Secret's out: Software engineer Alik Lorenz can beat people up – and the whole office knows
There's no hiding it, especially not in 2025.
Alik Lorenz's coworkers know his alter ego.
"I work remotely, so that's how it works out really well. But they do know because, when they work remote you, they kind of people kind of creep on you a little bit, kind of looking at your Facebook or LinkedIn or whatever," Lorenz told MMA Junkie. "Then they'll see a picture here and there, and they'll be like, 'Wait, is that you?' And I'm like, 'Yeah, that's me. I… you know… I also fight."
One google search of his name and his Tapology and Sherdog pages are nestled in the results right above his LinkedIn. Software engineer by day, fighter by night. This is the life Lorenz (6-1) has chosen.
"I literally just like write code all day," Lorenz said. "I do a lot of like website stuff and a lot of backend stuff, so I pretty much am like a full-stack software engineer, if you know what that is. So I'm doing everything from database stuff to website stuff to API stuff, so I pretty much touch everything in code. Yeah, it keeps me busy too."
Alik Lorenz… he trains here?
Not having to travel to and from an office has allowed Lorenz to train consistently at a high level. Initially from Wisconsin, Lorenz, since 2022, has lived in Arizona and trains under John Crouch and company at the MMA LAB, where he's established himself as one of Jared Cannonier's main training partners.
"I just started grinding," Lorenz said. "I signed up for the lab. I really didn't have any connections, like John Crouch or anybody there at the time. So I just – I signed up, as a regular student. I just kind of put my head down and grinded out classes every day. What got me actually on the fight team was I think (my management) Iridium actually called Crouch asking if I had a manager, and he didn't even know I was a fighter just because I had put my head down, grinding away.
"So I was in the middle of a kickboxing class and he comes into the class and he's all riled up, and he pulls me out and he's like, 'You didn't tell me you're a fighter,' and yadda, yadda yadda. And I was like, 'Oh yeah, I just kind of wanted to, you know, earn this.' And he's like, 'Well, can you be at the fight team practice tomorrow? And I was like, 'Yeah, I'll be there every day.' And that was kind of how I got on the team."
Wits, work ethic, and dedication: those are the keys to Lorenz's success. The working recipe has gotten him to 6-1 as a pro – and on the UFC's doorstep.
Tuesday, he fights for a UFC contract on Dana White's Contender Series against ARES FC champion Abdulrakhman Yakhyaev (6-0).
"He's obviously super talented, well-rounded," Lorenz said. "I'm pretty sure he's more comfortable, looks like on the ground, so we've been preparing a lot just like conditioning-wise with that, just being able to wrestle and still get up and be able to knock him out. It's been a fun process. It's been really just excelling my game more in that sense, just focusing on wrestling more and being in condition to to do what I want to do and make him more uncomfortable in areas that he doesn't want to be in. So yeah, he's definitely good. It's definitely gonna be, it's definitely gonna be my toughest fight today, but I'm excited for the challenge and to show everybody what I've been working on."
Bye bye, API!
Should he earn a UFC contract and extend a couple times, Lorenz plans on pivoting away from his desk job – at least for the time being. He's set up for the future should he need to fall back, but a UFC opportunity rarely comes multiple times in a lifetime.
"That's definitely the goal," Lorenz said. "I would love to just be able to train full-time. I do love that. I do like my software engineering job and stuff too, but almost anybody can do that. Not everybody can fight, so I would love to be able to just do that full-time and be able to just focus on one thing. So yeah, there is a day that it'll come. not right away obviously, but in the next couple years."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Software engineer one win away from UFC contract
MMA Mixed Martial Arts News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos
