Thomas Murphy
Thomas Murphy was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. At 12-years of age Tom and his family relocated to Cooperstown, NY where he graduated from Cooperstown High School. Tom went on to graduate from The State University of New York at Brockport, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude in human psychology. While attending the University of Brockport Tom was inducted into The National Honor Society - Alpha Chi and The National Honor Society in Psychology - Psi Chi. Tom was also the proud recipient of the prestigious Brockport Alumni Scholarship in 1997. In 1996 & 97 Tom was awarded honors by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) when he achieved the status of Academic All-American. Tom also went on to achieve All-American status by placing 2nd in the nation at the NCAA wrestling tournament at 190lbs. Tom is currently a proud husband and father of four and resides in the city of St. Albans. After graduating form Brockport State College Tom and his family moved to St. Albans, VT where he filled a position as a rail traffic control specialist for the New England Central Railroad (NECR). Shortly after his arrival, Tom was given the opportunity to establish a nationally recognized rail traffic control center for RailAmerica, Inc., parent company of the NECR. In January 2004 Tom established the American Rail Dispatching Center (ARDC) where he is currently holding the position of corporate director. The ARDC provides rail traffic control to 45 separate railroads across the U.S. and Canada. The ARDC has brought national recognition to the small city of St. Albans. In October of 2006 Tom became the owner of The Fitness Zone (www.fitnesszonevt.com) in St. Albans where his goal is to give to others what sports and health living have given to him over the past 2 decades. As part of The Fitness Zone Tom has also started Rail City Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and hosts Tri-Town Boxing. In 2011 to also purchased Chow Bella (www.chowbella.us) St. Albans’s finest restaurant that serves fine Mediterranean and Italian cuisine. Tom has also proudly established a nonprofit anti-bullying organization, “Sweethearts & Heroes,” where they present a unique message in schools. Tom is the main presenter and is extremely passionate about empowering kids with the tools necessary to fight bullying. Tom and his partner hope to share their inspirational message with every child in North America. Tom’s Martial Arts accomplishments began shortly after his move to St. Albans where he met and trained under the late Carlson Gracie Black Belt, Julio Fernandez. Tom spent several years competing in the North American Grappling Association (NAGA) where he posted an impressive 2-year undefeated streak culminating with NAGA awarding him the “overall” champion in 2000. After fighting on the amateur level briefly, Tom landed several big fights, including his pay-for-view debut, in King of The Cage’s (KOTC) Payback. Tom has also fought at the Trump Casino in Chicago and in Atlantic City. Tom then competed on Spike TV’s The Ultimate Fighter 2, losing a chess match to former UFC Champion Rashad Evens. The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) called Tom shortly after the reality show and offered him a fight in UFC 58. Tom won his UFC debut with a TKO win over the Canadian World Heavy Weight Champion. Tom has been actively training in Montreal at Tri-Star for over 4-years and remains undefeated at 8-0.
