Issue 040

August 2008

When Robin Black was a kid he convinced his mum to take him to an Alice Cooper concert. After that experience it took a lot of convincing to get her to agree to anything else, let alone tae kwon do classes. In the end, she relented. In a way, you can credit Mrs. Black for shaping her son into the man he is today: a glam-rock wailer and an MMA fighter.

Music came first. ‘Robin Black and the Intergalactic Rock Stars’ formed in 1998, releasing two albums and touring across North America and the UK. They took the glam rock sound of the 70s and added a modern spin to it that resulted in several hit singles. Known now simply as Robin Black, intergalactic is still an apt descriptor for the group: Robin and his band look like they’re from another planet. 

Robin juggles both the rock ‘n roll and fighter lifestyle – a tricky endeavour considering how both are hard on the body in very different ways. “It’s much worse now to go out on a bender than it used to be,” he says. “Before training, you’d drink and smoke and party and physically drop from a 3 out of 10 to a 1. But when your body is up at 8 or 9, the fall is just as far… and the climb back up is hell.

“You can tell people a thousand times ‘I can’t do all that stuff anymore, I’m training for a fight’ and they’ll go ‘Oh. So are you going to come drinking with us on Friday?’ It sucks, but if you’re going to be serious about the sport then you just can’t keep that schedule and lifestyle.”

It’s not just the hard partying that Robin has had to cut out. The many piercings that were at first only removed for practice had to go for good because of the possibility of infection. And his lack of eyebrows – shaved as part of Robin’s intergalactic glam rock look – caused all sorts of problems with sweat and blood getting into his eyes. 

Now Robin trains three times a day, six days a week at the Xtreme Couture gym in Toronto. He’s got his first fight coming up in late July – a bantamweight fight he intends to win. “I want to take this as far as I can,” Robin says with a determined look in his eyes. “After I beat this guy I’m gonna be gunning for another fight, and then another. I’ve been working my ass off for a few years at this, and I feel like I’m good enough to fight my way up to the WEC.”

Win or lose, there’s no rest for Robin. A few days after his fight, he’ll be embarking on a tour of the UK with his band. “We love the UK, it’s the best. North America tends to only care about who’s the new flavour of the week, but once you’re a Brit’s band, you’re their band forever. We have people who come from all over and follow us from show to show.”

Robin admits things will probably get messy during the tour, but once he’s back at home it’ll be time to refocus on his next fight. “I haven’t missed a training day in forever. I’ll probably be going a bit crazy after all that time away from Xtreme Couture. The training is my confidence. When I walk into the ring and look across the cage at my opponent, I want to know that I’ve worked harder and trained smarter than him.”

So which side of Robin does his mother like more: the rocker or the mixed martial artist? “She was so happy when I got back into martial arts. She figures it’s much safer and healthier to be a fighter than a rock star.” 

Robin Black will be making his MMA debut against Chris ‘Pitbull’ Myra on Freedom Fight in Quebec, Canada on 26 July