talk to the kids, ’cause a lot of people haven’t been there, and I have been there,” he told Albuquerque news outlet KRQE recently.

“You just need to fight through it, and if I can do it, they can do it.”

GLORY 21 SAN DIEGO takes place Friday May 8 at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California. The main event sees Artem ‘The Lion’ Levin defend the World Middleweight Championship against the winner of the GLORY 20 DUBAI Middleweight Contender Tournament.