“I learned how to be the nail at the beginning. As time passed, obviously in the progression of things, you become the hammer.”
At the outset of his career, Justin Willis knew that being the nail was a crucial part in the process of becoming the hammer.
Stationed at American Kickboxing Academy alongside standouts Cain Velasquez and Daniel Cormier, as well as countless other elite talents, the now 31-year-old heavyweight took his lumps and studied his more established teammates, learning everything he could from two of the division’s elite, knowing that his time would come.
“When I first came to AKA, I got a chance to come and learn behind them when they were in their primes, so I got a chance to see how they developed, how they went about their day-to-day functions, how they trained,” Willis said of Cormier and Velasquez.