Andre Monroe’s black hoodie clung to him and beads of sweat gathered along his beard as he traded combinations with a partner in an August Muay Thai session.
His white trunks, streaked with pink flames, were a far cry from the Maryland flag-laden jersey he once wore in College Park.
A decade ago, the 33-year-old had never imagined himself in the cage. Football was his passion at Maryland — where he became the program’s all-time sack leader — until a twisting road led him to his current pursuit at the Beta Academy in Washington, D.C.: professional fighting.
While he couldn’t carve out a career on the field, he’s found one in the cage — capturing multiple amateur heavyweight titles this year after turning to mixed martial arts. He is now ranked as the No. 1 amateur heavyweight in the U.S. Northeast, according to Tapology.
“That walk to the cage, to the ring — it’s like no other. It is an adrenaline rush, but it’s different from football,” Monroe said. “In martial arts that one’s a little more intense.”
The three-star recruit from St. John’s College notched a program-record 25 sacks at Maryland. His record-breaking sack came in his final game against Stanford.
Monroe went undrafted in the 2015 NFL Draft and spent time in minicamps with the Baltimore Ravens and San Diego Chargers. But the 5-foot-11 defensive lineman never made a roster, which many believe had to do with his height. He then joined the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League.
“The approach I had was, ‘Okay, I’m still going to get to the NFL … I’ll go the CFL route,’” Monroe said. “I’d never been to another country like Canada before. I get to explore and see the world.”
Monroe played one season before getting traded to the Toronto Argonauts. He then suffered multiple injuries, including a torn meniscus and retired from the league in 2016.
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He turned to martial arts in 2018 to get back in shape for football. But by the next year, he recognized he had to pivot away from football and eased into Muay Thai, jiu-jitsu and MMA.
“I did not think my athletic career was over because I had to have a certain mindset to be able to bounce back,” Monroe said. “To this day, I’m just as athletic, just as strong, maybe even a little bit more stronger and athletic than I was when I was playing in college.”
Nakapan Phungephorn, founder of Beta Academy, met Monroe in jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai classes and immediately recognized his athletic background. He’s guided Monroe into MMA by stressing patience, smart training and working through weaknesses.
In jiu-jitsu classes, he sharpened Monroe’s grappling techniques while encouraging him to preserve his body for fight nights.
“He approaches training very intelligently in that he’s not trying to win every single exchange … he’s trying to get better,” Phungephorn said.
Monroe said grappling as an offensive lineman translated in the cage, as well as the ability to endure hits and grasp techniques.
But the 265-pound fighter said his first bouts proved football conditioning didn’t help in the new sport. He learned how to breathe, recover and train his heart for fighting — elevating his cardio to a level above what he ever had on the football field.
His days are structured completely differently from when he played football. In college, Monroe’s days followed a rigid rhythm — breakfast, film study, two hours of practice, class, more film and sometimes a lift before calling it a night.
For his MMA routine, he’ll workout or run in the morning, then head into a first session of drilling or sparring before returning for another two hours of practice later in the day. He adjusts the intensity depending on how hard the earlier work was and will sometimes add a third session.
“Football is more about, you get in there, you push through the pain and you got to be able to get ready for next week,” Monroe said. “MMA, you never know … Either you’re ready or not. Not ready, then you’re not fighting.”
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Monroe’s first fight was a unanimous decision win on Aug. 13, 2022. Shortly thereafter, MMA coach James Valentine joined Monroe’s corner and focused on fusing all of his fighting pieces together.
Valentine said many fighters initially separate striking and grappling, but his focus with Monroe has been teaching him to blend those seamlessly. By emphasizing the importance of doing “all the things all the time,” Valentine has helped Monroe thrive in the transition space, punishing opponents while moving fluidly between ranges.
“He is coachable, he is disciplined and he trusts the process,” Valentine said. “He’s essentially, in the past, a professional athlete, so he understands how all of this goes.”
Since dropping his second and third fights in 2023, Monroe boasts five straight victories — three this year alone, each earning him a different title. Later this year, he’s expected to defend his the Made Men title he earned in March, with potential dates in November or December.
Phungephorn described Monroe as a “lovable teddy bear” outside the ring, but a furious fighter inside. Monroe said that drive stems from the satisfaction of improving each time he steps in.
“Learning to adapt is probably one of the best things you could ever do for yourself in your life,” Monroe said. “Sometimes things don’t go the way you want them to go, but if you learn how to adapt, you’ll always find a way or opportunity to make something for yourself.”
