He was inspired by watching Jean-Claude Van Damme movies and practiced styles like Karate, Taekwondo, Judo, Aikido, Jujutsu, and Kung Fu.
At 16, Ed met a man who told him he was a cage fighter, which led West to travel down the road of Mixed Martial Arts.
Since 2003, West has fought in many MMA organizations in the United States, where he finished 9 of his 17 victories with a submission (particularly armbars) as a professional fighter.
Despite his three losses in the IFL, West proved himself by moving up two weight classes and fighting against bigger fighters in the lightweight division.
[3] Although West's first IFL match was a loss to his opponent, Chris Horodecki, after having to be decided by the judges, the pair put on a tough battle that was awarded "Fight of the Night" honors.
[2] In 2010, West won Arizona's Desert Rage Full Contact Fighting bantamweight championship when he defeated Tyler Bialecki.
[8] After parting ways with Bellator, West returned almost a year later and faced Antonio Duarte at MF - Mexico Fighter 5 on February 15, 2014.