SAN JOSE, Calif. – If Tywan Claxton ever gets sick of fighting, he has other options.
Claxton is one of 16 fighters who will enter the Bellator featherweight grand prix, which kicks off Saturday night at Bellator 226 from SAP Center.
On the evening’s main card, which streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie, Claxton (5-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) faces former title challenger Emmanuel Sanchez (18-4 MMA, 10-3 BMMA).
While Claxton has had a long-running love affair with fighting, it’s not his only passion. The 26-year-old is engrossed in coding. In college, Claxton wanted to pursue software development, but due to his wrestling obligations, he wasn’t able to switch majors. Instead, Claxton graduated with a degree in healthcare with a focus in marketing.
“Once I finished, I was like, ‘I’m going to teach myself how to code,'” Claxton told MMA Junkie on Thursday. “So, when I was in between training sessions at the Blackzilians, I would learn how to code. I’d read books, online courses, you name it.”
Recently, Claxton was presented with a potential opportunity to pursue coding through a friend of his who works for Google. Claxton received an open invitation to interview with the company whenever he deems appropriate.
“Right now, I’m doing my own thing,” Claxton said. “I’m building maps I want to build and learning. Eventually, who knows? I might eventually hang up the gloves and live a nerd life.
He laughed, “I think they might pay better than Bellator.”
If Claxton wins four straight tournament fights and wins the featherweight grand prix, he plans to spend the $1 million prize uniquely. “Air” plans to venture further into his passions by opening up MMA gym/coding classroom hybrids.
“Basically what I want to do is open up a couple of chains of gyms,” Claxton said. “Half of the gym will be a martial arts studio. The other half will be a coding academy. Everybody can’t fight. Not everybody has that anger or that aggression. It’d be cool. That’s the end goal. That’s what I want to do.”
