MMA charity event to help fighter whose family lost home in fire at Christmas [Daily Press, Newport News, Va.]

Jan. 07--YORK -- The first time Michael Phillips and Giovanni Lemm met was in the Octagon, in a Mixed Martial Arts bout almost seven years ago in Virginia Beach. Phillips made his debut against Lemm, a regional champion, because neither one's opponent showed.

Both agree the fight was a great one for the almost two rounds it lasted. They spent much of that time throwing and landing haymakers, before the vastly more-experienced Lemm forced Phillips to submit by getting him in a choke-hold

"I knew I was in against a man on a mission," Lemm said.

Michael has since become an accomplished fighter, winning 23 of his next 27 amateur matches, then seven of his first nine professional MMA fights. He's become good friends with Lemm, who retired from competition to co-promote some of the best attended MMA cards in Hampton Roads.

"A lot of people don't understand this, but I'm that way with a lot of people that I fight," Michael said of their friendship. "When you both train hard, both give it all you have and put on a really good fight, you earn a lot of respect for the other guy.

"That's the way it was with Giovanni and I."

Michael's friends in the MMA community, Lemm among them, have rallied to his aid after his Virginia Beach townhouse was destroyed by an electrical fire Christmas night. Lemm and Nick White will promote a charity fight card at their gym in Yorktown -- Modern American Mixed Martial Arts -- from noon to 4 p.m. on Jan. 14 to raise money for Michael, his wife Jennifer and 11-month-old son Tristan.

Lemm labels the event "Fight For The Phillips: Rebuilding Their Lives." That is an apt moniker because the Phillips lost virtually all of their possessions in the fire, which started with an electrical wiring failure in the ground-floor outlet where the Christmas tree lights were plugged in.

Michael, Jennifer and Tristan were sleeping in the same king-sized bed upstairs in the three-bedroom townhome they own when Michael awoke at 2 a.m. The smell of smoke and the crackling of the fire brought Michael out of his slumber, and Jennifer is glad it did.

"He saved our lives, because I'd have slept right through it," said Jennifer, an aviation mechanic with the Navy.

The family was nearly killed. When Michael opened the bedroom door, the room filled with black smoke. Escaping through the bottom floor was not an option, because Michael could see flames glowing at the bottom of the staircase.

So Michael and Jennifer -- Tristan in her arms, wrapped in a blanket to shield him from the smoke -- moved quickly to a bedroom on their right. The plan was to exit through the window onto a small roof 10 feet off the ground in the back of the house. Michael would then step down onto the top of a fence 8 feet off of the ground and onto an air conditioning unit 4 feet high.

But the window in that room was locked and the onrush of smoke prevented Michael from finding the lock. Choking on the smoke, they ran to the other unoccupied bedroom, where they executed the plan -- with Jennifer handing Tristan down to Mike on the air conditioning unit.

Because they had padlocked the gate behind their patio from the outside, Michael, now holding Tristan, and Jennifer had to climb over the 8-foot high fence to escape the fire. When they ran to the front of the house, they saw the enormous flames that had since engulfed the top floor, melting the vinyl siding and cracking the windows.

"Sure, we were happy to be alive but it was depressing watching every possession you own get destroyed," said Michael, a Naval reservist two classes shy of earning his bachelors degree in aviation mechanics.

Jennifer was more concerned about her cat, Jadis, whom she could hear wailing in the house. When a firefighter carried Jadis out in a blanket, alive, the piles of charred clothing, burnt furniture and destroyed electronics littering the lawn hardly mattered.

"I was like, 'Oh my God! Oh my God!' " she said, recalling her joy. "I started crying."

The inconveniences resulting from the fire have been many for the Phillips, who lost their IDs, credit cards and personal records in the fire. They have lived in motels since Christmas, but will move into rental home on Monday.

Insurance will cover most of the renovation to the townhouse, although the Phillips will have to take out a second mortgage cover some of the costs. In the meantime, friends, especially those in the Mixed Martial Arts community, have come to their aid.

Dennis Aguirre, owner of the Chesapeake-based Team Aguirre Academy where Michael trains, quickly mobilized an effort to secure everyday necessities for the family. Michael says there have been so many donations of clothing and goods they had to be placed in a storage unit. He plans to share some with other needy families in the area.

"People don't realize how much it means to get a bottle of shampoo or soap," Jennifer said. "The money we save on that, we can use for something else."

Janet Aguilar, a marketing contractor in the area, organized a silent auction on Facebook to raise money and promoted a fund-raising dinner held Saturday at a Virginia Beach restaurant. Lemm put together the charity fight card, which will include fighters from MAMMA's Boys, Team Aguirre, Hybrid Academy of Virginia Beach and other area gyms.

"With all the fight schools involved, we believe we'll have an unending day of fights," Lemm said.

Jennifer Phillips said that she did not understand how guys who pummeled one another in a cage could become friends afterward. And she admits she hasn't always been thrilled about the time Michael devoted to training.

Her opinion of the Mixed Martial Arts Community has changed in the wake of their generosity following the fire.

"I used to complain about his training so much," she said. "I won't do that anymore.

"I'm really grateful for them."

EPIC MMA FIGHT FOR THE PHILLIPS

WHAT: Charity fight card to help family of MMA fighter Michael Phillips, who lost their home in a fire Christmas night.

WHEN: Noon-4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 14.

WHERE: Modern American Mixed Martial Arts, 107 Production Dr., Yorktown.

TO FIGHT: Call Nick White at 757-342-3600.

FOR INFORMATION: Call Giovanni Lemm at 757-236-2546 or go to http://www.facebook.com/giovanni.lemm

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