Pastor trained in MMA fights off ax-wielding burglar who broke into church on Thanksgiving

A California pastor trained in mixed martial arts fought off an ax-toting burglar who broke into his church on Thanksgiving.

The burglar used the ax to smash open a window at the First Family Church in Antioch in the early hours when he was confronted by Pastor Nick Neves, who had gone to check on the church after hearing the security alarm go off.

The would-be thief, who has not been identified, tried to fight the preacher.

“I shouted at him to stop, and that the police were on their way,” Neves, 46, told NBC News. “And he ran and I grabbed ahold of him and we ended up wrestling in the parking lot of the church.”

The pair grappled for nearly 15 minutes as Neves utilized some of his training in various martial arts.

“I like to stay fit,” Neves told the outlet. “And I studied some jiu jitsu and kickboxing and I have a mixed martial arts background.”

This training helped him “grapple with this gentleman without having to do much harm to him,” he said. The pastor was able to hold the intruder on the ground until police arrived.

“I was able to pin him to the ground and he got up and try to get away several times,” said the pastor, who is trained in Brazilian jiu jitsu. “But basically just trying to wear him out because I knew I could outlast him.”

Neves walked away from the scuffle unscathed and the burglar was taken into custody, according to the Antioch Police Department.

The pastor said he wished the man had simply walked through the church’s front door and he would have taken care of him. The church already provides groceries for some 130 local families.

“It’s just ironic,” the pastor said. “If he had come a couple of days earlier, he would have been blessed and get some food and be cared for. But he decided instead to smash windows and desecrate property and do something that’s going to hurt the ministries.”

Longtime church member Jeff Strawther told NBC News that Neves is “very tough” and he was grateful “that he’s our pastor and not our enemy.”

“It could’ve gone in [a] totally different direction and we thank God that it didn’t,” he said.