ORLANDO, Fla.-- “As strange as it might seem it’s almost relaxing,” said Richie De Bruno, an MMA athlete. 

 Mixed martial arts is therapy for Richie De Bruno. 

“It’s my one true love. It keeps me sane. It’s my outlet,” said De Bruno. 

De Bruno is a full time Law Enforcement Officer so with a busy schedule and a demanding job his time in the gym is an escape from the real world. 

“My mind is just focused on this one task compared to all of the other stresses at work that I am dealing with I am just working on getting better here,” said De Bruno. 

So when the coronavirus put a halt to De Bruno’s training, the Swat Team member was counting down the seconds until he could get back into the octagon. 

That moment is on the horizon because for the first time since March, Combat Night is bringing live MMA back to Orlando Saturday, July 25th. 

“We are getting back to work. Things are going to be okay. It might not be okay today, it might not be okay tomorrow but this is kind of the first step to making things okay again,” said Mitchell Chamale, the CEO and Co-Founder of Combat Night. 

Providing a sense of normalcy. 

“I don’t like the term new normal. I want to get back to normal. I want to get back to where we were four or five months ago. Thats really what this is about. This is about getting that first step back to normal,” said Chamale. 

While giving athletes a renewed purpose. 

“It’s nice to get back to working towards a goal or a dream that you have,” said De Bruno. 

So for De Bruno, it’s back to the bags and the cardio in an attempt to seize the moment but at the end of the night it’s more than just another fight. 

“One of the biggest aspects in martial arts is respect. When we train we don’t have animosity in our opponents and obviously we both want to win so we are going to do our best and try our hardest but win or lose we either win or we learn, we get better,” said De Bruno. 

For more information on Saturday’s fight visit https://www.combatnight.com/