If not for Avalanche MMA, Miller Rogers may have continued down a self-destructive path.

The 20-year-old is grateful the mixed-martial arts club started.

Since November, his life has taken a 180-degree turn.

"I probably would have been in jail or with a record or something by now if it didn't come around. I was in a rough spot. It definitely smartened me up a little bit, gave me something to look forward to every night,” Rogers said, adding of his new focus:

"I just wanted to do something so I wasn't getting in trouble anymore. It motivated me a lot. The guys at the gym are great; they just accepted me with open arms. Now we've got a team.”

Four Avalanche MMA fighters will hit the mat at WarPath MMA in Chilliwack, B.C., on Sept. 2.

This will mark the first amateur bout for three of those fighters, including Rogers, Avalanche MMA co-founder and coach Cliff Schultz and Stefan Brynjolfsson.

Coach T.J. Woodman has competed in two MMA bouts previously, in a Rumble in the Cage in Lethbridge, Alta., and at WarZone in Edmonton.

He won both fights by submission within the first two minutes.

Keeping calm is key for first-time fighters, Woodman added as a piece of advice.

"Just stay calm. Don't worry about the crowd or anything, don't pay attention to anything but your opponent. If you do, you're going to get adrenaline and you're going to get tired real quick,” Woodman, who, based on his previous performances, is clearly comfortable on the mat.

"I'm feeling pretty confident,” he added. "I feel pretty good about it. I'm in good shape. I just want to get in there and have fun.”

Rogers agreed.

Undaunted by the prospect of his first amateur fight, Rogers is confident of getting the win.

"One hundred per cent. Not going to lose. No doubts in my mind. I know exactly what I've been doing. He's had to train six days a week to be at the same level as I am,” Rogers said.

"I'm feeling good. Me and the guys from the gym have been training hard, keeping ourselves motivated.”

While he's unsure of what to expect upon entering the ring, he added that he's focused on himself.

"I'm not even 100 per cent sure on who I'm fighting yet. I just know that I'm fighting. For me it doesn't really matter who I'm fighting; I'm just ready to go out there and show what I got.”

This confidence despite his being entered in the 155-pound weight class, and as of this morning being 10 pounds over.

But he's also confident he'll lose the weight over night with a weight-cut starting tonight and carrying over to tomorrow, with the weigh-in Thursday night.

"They've assured me I can cut off the 10 pounds easily, and then just put it on afterwards again,” Rogers said.

If he fails to make the weight, he will be docked a point in the first round.

"That can be big if the fight doesn't finish (by knockout),” said Rogers, who described himself as having "a street-fighting style base. But if it goes (to the mat), I'm no slouch down there either, so (my opponent's) got to be worried either way.”

Rogers earned his blue belt in Jiu-Jitsu from Sean O'Halloran of Valley Fights MMA who is also a fight promoter with Xtreme Couture MMA out of Las Vegas.

O'Halloran is Schultz's trainer and helped Avalanche MMA get its start last year and has made four visits to Whitehorse to train fighters.

"He puts on fights all the time,” Schultz said. "He just asked if we'd like to do it. Because he's part of the gym, he'd like to establish us and get our name out there.”

Interest in the club has exploded to roughly 60 members in men's, women's and youth MMA over the past 10 months, Schultz said.

"I never thought it would go this far. We started planning to have fights up here as well in April. To me it's just unbelievable how fast it grows and how new it is to Whitehorse. It's amazing how down south you hear about it and you see it quite a bit. Everybody in Whitehorse is so green to it, it's so new, that people don't even understand MMA.”

Following WarPath, Avalanche MMA has fights lined up for Castlegar, B.C., in October, and is planning to host fights next spring after the ice goes from either the Canada Games Centre or Takini Arena rinks.

Schultz believes completely in the future of the sport in the Yukon.

And Avalanche MMA making its club debut on an amateur card is only the beginning.

"We have to establish ourselves before we can actually go out and do anything professional,” Schultz said.

"Everybody's so excited, it's been unreal. It's kind of nice because it's the first fights out of Avalanche MMA. Half the fight card is Avalanche MMA.”

Schultz is 34-years-old and will be fighting in the 170 weight class, which means he'll have to lose five pounds overnight.

Schultz is an aggressive fighter with take-downs in mind.

"It's aggressive,” he said of his style, "and my ground game is pretty good.”

But, he added, it's important for fighters to work on their weaknesses. With this in mind, Avalanche MMA fighters train with boxing coach Jess Staffen.

The four fighters heading south this weekend have put a push on their training.

Rogers said he tries to train three hours a day for six days each week, plus cardio.

"I want to be a fighter,” Rogers said. "I love fighting. Everything. I want to go as far as I can, see where I go with it. If it doesn't work out in the first couple years then I'll figure something else out for life. But if I can make it I'm going to.”