MMA Gospel - Bringing Soul To Fighters.com

Fighters.com and MMA Gospel Radio are proud to announce a partnership that’ll bring you more of the best mixed martial arts content.

MMA Gospel Radio is rapidly emerging as the leader in MMA podcasts and the final word in all things MMA. From the UFC to shows near your hometown, MMA Gospel brings you up-to-the-minute news, rumors, live fighter interviews, fight results, and breakdowns of upcoming fights.

MMA Gospel Radio is hosted by Reverend Turk Vangel with co-hosts Drew Hall and Gary Friedman. Columnist Josh Turner also contributes editorials and opinions.

MMA Gospel Radio founder Reverend Turk Vangel started many years ago as a wrestler in junior high. This led him to the world of freestyle wrestling, which he loved due to the slams and the generally more aggressive style it presented.  He was lucky enough to compete in the AAU Junior Olympics, the Pan Am Games, and the freestyle nationals.  In 1993 he was introduced to the UFC with a video tape.  He watched everything he could get his hands on and became a fan of Royce Gracie (14-3-3) and “El Guapo” Bas Rutten (28-4-1) over the years.

Eventually, the Reverend began to train in mixed martial arts to get a better understanding of the sport. He began training at Beavercreek Martial Arts, a Jorge Gurgel (13-5) affiliate school under professional fighter Michael Patt (12-4). There Turk studied Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai.  His love for the ground game grew from there.

Reverend Turk would scour the Internet looking for MMA news and listen to podcasts until he decided that he needed to bring a show to the fans, something that was pure MMA and not comedy with some MMA thrown in to the show.  He started by doing small segments on Bengalsworld News Radio. This led to the birth of MMA Gospel Radio and the MMA Gospel Blog.  MMA Gospel Radio is now the top ranked MMA podcast online as voted on by the fans and the Reverend is looking to keep moving forward and giving the fans what they want.

Reverend Turk is married to a gorgeous wife, Mackenzie, and has a beautiful daughter named Lotus. When not covering mixed martial arts and interviewing fighters, he is a machinist and a welder that has worked for custom motorcycle companies such as Led Sled Customs and 138 Cycle Fabrication.  Now he spends his time working for the Air Force building prototypes for the Air Force Institute of Technology.  His loves, other than MMA, are his family, custom built bikes, and rat rods.

Drew has been an MMA fan since 2001 and has been training for a year-and-a-half in the arts of Judo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Muay Thai underneath Nathan Fitch (1-1) at Son of Siam.  He is going back to school for his broadcasting degree and has written articles on popular MMA websites. His favorite MMA fighter is “Mayhem” Jason Miller (22-5).

Gary Friedman began his combat sports writing career in college at State University of New York at Fredonia where he wrote a boxing column called “In the Ring with Gary Friedman.”   Gary is a lifelong boxing fan who has become a huge MMA fan.

After attending UFC 1 in 1993, columnist Josh Turner knew he was hooked on the sport and began following MMA fighters and promotions.  Turner began training in Muay Thai in February 1997. In 2000, Turner began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Turner has trained at gyms including Hybrid Academy and Linxx Academy.

Although MMA is his great passion, Josh’s proudest accomplishment is his family.  As a proud father, Josh enjoys spending time with his daughter and attending her sporting events.  Josh is also a successful business owner and does consulting work as a business development coordinator.

Welcome Reverend Turk Vangel, Drew Hall, Gary Friedman, and Josh Turner to Fighters.com:

Reverend Turk: turk@fighters.com
Drew: drew@fighters.com
Gary: gary@fighters.com
Josh: josh@fighters.com

And tune-in here at Fighters.com on Saturday, October 31 at 5:00 PM ET/2:00 PM PT for MMA Gospel’s debut as the official voice of Fighters.com.  MMA Gospel encourages listeners to call in to the show or join us in the live chat room at www.blogtalkradio.com/mmagospel.