In April 2009, I began exploring the MMA world in central Iowa.  Almost immediately, I found that the fights were only part of the story. The fighters were just as interesting. They have created a world for themselves as they train, compete, and dream of glory in the cage.

Fight Night is a photography project that explores small-time MMA fighting in Iowa. Culminated over three years, this book captures some of the most intimate moments as fighters explore the highs of victory and the devastation of defeat.  It also chronicles the journey leading to the ring, from training and life outside the ring to impromptu amateur fights in bars and professional fights in front of thousands of fans. The goal of the book is to envelope the audience in the same experience that fighters and millions of fans enjoy. The images give the reader the feeling that they are ringside and hearing the roars of the crowd, the cracks of the punches and kicks, and the sight of gladiators fighting to have their hand raised in victory.

Ronnie Britt, also known as the “War Frog”, is a 44 year-old mixed martial arts fighter in Des Moines. Outside of the cage he delivers oxygen and medical supplies, and is a quiet, easy-going fellow. Inside the cage, he is a tough competitor that uses choke holds to make his adversaries submit, or “tap out.” Over the years, he has earned a grass-roots, blue-collar following that has made him one of the most popular fighters around, and I was fortunate enough to follow him around for about seven weeks as he trained for his last fight.

The New Orleans celebration of Mardi Gras has become synonymous with parades, costumes and the overflowing crowds on Bourbon Street. The entire city becomes the host to the wildest party in the country.

Since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the city has been desperately struggling to restore the once gaudy shine. There are still the parades and crowds on Bourbon Street, but there is also the quieter side of the celebrations observed by locals just wanting to take a break from rebuilding their lives.

"Unique" is a word that is best used to describe New Orleans. The mix iof cultures, the musical and artistic history, and it's location created a city and a people that cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

Hurricane Katrina exposed the segregation based on race and income that exists within the city. The day the levees broke, the Census Bureau released a report on the nation's poverty. Not only did African-Americans make up 84% of the population below the poverty level in New Orleans, but the pockets of the population living in poverty were incredibly concentrated.

The mood in New Orleans is palpable. The continuation of the extreme poverty and the pace of the recovery effort has moved the city from seeming "punch drunk" a year after Katrina, to the rage that can be felt bubbling just below the surface. That rage saw four people killed during the 2008 Mardi Gras celebration.

"I know you didn't do this for me. You did this – you did this because you believed so deeply in the most American of Ideas, that, in the face of impossible odds, people who love this country can change it.

I know this. I know this because, while I may be standing here tonight, I will never forget that my journey began on the streets of Chicago doing what so many of you have done for this campaign and all the campaigns here in Iowa, organizing and working and fighting to make people's lives just a little bit better.

I know how hard it is. It comes with little sleep, little pay, and a lot of sacrifice. There are days of disappointment.

But, sometimes, just sometimes, there are nights like this…"

-Barack Obama on winning the Iowa Caucus, January 3, 2008