By Andrew Faison

Special to the News-Herald

When mixed-martial arts fighter Scottie Lovern makes his debut on Saturday as a light heavyweight it will be the result of seven weeks of family training.

“I couldn’t have gotten to this point without my family,” said Lovern, who trains at the James. L. Camp Jr. YMCA in Franklin.

The 29-year-old Suffolk man will fight undefeated Sam Vanderslice during the Spartyka Fighting League’s X Fight Club at the Ted Constance Center in Norfolk.

“I will be fighting one of our country’s finest,” Lovern said about Vanderslice, who recently returned from Afghanistan.

A graduate of Lakeland High School, Lovern has been on a diet and an exercise schedule developed by his mother, Charlette Lovern.

“I m very proud of him,” Charlette Lovern said. “He has done exactly what he set out to do.”

While other fighters have paid trainers, she feels good about the schedule she devised for her son so he could train at home.

“As his trainer, I’m always pushing him,” she said.

“Since my mom stepped in as my trainer she has been a great source of inspiration,” Lovern added.

He lost 40 pounds — a regimen he described as tough.

“One of the big things we have been (doing) is cardio,” said Lovern, who gets up at 5 a.m. to run. “Thanks to the training, I feel quicker and feel like I can go longer at a higher energy level during a match.”

“People say they don’t have time to get fit,” his mother added. “You have to make time if you want it bad enough.”

After competing since 2010 and earning a 1-3 record in the heavyweight class, Scottie Lovern dropped to a lighter weight class.

“I was tired of the David versus Goliath storyline,” he said. “My record was the main reason I wanted to get smaller.”

As avid runners, mother and son try to switch up their training every day.

“One day we are on the elliptical, the next stair climbing,” Charlette Lovern said. “I am always looking for a way to change it up.”

It’s not just a mother and son training; it’s a family team.

A father of four, Lovern also trains along his two oldest, Katie, 6, and Gabe, 5.

“It means a lot that my children want to be a part of my active lifestyle,” he said.

Katie can flip tractor tires, a popular training technique.

“Flipping tires is hard for the average adult,” Charlette Lovern said.

Gabe knows multiple wrestling moves in addition to boxing.

“He also knows a few submission moves,” Lovern said. “He knows only to (do) them in the gym.”

Every day Lovern’s children ask to watch the videos of their dad’s past fights.

“I really feel like a superhero or a superstar,” he said. “My son says he wants to fight like his dad when he grows up.”

Lovern also has daughters, Kamryn, 3, and Scarlette, 1.