ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) – It’s time to go back to the vault.

On this edition of 18 Sports Flashback we travel back to 2009 and new Elmira College men’s wrestling coach John Franchi’s MMA career. Franchi, a standout at Edison High School and SUNY Cortland, was a decorated MMA fighter in World Extreme Cagefighting which was eventually absorbed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

This flashback showcases Franchi’s official t-shirt from 2009 highlighting Team Bombsqaud and WAR MMA brands. Franchi was recently named the new head coach for Elmira College men’s wrestling and looks to turnaround the third year program.

A Fight of The Night award winner in the WEC, Franchi stepped away from the cage as a fighter but now has been coaching for several years at 5th Round MMA and Fitness in Elmira. Take a look back at this storied t-shirt from the first major name in the Elmira region to break in to the national MMA scene.