I'm 35 now. I trained at a few local gyms here in the Detroit area. I was stupid at the time though... Stupid as in Sustenon 250, Decadurabolin, Parobolan and Supinate. I was doing 12 reps with 465 on flat benches and my max was well over 500. I was starting to do some grappling training at a jujitsu dojo but things happened as they often do in life and a lot of plans got changed in a hurry. Yay for the ignorance of youth. At that time, MMA wasn't very publicised. I was more planning on huge paychecks from the WWF. But, life goes on.
As far as watching UFC, I used to faithfully when it first started hitting the small screen with regularity but I don't keep up with it at all anymore.
Good luck in the cage and make damn sure you tap out BEFORE the ankle breaks... Just a tip
Tony