At 58 years old, Salem resident John Payne leads a less-than-average life.
While most 50-something-year-olds spend their weekends on the golf course, Payne spent his Saturday night in the center of an Octagon, securing his first TKO win at Plymouth Memorial Hall in Plymouth, proving that age is really just a number.
Payne has been a firefighter for the Salem Fire Department for 30 years. Fighting is in his DNA, but it took some warming up for him when it came to following mixed martial arts.
“My sons and my stepsons starting following MMA,” he said. “I wanted nothing to do with it.”
One of his stepsons convinced Payne to try it out it. He began following local fighters such as Joe Lauzon and John Howard, and the itch to compete needed to be scratched.
Payne would go on to take his first MMA fight in his 40s.