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Javier Mendez was born in Mexico and moved to the United States with his family at the age of 6. He was raised in San Jose, California and attended Andrew Hill High School. Like most of his peers of his generation, Mendez grew up admiring the late Bruce Lee. Mendez started training in martial arts in 1978, studying the discipline of Tang Soo Do. From there, he went to West Coast Tae Kwon Do and trained under Scott Coker (former CEO of Strikeforce and current president of Bellator MMA) Mendez started his kickboxing career in 1985 and shortly thereafter he established the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) where he held training sessions with a small group of students. After fighting his way through the kickboxing ranks, Mendez won his first world championship in 1992 when he became the ISKA Light-Cruiserweight Champion. In 1995, Mendez defeated Conrad Pla (founder of Tristar Gym) via split decision to win the vacant ISKA Light Heavyweight Championship.

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