Issue 036

April 2008

Text: Hywel Teague

Photos: Rich Walton (Images courtesy of Etnies)

They’re known as the sickest guys on TV. Like Jackass on steroids, the Dirty Sanchez team comprises three mental Welshmen and a scatalogically-obsessed Englishman. Lee Dainton, core member of the DS crew and a former professional skateboarder, may have cut back on the crazy stunts but he’s found something else to pour his energy into: mixed martial arts. 

When not watching it on TV, he’s training at Newport MMA near his home in South Wales. We caught up with him to see what it is about the sport that has got him hooked. 

Tell us about yourself. 

I’m just a normal, average person with a bit of a boredom problem. I get bored really easily so I have to entertain myself, and I’ve got a bit of a twisted sense of humour. Hence the show Dirty Sanchez. 

You’ve been well known for a few years now, what are you doing at the moment?

At the moment we’ve just started doing radio. To be honest I’ve never been this unfit in my entire life with all the parties and everything. I’m skateboarding still, I surf, I snowboard, I do motocross and I’m just getting into MMA, just for the challenge, you know, the discipline. 

MMA is described as an extreme sport, but how did you come across it? 

I watched a bit on late night TV and on Bravo, I watched it years ago, but the old-school cage fighting. I enjoyed watching it back then, but watching it on Bravo and the Ultimate Fighter TV series, you’d see the other side of it, the discipline and the training. I enjoy the challenge and I want to get fit. I’ll be honest, I don’t think there is another fucking sport that’s better for exercise than this. 

How long have you been doing it now? When I first met you before Christmas you’d been doing it a little while.  

Oh man, before Christmas, just after I saw you, I broke my big toe. It’s back to normal now so I had Christmas off but I just started back a few weeks ago. I’m just trying to get back into it. 

I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve broken my big toes. 

Oh man, I was laughing, but it was agony. I tried to laugh the pain off. It’s just like in skateboarding when you break your ankle, you think ‘how long am I going to be out for now?’

Speaking of injuries, you must have picked up one or two in your time. 

Yeah, broken arms, ankles, you know. Sciatic nerve problems, concussions, getting knocked out… All sorts of shit!

Does any of that get in the way of your training? MMA isn’t exactly easy on the body. 

Totally, if you’re practising armbars or whatever, I’ve got to be careful, I’ve snapped it three times now, it’s got plates and screws in and stuff. You just got to be careful. 

You can always tap out though, right? 

Yeah but I don’t like tapping out! I don’t like giving in! It’s a game with myself, I like to see how far I can go. I’ve been put out once, by a close quarter combat Marine. He choked me out. I woke up and I was like, ‘Where am I?’ It’s the neck cranks I don’t like though, it feels like my neck’s gonna snap. Really scary. I got to be honest with you though man, I’ve done a lot of things and this is one of the toughest things I’ve done. 

You went to a show recently where you knew some guys fighting.

I’d go if I didn’t know anybody anyway. You just don’t know what’s going to happen, it’s not like boxing where they just stand up and it’s just a boxing match. It can go anywhere. You just don’t know, that’s the thing I like, the element of surprise, the unpredictability. You just don’t know what’s going to happen. 

Who are your favourite fighters to watch? 

I’m a BJ Penn fan, I just love the way he bends. Him and that guy Diaz, he’s really unorthodox. But BJ Penn, flexible bastard! 

What else do you like about the sport? 

The sportsmanship. People have been asking me about training, and I’ve told them I’m doing mixed martial arts with guys who fight in the cage. People look at me, they go ‘What’s wrong with you?’ I tell them, ‘You’ve got the wrong idea’. They’re not all a bunch of steroid heads trying to rip each others’ heads off. It’s a disciplined thing, they’re not a bunch of thugs. I’ve never met a bunch of [more] straight-up guys than at Newport MMA. I’m into it man in a big way, but I’m a pussy. And I’m under no illusions thinking that I’m going to get in a cage and have a fight with somebody. 

You say you’re a pussy, but I heard you had a reputation on the skate scene as a street fighter? 

Oh no, oh shit. You know what, I’ve never once started a fight. There was a couple of times I got started on where I couldn’t get out of it so I had to fight my way out of it. I had a couple of fights yeah, but oh fuck, I hate if I had some kind of reputation, man! I’m a pussy, I’m the biggest hypochondriac on the planet. If someone starts on me, I’m just like, ‘What do you want? Fuck off!’ I don’t look for fights, no chance. I just don’t like being fucked with.