Issue 061

April 2010

Cutman Jacob ‘Stitch’ Duran’s entire job depends on his supplies. Whereas fighters enter the Octagon with minimal equipment, Stitch goes armed with everything he needs to give fighters that ‘one more round’.  

Bag

This bag here, I had to go everywhere to look for a bag to replace the one that I had from B.U.M. Derrick Harmon had given me one from B.U.M., that was his sponsor at that time. It was perfect, my bag fit in there, my bucket fit in there, but I wore it out. I looked everywhere for a bag with the same dimensions; I think I found this one in Target. But I’m looking for a better bag.  

Bucket

The bucket is the most important thing that I have. I take it everywhere with me. I always tell cornermen to expect the worst case scenario, don’t expect that someone is going to have a bucket there in the dressing room for you. This one was $5.99 from Target.  

Supplies bag

That smaller bag was personalized for me by a friend from Oklahoma, Todd. My other bag was so worn out, he said “You need to throw that one away,” so he made that one for me and put my name on it. I wanted to be a professional baseball player, so he put my number on it, which is number 17. I have everything in there. All my tape, the gauze, my medications, everything that I use for cuts – everything goes in there. If I lose that, I’m without a job.  

Gauze and tape 

The gauze that I use is the gauze that the UFC uses, and it’s called Old School Super Gauze. I also use one-inch trainer’s tape. Both of those are available from Title Boxing. I also use a War wrap, which is a half-inch cut, and I’ll be putting my name on that eventually – that goes in between the fingers. I use additional wrap depending on the fighters.  

Scissors

I have two different kinds of scissors. I have the traditional stainless steel surgical scissors that just about every cutman has, but the other ones that I have, the grey ones, are from Winning out of Japan. Josh Barnett bought those for me as a gift, and I tell you they’ll cut bone! If you do get some Winning scissors, be careful you don’t cut yourself.  

Enswells 

The round ones are stainless steel. I use it for any kind of injuries that are up around the cheek bone, anything that is a flat area. I also have the old, traditional enswells, but I don’t use them too much anymore because I created a new one that I call the KO swell. It’s curved and it contours to the cheek or the eyebrows. I use that one primarily all the time. I can address the swelling a lot better.  

Vaseline 

Don’t use the one that smells like baby powder! It’s typical petroleum jelly. The cheaper one is just as good as the expensive one. The thing about the Vaseline is that in MMA you apply it on the eyes and the cheeks, and the reason for using it is because it minimizes the risk of getting cuts as punches slip off the face.  

Swabs

The swabs I’ll make myself. I get a cotton wool ball and unroll it. The sticks are those they use for DNA testing or whatever, and I stretch the cotton out as much as I can and wrap it around the stick. The ones for the nose I get from my dentist; those are for surgery. They’re little cylinder filters. They’re great. I use them to clean out the nose before applying the swab with the adrenaline chloride. It’s kind of like a Tampax.  

Medication

There are three that are authorized, but only two that I use. The primary one is the adrenaline chloride 1–1000, also known as epinephrine. That’s a constrictor; I use it 99.9% of the time. The other is Avitene, the one that looks like cotton candy. It’s not cheap; it’s very expensive. It’s about $300 for a little container. That is a coagulant. I’ll use it a lot for head wounds, not so much for the face, because once you hit it, it comes off and takes the coagulant with it.  

Towels 

We cut up towels about the same size as a face towel, and will wipe the face and body with those. I’ll keep it wet in my ice bucket, and use it to clean up the cut and wipe off any blood on the body of the fighter.  

Gloves 

My wife will kick my ass if I don’t use gloves! It’s important to be clean to be a good cutman. I keep my swabs in a plastic sandwich bag; it keeps them nice and clean. With gloves, you’re working with an open wound – if you want to be a cutman, be a good, clean cutman.  

Wristband

The wristband was created by Rudy Hernandez, one of the cutmen for the UFC, and it was so popular that people ask for them and he can’t make them fast enough. It was designed so that you have the swabs ready.

Stitch Duran spoke with Gary Alexander