Nathan Stearns raises his arms in the octagon before his first professional MMA fight November 2, 2019, at the A.C. Brase Arena in Cape Girardeau.

Nathan Stearns, left, runs a striking exercise with fellow fighter Ghenadie Bitco Friday, Oct. 2, 2019, at Peak Performance in Cape Girardeau.

Sweat falls from the face of Nathan Stearns as he leads a training session Friday, Oct. 4, 2019, at Peak Performance in Cape Girardeau. Stearns said his work ethic –which some, including his mother, Kim, ascribe at least in part to Nathan's distinct stubbornness– is a key asset, especially considering his remove in Cape Girardeau from the type of resources available in more metropolitan areas where MMA enjoys a more robust following.

Last to leave the gym, Stearns takes the opportunity to put in a few extra rounds of bag work. To some —including his mother, Kim — Stearns’s defining character trait is stubbornness. He once ran away from home as a kid after being forbidden from visiting a friend’s new puppy. Kim has to call the cops to bring him home. But she said something changed when he found martial arts; her son’s fierce willfulness found a productive outlet and was gradually transformed into an equally fierce self-discipline. If a few extra rounds of cardio will move him closer to the pro career he desires, Stearns accepts it despite (and often because of) the difficulty. Before closing the gym for the night, he wrings the sweat out of his shirt onto the sidewalk.

Stearns uses a broken mop to clean the mats after his training partners left for the night after a training session Friday, Oct. 4, 2019, at Peak Performance in Cape Girardeau. Stearns said he feels at home in the self-discipline of martial arts, rather than the chaos and violence of fighting that entices some fighters. As the wall at the gym says, Stearns aspires to "train like a champion," or rather, like a professional.

His professional debut, he said, was the rare fight for which he didn't have to drastically cut or gain weight, Stearns said. By adhering to a moderate diet starting about a month and a half prior to the fight, Stearns said he hit his goal weight easily a few days before the fight. Here, he debates on whether to add greens to his post-workout apple and kombucha, which he drinks for the probiotics, Friday, Oct. 4, 2019, at Wal-Mart in Cape Girardeau.

It’s 2 a.m. To make it to his 4 a.m. shift at Hardee’s, Nathan Stearns starts early, stepping quietly from his parents’ porch onto the sidewalk to begin his morning routine: a 3.1-mile run across the border into Illinois and back. He cues up a YouTube video of a fighter he admires, one from Missouri, who talks about discipline and victory as Stearns shadowboxes under the streetlight to limber up in the quiet October chill. Just a few more weeks to go before his professional debut.

Stearns tears down a box while talking with coworkers Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019, at Hardee's in Cape Girardeau. Stearns said a big part of why he wants to go pro with MMA is because he expects his disposition is less suited to more conventional jobs. He said he finds a purpose in his pursuit of athletic excellence that he imagines would be difficult to live without.

Despite technically being a professional fighter, the realities of being an unsigned athlete on a small-market circuit means a good deal of the promotional gruntwork before the fight falls on Stearns's shoulders as well. Stearns hit the bars Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019, in Downtown Cape Girardeau for several hours, chatting up strangers and trying to sell tickets one by one, a process about which he was deeply uncomfortable. “I know it’s funny,” he said at one point, surveying a pool hall for possible fight fans to approach. “I’ll fight anyone but I’m not really comfortable approaching people like strangers.” The transaction seen here was his only sale of the night, though he persisted and in the weeks leading up to the fight sold enough tickets to make several hundred dollars through his cut of sales.

On fight night, Stearns steals a quiet moment on a nearby playground after getting his hands taped to watch the crowd gather outside the arena across the parking lot Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019, at the A.C. Brase Arena in Cape Girardeau. He said he wasn't nervous as much as he was relieved it was finally happening. "It's been a lot of work (to get here) but now whatever happens, you know, win or lose I just have to keep going."