Nestled near the banks of the Prut river, Grozești is a location unassuming to most.
Situated in Iași County in the North-East of Romania, the remote village offers little noteworthy to garner outside familiarity.
Yet that is on the cusp of change.
On October 27th 2023, Grozești’s Daniel Frunza will become the first Romanian to headline an LFA event, when he competes against Haris Talundžić in the main-event of LFA 170 in Vail, Colorado.
Seldom seen unadorned by the Romanian tricolour, the ascension of Daniel Frunza has availed wider recognition of his cherished homeland to ever increasing audiences.
The long road from Grozești, however, has not been short of adversity.
This is the remarkable journey of the Romanian athlete inspired to chase an
American dream.
The Childhood Dream
In the early noughties, a young Daniel was captivated by a television broadcast of WWE.
Enamoured by the hustle of a bustling American metropolis decorated with towering buildings, Daniel believed what he witnessed was a work of fiction from a movie.
“I was seeing big cities, things that in my country doesn’t exist” Daniel admits.
Born and raised in the remote Romanian village of Grozești, such scenes were a far cry from the world Daniel knew.
“It’s a small village, maybe 600 people” Daniel explains. “It’s so poor – in the middle of the fields; the mountains are not too far away from us. It’s just right there, in the middle of nowhere. It’s just roads [with] no cement; no good roads. It’s only dirt roads. It’s just nothing. It’s nothing”.
Mesmerized by scenes depicting a vastly different way of life, Daniel yearned for a future in America.
“Since I was like 9 or 10, I was [thinking] ‘What the hell am I doing in this little village in the middle of nowhere?’” Daniel says. “I want to be part of that when I’m gonna grow up. Once I start to cultivate this dream, I was like ‘How can I get there?’”.
The Journey Begins
Upon the completion of High School, Daniel explored the options that could facilitate a move to the United States. Given the complexities associated with obtaining a working visa, he recognized that sport was his best route to America.
“Being Romanian, we have a culture very rich in combat athletes – in boxing, kickboxing, judo, wrestling” Daniel explains. “So I was like ‘What’s the sport that I can approach that will bring me there – to the US?’ So I choose MMA”.
Despite only training in mixed martial arts for six-to-seven months, Daniel quickly found success when he began competing as an amateur in Italy.
“I was like ‘Damn, I think I’m good at this fighting thing!’” Daniel laughs. “So I start going more and more, training harder and harder”.
With conducive momentum, Daniel transitioned to professional competition, making his professional debut March 19th 2016 in the Italian town of Sassuolo, at Kombat League: Italian Extreme 11. Matching up with experienced Italian Simone Tessari, Daniel lost the bout via
second-round submission. A sobering reality forced critical reflection, and an alteration of perspective. “After that first loss, it was horrible” Daniel laments. “That was my first real loss… that makes me rethink everything” Daniel admits. “These are professional athletes, so I start eliminating everybody from my life that was distracting me from this, [otherwise] I’m gonna get hurt; I’m gonna get injured really bad. So I need to focus on this either 100%, or that was it for me; no more America, no more big arena, nothing. It’s over”.
Hunger to Improve
In pursuit of bigger gyms, Daniel travelled throughout Italy to improve his training.
The fruits of his labour were swiftly recognized when he returned to professional competition on April 1st 2017.
In the Italian port city of Trieste, at Fight Net: Trieste in the Arena 2, Daniel defeated Moldovan Liviu Butuc to secure his first professional victory.
Just three weeks later, Daniel returned to competition again at Kombat League – the promotion for which he had made his professional debut. There,
he defeated Italian Angelo Marchesani di Spalatro.
Yet, despite back-to-back victories inside 21 days, Daniel recognized something was missing; a difference that separated him from the Italian
athletes he was surrounded by.
“The top guys in Italy – all of them – they were training outside [of Italy]” Daniel explains. “All of them were going to Thailand, or they were going to England, or they were going to Ireland… They were doing camps, and they were coming back after two or three months – but in those 2 or 3 months they were getting so much better than me. So I’m like ‘The hell am I doing here? I need to get the hell outta here. If I need to be competitive, again I need to evolve, I need to find some other place’. So, I chose South America”.
A New Continent
To further his MMA career, Daniel moved to Chile, as a friend was already based there.
“The MMA scene in Chile… is just savage” Daniel reveals. “Just full of savages. So I’m like I need to get among these guys – these poor guys. There’s no money, but they want to compete. The hunger is just insane… The pool is huge, and the level of competition is really savage. So this is the place I need to be”.
On May 5th 2018, Daniel made his Chilean debut in the capital city, Santiago, at Weichafe Cage Tournament 2. With victory over Chile’s Joans Lorca, he extended his professional record to 3-1.
48 weeks later, on April 6th 2019, Daniel competed in Santiago again, this time in the main-event of MMA Fighter 3. There, it took just 95 seconds to defeat his 5-1 opponent, Chilean Enzo Orellana.
“After [the] few years that I spent there and basically flattened the competition, now I got good” Daniel says. “Somehow, I end up on top of the food chain that was there”.
“Now I think I’m ready for the US scene”.
There and Back Again
In 2021, Daniel accomplished the dream that inspired his venture from Grozești; he had made it to the United States.
On September 17th 2021, he made his American debut at CES 64 in Hartford, Connecticut. However, competing on the main card against then 6-2 Gary Balletto Jr, Daniel suffered a submission loss.
“I came here [to America], trained for two months, fought, and lost” Daniel laments. “But that loss helped me to understand what’s the level here. So I was like ‘Okay, now I know what I need to do to stay with these guys’”.
Having endured strict COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in Chile prior to his US-debut, Daniel decided to return to Europe to visit his family after his loss at CES 64; it would be the first time in almost five years that he would see his family.
Reaching out to his old gym and former coaches whilst there, Daniel decided to compete once more during his time back in Europe.
On September 10th 2022, in the main-event of Superba Fight Night in the Italian town of Sestri Levante, Daniel defeated Brazilian-opponent Pedro Henrique Dias in the first-round, extending his professional record to 5-2.
Upon his return to the States, Daniel joined KO ZONE in Miami, Florida – the gym he remains with to this day. Immediate success followed on April 15th 2023, when he competed in America for the second time at K2S Combat 1, defeating then 4-1 Lindsey Jones.
What followed, however, elevated Daniel to the heights he had relentlessly pursued; an opportunity to compete in the co-main event of LFA 164.
“Out of nowhere. I was getting ready for – I think – CES in August, and my manager come to me and he’s like ‘How about you fight LFA?’” Daniel says. “Im like ‘What?! Yes!’. [Then] they told me it’s gonna be a co-main event against Jalin Fuller, [who] was I think top 5 in that division. I’m like ‘Are you kidding me?’”.
The LFA Heights
Ecstatic for what was – at the time – the biggest opportunity of his professional career, Daniel was under no false illusions for the monumental task at hand. Holding great respect for his opponent, he was fully aware of the threat Jalin Fuller posed.
“I never got nervous before a fight when they give me the name of the opponent; I got really nervous when they told me it was Jalin Fuller” Daniel admits. “I’m like he just fought for the belt. He did so well against Trey Waters… So, I got scared. I’m like ‘Oh my god’. He’s like 6’2”-6’3” with 80+ inches in reach; he is huge. If you see him in person, he is a big, big guy for 170 [lbs]… But that motivated me [to] wake up earlier, go run, hit pads more, stay more focussed, do extra”.
“That motivated me so much because I’m like if I want to be in the UFC, this is the competition” Daniel continues. “I’m gonna fight these kinda guys any other
fight”.
On August 4th 2023, Daniel secured the biggest victory of his career at LFA 164 in El Paso, Texas, with a sensational first-round knockout of Jalin Fuller.
“It was beautiful” Daniel says. “Nobody [saw] that coming”.
Make no mistake; honesty of fear does not substitute belief in ability. Daniel was full of confidence ahead of his LFA 164 bout with Jalin Fuller, with good
reason.
“I know the amount of work that I put in; it was just insanity” Daniel says. “My knee was injured, my left wrist was a little bit in pain, but because the amount of work I put in, I killed myself to make sure I would show up at the best. It’s impossible to be 100%, because I was not 100%; I was full of pain all over. But I knew walking towards that cage that there is no way he worked harder than me – there’s just no way. If you have a regular job, or even a part time job, you are already behind me. You are already behind me because I don’t do nothing else”.
This unrelenting work ethic underlines the very same confidence ahead of the biggest opportunity of Daniel’s career to date: a main event matchup with Haris Talundžić at LFA 169 in Vail, Colorado.
“None of these guys in the division can do [this]” Daniel states. “I’m really confident in that. None of them work harder than me. I will show that again. October 27th, I will show the same thing again. Because I have against me the high altitude, [and Haris is] from a big team. Listen, I’m gonna make it look easy this time around too. I work too hard, and now I’m really close to the UFC. I’m really close; nobody is gonna take that away from me”.
Follow Your Damn Dream
Daniel epitomizes the merit of unwavering perseverance.
Irrespective of the colossal challenge, his absolute commitment and continued self-belief manifested a childhood dream. As such, Daniel Frunza is already – and always will be – a winner.
With that, Daniel wanted to take the opportunity to share some inspiring words to readers; a reminder that dreams do come true.
“Follow your damn dreams. Don’t be afraid to dream big. Dream big, and work hard. Believe in yourself. Don’t listen to people. They told me a million times ‘You can’t do it’. Look where I am coming from. People from there, they have no dreams. They don’t dare to dream. Follow your instincts. If people they say you can’t do it, prove them wrong. Just work hard, believe in yourself. Dreams come true, 100%. It’s worth it. It’s painful, it’s a lot of sacrifice, but it’s a life adventure. One day I’ll be old and look back, and laugh or cry, be in tears for everything I overcame and achieved. So, if there’s something I want to say to the people who read this – follow your damn dream”.
The author wishes to extend his utmost gratitude to Daniel Frunza for making this article possible.
