Dylan Rush had to follow his heart. Even if that meant losing his scholarship to UCLA.

Rush, a 2006 graduate of Ka'u from Na'alehu, gave up playing football for the Bruins and signed with King's Sports, an up-and-coming boxing enterprise based out of Los Angeles.

"I just stopped enjoying playing football and I didn't want to do it anymore," said Rush, who was competing at fullback after making the move from defensive end in the spring. "I was going to accept a wrestling scholarship to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, but then I got offered a contract to box."

Rush, who earned Advertiser All-State recognition as a junior and senior while playing for Konawaena, also captured three wrestling and two judo state titles in his prep career.

Rush hopes to parlay the boxing contract into a future career in mixed martial arts.

"The interest in MMA started really early on," said Rush, who is 6 feet 4 and 250 pounds. "It's always been something that really interested me and I've kind of always reveled in the single-combat sports."

Rush will take a break from academics, but said he intends to return to UCLA to complete his philosophy degree.

"I've got to take some time off from school to put some money together, but boxing will help me do that," he said. "(King's Sports) is giving me enough money that I can return to UCLA and pay for my tuition."

Although he expressed some disappointment about his experience at UCLA, Rush knew a change could lead to a fresh start.

"It was kind of frustrating. I got recruited as a tight end, but I never actually got to play the position while I was there," he said.

"I moved up to second-string fullback and I was getting some playing time, but you know, I don't watch football on TV and I'm just not that interested in the sport in general. Football is a huge commitment and so is boxing, but at least I like to do it."

Rush tore a medial collateral ligament in the spring, but says it no longer bothers him and that he is eager to fight for pay.

"I don't even notice it's injured anymore," Rush said. "I've known for quite a while that I wanted to get into a career in MMA and when I got the injury, it made me think: Am I going to risk more injury in a sport that I don't like and put my MMA career in jeopardy?"

Rush will train at King's Sports' Venice Beach facility and the staff will assess his ability after three months.

"As it stands, the contract is not for any fights yet," Rush said. "They'll train me and then determine when I'm ready to fight."

Although he leaves behind the gridiron, Rush can hardly wait to put on the gloves in the squared circle.

"I enjoy boxing a lot and I think it will be a lot of fun," he said. "This is the most happy I've been in a long, long time and I just can't wait to start fighting."

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