It can be hard to find a way back out when a person heads down the wrong path in life, especially if they fall into the trap of becoming entrenched in gang culture, where the threat of death or prison always looms large over their heads. Some fighters know this only too well and can […]
It can be hard to find a way back out when a person heads down the wrong path in life, especially if they fall into the trap of becoming entrenched in gang culture, where the threat of death or prison always looms large over their heads.
Some fighters know this only too well and can ruefully speak from first-hand experience, but for them, there was an escape route from the chaotic life they were leading, with mixed martial arts proving to be their salvation.
In this article we’ll look at 10 such cases, exploring the often bleak and tragic circumstances that led to their decision to join a gang in the first place, the trouble it caused them, and how pursuing a career in MMA helped turn their lives around and lead them all the way to the UFC.
Tito Ortiz
UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz rose to become one of the most famous fighters ever to compete in the sport, which is quite an achievement when you consider his childhood.
Both of his parents were heroin addicts, so Ortiz was fending for himself on the streets of Santa Ana, California, from an early age.
As young as five years old, Ortiz had already drunk beer and smoked cigarettes, and by nine he’d joined one of the region’s most notorious gangs, ‘F-Troop,’ after going through their initiation beating which saw him repeatedly sucker-punched by other members to prove his toughness.
According to Ortiz in his biography, ‘This Is Going To Hurt,’ he was soon getting into trouble doing “hoodlum stuff,” and in the years that followed he robbed houses and cars, fought rival gangs, tried “just about every drug there was to do except heroin,” and was “in and out of juvenile hall.”
After one of Ortiz’s friends was shot and killed next to him in a drive-by shooting, his mother moved with him to Huntington Beach, and with the police cracking down on gang culture in that area, Ortiz would turn his attention to wrestling and slowly but surely, he moved away from his troubled past and set out on a new path in mixed martial arts that would lead to him becoming a UFC champion.
Not all angels have wings. Some have one-punch knockout power and slams that rival the legendary Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
Damacio Page, The Angel of Death, isn’t the kind of person to sit around and come up with cool nicknames to ge…
Not all angels have wings. Some have one-punch knockout power and slams that rival the legendary Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
Damacio Page, The Angel of Death, isn’t the kind of person to sit around and come up with cool nicknames to get over with fans. Quite the contrary; the tatted-up Legacy FC flyweight champion is a fighter through and through, void of any spectacle-enabling shenanigans.
Everything in Page’s life has been earned through hard work and sacrifice, including the catchy nickname he is so often asked about.
“I was fighting in Montreal, and I was fighting Thierry Quenneville,” Page told Bleacher Report on Monday. “I picked him up and Rampage slammed him, and one of the guys that was cornering me in the back, a French Canadian guy, was all excited. ‘Georges St-Pierre asked’ my name, ‘It was crazy. You were like an angel of death. You took that guy’s life.’ And I was like, ‘Cool man, that’s my nickname.’”
Most of you might remember Page from his stint as a bantamweight in the UFC and WEC.
During his days in the WEC, he was a highly touted contender, who earned wins over Scott Jorgensen, Will Campuzano and current Bellator champion Marcos Galvao. He even managed to steal a round from UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson back in the blue-cage days.
The potential was definitely there for Page, despite being shoved into the limelight at an early age. He managed to put together some solid wins before dropping four straight losses and getting cut by the UFC. Being denied a spot on the UFC roster really forced Page to do some soul searching and reexamine himself as a fighter.
Fortunately, an opportunity arose to fight for Legacy FC, a budding MMA promotion on AXS TV. After spending nearly a year on the sidelines, Page returned with a vengeance as a flyweight, knocking out Patrick Ybarra in the first round.
It was the kind of performance we’ve grown to expect from The Angel of Death. The 32-year-old star has gone 4-1 since dropping to flyweight, with the one loss being a controversial split decision.
“I’m coming into my own, just fighting the way I fight and growing up as a fighter,” he said. “That’s the biggest attribute that happened was that I needed to grow up.”
For all of the talk of the UFC, this weekend’s Legacy FC vs. RFASuperfight card has all of the makings of a big event. Fans have always dreamed of major promotions coming together and pitting its best fighters against one another.
On Friday night, Page is slated to fight RFA flyweight champ Alexandre Pantoja. The backdrop for this event from a promotional perspective revolves around bragging rights. One would think there would be added pressure for Page in the main event spot, but he refuses to get caught up in all of the excitement of a cross-promotional event.
At the end of the day, it’s simply another fight.
“It is what it is, I just want to fight. So whoever it is they put in front of me, a champion from another organization, I really don’t care,” said Page. “Part of my ultimate goal is to get back to the big shows and do what I do best. They’re all pluses, but at the end of the day, it’s my job to do what I’m here to do, and I got to get back to where I belong.”
Getting back to where he belongs has helped Page weed out the recent distractions at Jackson’s MMA, the same camp that houses former UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones.
A week ago, the 27-year-old fighter was stripped of the title and suspended indefinitely from the UFC, after being arrested on a felony for an alleged hit-and-run incident involving a pregnant woman in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The story has loomed like a dark cloud over MMA headlines.
However, you’d be sadly mistaken if you think the ongoing issues surrounding Jones had any impact whatsoever on Page’s mental preparation for perhaps the biggest fight of his career.
“I don’t pay attention to that,” Page said. “That’s his own life, his own business so I don’t have nothing to really say about that. At the end of the day, I’m here to do my job, what I do, and I leave people’s business as their business. At the end of the day, I’m here to be me.”
Pantoja trains at the famous Nova Uniao camp in Brazil alongside UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo and former UFC bantamweight champ RenanBarao. He is currently riding an eight-fight win streak.
Page plans on introducing his fists to Pantoja’s face unlike any other flyweight. He has no predictions on what will happen when the bomb drops. Either Pantoja will be standing or he won’t be.
“I can’t tell you. I’m going to do what I got to do. If he’s standing, he’s standing; if he’s not, he’s not.”
RFA vs. Legacy Superfight takes place on May 8 in Robinsonville, Mississippi. The event will air live on AXS TV.
JordyMcElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He also is the MMA writer for FanRag Sports and co-founder of The MMA Bros.
Friday night at Legacy FC 36, bantamweight veteran Damacio Page knocked out Brian Hall about as ferociously as one person can knock out another person. Less than two minutes into the bout, Page landed a sledgehammer overhand right that put Hall into falling tree mode. It was one of those super creepy knockouts where Hall was totally unconscious, but his eyes remained open (aka, “The Living Death”). Page is now 4-0 under the Legacy banner, with all four wins by stoppage.
Expect to see this knockout on some end-of-year lists, although this is still the 2014 KOTY frontrunner in my book.
Friday night at Legacy FC 36, bantamweight veteran Damacio Page knocked out Brian Hall about as ferociously as one person can knock out another person. Less than two minutes into the bout, Page landed a sledgehammer overhand right that put Hall into falling tree mode. It was one of those super creepy knockouts where Hall was totally unconscious, but his eyes remained open (aka, “The Living Death”). Page is now 4-0 under the Legacy banner, with all four wins by stoppage.
Expect to see this knockout on some end-of-year lists, although this is still the 2014 KOTY frontrunner in my book.
UFC veterans Damacio Page and Kamal Shalorus both had fairly similar runs in the Octagon. After showing promise in the WEC, both men were disappointing at best once called up to the sport’s biggest stage. Both men went 0-3 in the UFC before receiving their walking papers during the summer of 2012. Now, they’ve both recently booked their first fights in their post-UFC careers, and neither man has an easy rebound fight lined up.
When we last saw Damacio Page, he was being choked out by Alex Caceres during UFC on Fuel TV 4, marking his fourth straight loss. “The Angel of Death” was released from his contract shortly afterwards, and now, the former UFC bantamweight has decided to sign with Legacy FC. He will make his promotional debut against 4-0 prospect Patrick Ybarra at Legacy FC 20 on May 31.
Before you start screaming “squash match,” know that Ybarra has finished all four of his professional fights by armbar, and that none of those fights made it out of the first round. Combined with the fact that seven of Page’s eight losses have come by submission, Ybarra probably has a better chance at pulling off the upset than you think.
UFC veterans Damacio Page and Kamal Shalorus both had fairly similar runs in the Octagon. After showing promise in the WEC, both men were disappointing at best once called up to the sport’s biggest stage. Both men went 0-3 in the UFC before receiving their walking papers during the summer of 2012. Now, they’ve both recently booked their first fights in their post-UFC careers, and neither man has an easy rebound fight lined up.
When we last saw Damacio Page, he was being choked out by Alex Caceres during UFC on Fuel TV 4, marking his fourth straight loss. “The Angel of Death” was released from his contract shortly afterwards, and now, the former UFC bantamweight has decided to sign with Legacy FC. He will make his promotional debut against 4-0 prospect Patrick Ybarra at Legacy FC 20 on May 31.
Before you start screaming “squash match,” know that Ybarra has finished all four of his professional fights by armbar, and that none of those fights made it out of the first round. Combined with the fact that seven of Page’s eight losses have come by submission, Ybarra probably has a better chance at pulling off the upset than you think.
Likewise, when we last saw Kamal Shalorus, he was getting choked out by Rafael dos Anjos in the first round of their fight at UFC on Fuel TV 3. “The Prince of Persia” has recently signed on with ONE FC, and will be facing Eduard Folayang during his promotional debut at ONE FC 9 – which coincidentally also takes place on May 31. Even though both fighters are coming off of losses, this should be a very interesting match-up. Folayang is a very entertaining striker, and one of the top fighters that ONE FC has to offer.
So what do you think? Which fighter has the better chance of ending their losing streak this May?
From the minute we saw Alex Caceres’ grinning mug on The Ultimate Fighter Team GSP vs Team Koscheck in 2010, many wondered if he was substance or show. Due to his look and hair, he was pegged “Bruce Leroy” after the lead character from ’80s martial art…
From the minute we saw Alex Caceres‘ grinning mug on The Ultimate Fighter Team GSP vs Team Koscheck in 2010, many wondered if he was substance or show. Due to his look and hair, he was pegged “Bruce Leroy” after the lead character from ’80s martial arts musical The Last Dragon, a gimmick for entertainment to say the least. Or was it?
Virtually dismissed as a fraud by his peers in the TUF house, Caceres‘ had a surprisingly successful showing on the show gaining two upset submission wins before bowing out via decision to eventual season winner Micheal Johnson. Johnson dominated the entire fight, but Caceres survived and lost by decision, and he smiled the whole way through.
The lesson to be learned here is that Caceres proved to many, that he was not to be counted out.
After a false start with two losses in the featherweight division, Caceres moved down to bantamweight last year and has gone 2-1 in the process.
Just how far can Caceres go in the bantamweight division? I don’t think that Caceres will ever get a title shot or be the division champion, but I do think he can get into the top ten in the world and here are a few reasons why.
He is only 24 years old
He is only 24 years old and due to his personality attitude and TUF fan following, Caceres will get a lot of time and much opportunity to improve his game. He currently trains at the Young Tigers Foundation in Miami, and will have access to some of the top trainers in the world for the next few years. His potential is undeniable.
Bantamweight is a very thin division
When you glance at all the fighters in the bantamweight division, there aren’t too many that stick out as young, dominant sky’s-the-limit fighters. The two champions Dominick Cruz and RenanBerao fit that tag, but it really is a toss up after that. The next tier are names like Urijah Faber, Brian Bowles and Ivan Menjivar all men on the down side of their careers. The up-and-comers are guys like TJ Dillashaw, Mike Easton and Edwin Figueroa.
Caceres lost a split decision to Figueroa mostly because he was penalized two points for low blows.
He beat Escovedo and Page right out of the UFC
Caceres proved that he needed to be taken seriously by beating two seasoned veterans when their backs were squarely against the wall. He defeated Cole Escovedo via decision in his bantamweight debut and knocked Escovedo out of the UFC. He also upset veteran Damacio Page via submission in his last fight, and Page was released from the UFC.
The lesson here, don’t count Bruce Leroy out.
Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA and guest blogger for Sportsnet.ca UFC.
Adhering to its usual formula and taking a look back at the locker room footage from the previous event, the newest edition of UFC President Dana White’s infamous vlog features an up close and personal look at the poor bastards who came up short at UFC on FUEL: Gustafsson vs. Silva. And Brian Stann. He’s simply too nice to not be around at all times.
Adhering to its usual formula and taking a look back at the locker room footage from the previous event, the newest edition of UFC President Dana White’s infamous vlog features an up close and personal look at the poor bastards who came up short at UFC on FUEL: Gustafsson vs. Silva. And Brian Stann. He’s simply too nice to not be around at all times.
Not all angels have wings. Some have one-punch knockout power and slams that rival the legendary Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
