Zack Day isn't your typical 43-year-old mortgage broker.

If you ever saw him step into a kickboxing ring, you would know there is nothing white-collar about this Day's work.

Day, called "Zack Attack" for his pugilistic prowess, adheres to a blue-collar approach to fighting that has made the Augusta resident one of the best kickboxers in the country.

He's the very best in his weight class after defeating J.J. Barnes on Dec. 1 in Kansas City, Mo., to claim the vacant International Kickboxing Federation's Pro U.S. National Middleweight title. The victory furthered Augusta's reputation as a hotbed for prize fighters and made Day the area's only fighter with two professional titles -- he also holds a muay thai national championship.

"I think Augusta does have a little bit more blue-collar approach to sports. We're not elitist, and we do what it takes," Day said. "We kind of have a working-man's attitude that some prima donnas in Atlanta and elsewhere don't have."

The championship was a culmination of 14 years of training for Day, who got into mixed martial arts when he was 29. Back in 1993, Day was competing in some karate and teaching aerobics. He needed something more challenging, and coincidentally, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was founded that year, piquing his interest in hand-to-hand combat competition.

"I had done some karate, but I didn't believe in the principal that just touching was real fighting," Day said. "I wanted a true fight. ... This (mixed martial arts) is not like tennis, where you just get points when you execute your game plan. When we're winning, we're doing damage, and I think that's something that reaches everybody. It's primal."

"Because of the level of competition you get here (at Greubel's Mixes Martial Arts), when we do go out and face someone else, it seems like nothing," Day said. "The level of training is just superior."

Day trains with several other nationally renowned fighters, including John Greubel, 25, and Steve Dement, 37, who currently compete in the World Combat League, a competition founded by Chuck Norris. Greubel, the IKF's only six-time champion with a combined 25-0-1 record, and Dement, who is 65-18 as an amateur and pro, also fought in the WCL on Dec. 1 for the St. Louis Enforcers.

"This is our passion," said Greubel, who runs the school with his brother, Mark. "We've known each other for about 10 years. Before this school was here (It was built in 2005), we would train in each other's garages. We actually spent a lot of time doing that."

"Having this school to train at, that really has allowed us to get on the championship level," Dement said. "We really push each other."

Day improved his professional record to 4-1 when he won the title (167-pound class) over Barnes, from Kansas City.

Day doggedly pursued Barnes in the first two rounds but said he backed off because the fight was scheduled for 10 rounds. But in the third round, his body shots hurt Barnes and Day chased him with head shots. Barnes went down three times in the third round, giving Day the win by TKO.

"I was really on that day. He really never hit me," Day said.

"My timing was on, and I pretty much hit him with everything I tried."

Day said he would like to take on the English champion, John Orchard, sometime next year in Augusta. Greubel and Dement will fight in the WCL on Jan. 18.