Eastyn Clarke, who was born with autism, has been training at The Fight Farm for just over a year. Clarke continues to chase his dreams of being the best MMA fighter he can be while not letting his developmental disability get in the way of his goals. Taylor Weaver Meridian Source
Born and raised in the Border City, 21-year-old Eastyn Clarke wants to be like everyone else.
Born with autism, Clarke is setting an example for athletes by not letting his developmental disability hinder his goals of becoming the best MMA (mixed martial arts) fighter he can be.
Clarke took an interest in football at a young age and played at LCHS until he graduated in 2021. Football didn’t really work out for Clarke, which is when he switched gears to his first love, MMA.
“Before I found football, I found myself wanting to try all of these (MMA) moves I was seeing on TV … but I kept telling myself it was hard, it’s going to take too long, I wasn’t any good, so I set it aside for good … but it kinda just came back to me and I wanted to try it.”
Since stepping into The Fight Farm just over a year ago, coach and owner, Garrett Tepper, has been working with Clarke on his kickboxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA.
“When he first started he had no prior training and we could tell he fell in love with it instantly,” said Tepper, explaining Clarke dissects this differently and asks more questions than most other students.
“He’s been putting in the work and he’s already had some tournaments for kickboxing where he did amazing,” said Tepper.
“We always wonder if someone will rise to the occasion, the old fight or flight … he did better than I thought he would.
“He’s very respectful and he’s a fighter at heart.”
For Clarke, autism isn’t something he lets get in the way of his goals, but it’s also something he doesn’t much care to talk about.
“I’m not actually a fan of the term ‘autistic,’” he said. “When I hear that word it gives me a chill up my spine.”
It’s almost as if Clarke’s autism is his superpower once the gloves are on as he’s always pushing himself to be better.
“There’s two words in the gym that read ‘Be Better.’ Those words haunt me a bit because I want to be better (in everything in life) and I want to make sure I make it to the top, just like everybody else. I want to go to college, I want to get a degree and have something like this (MMA training) that I really want.
“I just want to be like everybody else.”
