Lewiston’s ‘Golden Boy’ returns to MMA

Long known as the valley’s “Golden Boy” of mixed martial arts, Austin Arnett has spent some time away from the spotlight.

The 33-year-old from Lewiston will be contesting his first professional fight in over two years when he faces Solo “The I.R.S. Man” Hatley Jr. in a 155-pound cage match to cap off a program presented by Front Street Fights beginning today at 6 p.m. Pacific in Boise’s Idaho Central Arena.

The undercard will feature another Lewiston-based fighter in Mark “Marky Mark” Coates (11-10), who takes on Thomas Prestriedge of Utah. The entire fight card is set to be broadcast live on the YouTube channel @FrontStreetFights.

In this corner

Arnett brings a professional record of 18-7 (7 KOs) to today’s bout. His career was at its height when he went on a 12-fight winning streak from 2014-17, but hit a slump thereafter with five losses in six outings over a two-and-a-half-year span. He bounced back with a pair of wins — the most recent coming via rear chokehold in the fourth round over Nathan Stolen for the Front Street Fights lightweight title on Aug. 6, 2022.

“I think it was one of my better performances,” Arnett said. “I feel like I kind of dominated the whole fight.”

Stylistically, Arnett described himself as “definitely a striker” in the ring.

“I like to keep it on the feet,” he said. “I like to go for the knockouts. I prefer to stay on the feet striking, and I want to knock people out. If the fight does go to the ground or I feel like he has a weakness there I want to take advantage of, I feel great in that area of the sport as well.”

In the opposite corner, the 28-year-old Hatley holds a 12-8-1 professional ledger. Based out of Little Rock, Ark., he is stoutly built at 5-foot-6 in contrast to Arnett’s rangy 6-foot frame. He last competed in a draw against Zach “The Ripper” DiSabatino on Sept. 14.

As of Thursday evening, Arnett was favored to win with 86% of the vote by users of the fan site tapology.com.

A lifelong passion

In accounting for his absence, Arnett said life has had him “pulled in a lot of different directions” — among them, training up-and-coming fighters as he runs the Lewiston-based Martial Arts America dojo founded in 1982 by his father Frank Arnett, who passed away in 2020.

“I grew up in it, training and teaching, and it’s been a passion and love of mine my entire life,” Austin Arnett said of the dojo. “I was kind of more focused on that for the last couple years, but everything has lined up well, and I’m excited to return and compete again.”

Having remaind immersed in the sport all along, he does not estimate that the hiatus from competition will impact his performance.

“I’m a well-rounded martial artist right now,” Arnett said. “I don’t have a lot of holes in my game; don’t have a lot of weaknesses. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve matured and found my groove, and I’m as good now as I’ve ever been.”

Arnett does not have firm long-term plans for his career after today’s contest.

“I’ve just got to take it fight-by-fight,” he said. “One fight at a time. I’ve just got to get this done, see what opportunities are out there and go from there. Whatever opportunities arise after this competition, we’ll take a look at them and decide what’s next after that.”

Wendt may be contacted at (208) 848-2268, or cwendt@lmtribune.com.