MMA INK-orporated

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Keeping up with my archive of mma fighters and their tattoo journey brings me to Artenas "The Machine Gun" Young, I know him personally as Chico. His girlfriend at the time and I used to work the press box together. When word got out that I was writing an article on mma fighters and their tattoos, she threw his name in the hat. Chico is a very confident individual and extremely likable. At the time, he was putting in real work to see his career take off. I just think that his timing was off with how the sport was progressing. He started training with the world renown coach, Greg Jackson in Albuquerque, NM. Then he tried out for The Ultimate Fighter, but was told that his age would render him too difficult to market. That did not hold Artenas back, as he was cast on a generic TUF series called Fight Master: Bellator MMA on Spike TV where he was eliminated in the first round. During the course of all this, I would write up his bios and tackle other literary tasks on his behalf.

How did we get here?

Once I got in contact with Artenas and was drawn into his personality, he suggested that I go with him to the tattoo shop because he was getting an "BAD ASS" side body piece. I was given directions to Firebird Tattoo Studio at 930 S Mason road in Katy, TX. His artist was man by the name of Aaron Dale. When I got there, he described his piece as a reminder of what makes him a great striker. He was just coming out of a traditional Muay Thai training camp and felt that his recent win was due to the principles of the camp. Artenas decided to get a tat of a traditional Muay Thai boxer in his defensive stance. Personally, I thought the entire idea was tacky, but it isn't my tattoo.

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How the hell did this lame session go VIRAL?

Prior to our private session with Aaron Dale he had just tattooed another customer. During this session, an argument ensued between the 2 of them. Aaron began to video because of her erratic behavior. This is the footage that went viral.

We watched the video like 5 times before he decided to put it on YouTube. In 2 days it got more than 4 million views. The initial was taken down whens he threatened suit against Google, Inc. He was able to re-upload it later on with less personal information. Although i was apprehensive about attending this decision, i was glad that i did. I found anew friend in Aaron and created a memory with my boy Chico.