Issue 090

Legendary MMA cutman Jacob 'Stitch' Duran reveals how family and friends keep his feet firmly planted on the ground.

Everything needs a base for support. A base gives the structure resting on it strength: a house has a foundation, a car has four wheels, and a fighter has his family and friends as his base. I too depend on my family and friends to keep me anchored.

On that note, I recently had the opportunity to return to my roots in California. For farm workers, like I once was, it’s important to cultivate the fields that bear fruits and vegetables which will be consumed around the world. What makes these plants so strong are the roots.

I grew up on a migrant camp and worked the fields, so I felt honored when I was asked to be the keynote speaker at the graduation ceremony for my alma mater, LeGrand High School.

When I was growing up, life was difficult economically. Like everybody else, my parents had a rough time making ends meet. The same food we picked for the supermarkets is what we had on our dinner table. Families pooled their money to buy a cow, pig or chickens and eventually slaughtered them for the meat. It took teamwork to keep everyone fed and healthy.

Those years strengthened my roots and gave me the solid foundation I have now. None of us knew we were poor because we all shared the same things.

When I received the request to speak at LeGrand I immediately checked my calendar. As usual, my schedule was busy with the UFC and the Klitschko brothers. But someone upstairs obviously likes me because I was delighted to find that I had that weekend off so I could take up the role of guest speaker for the graduation.

The word spread like wildfire that I’d be in town, and I saw family and friends I hadn’t seen in 30 years. Because I’ve been blessed with my job and have been in movies, I’ve become something of a celebrity in my community, where people are economically disadvantaged.

However, very much like me in years gone by, they don’t consider themselves poor because everyone has strong roots and they bond together.

Anyway, I arrived at my brother Benny’s house and received a bear hug. Benny is one of the many success stories of the Central Valley. He taught at our high school, then became superintendent of the schools, and retired as president of Merced College.

Our humble beginnings and strong roots made him a pioneer in education. More than thirty of his students have become teachers, professors and superintendents.

I then met with the graduating students one hour before their final walk to receive their diplomas. They were all really excited, and all of them are UFC fans. We talked, took photos and then sat down.

I received a great introduction from the principal, Mr Martinez, who said: “I was going to introduce this gentleman as one who has traveled the world, is recognized as the best cutman on the planet, has worked with the best fighters in the UFC and boxing, has a book written about him, and has been in movies with Stallone and Kevin James.”

But then he smiled and added: “I won’t say those things. I will only say that this gentleman is a graduate of LeGrand High, Mr Jacob ‘Stitch’ Duran...”

What an adrenaline rush!

I spoke about following your dreams and never giving up, and that coming from an economically deprived area wasn’t an excuse not to succeed. I told them that many of us have walked in their shoes and have still succeeded.

The graduation ended and families congratulated their children. Many of them came to have their picture taken with me, and some brought my book, From the Fields to the Garden, for me to sign. Classmates that had graduated with me in 1970 also came with their children and grandchildren to say hello.

The look in the kids’ eyes when I greeted my classmates as if we were best of friends was priceless. With smiles on their faces some said their friends didn’t believe that their mother or father went to school with me, so we took pictures as proof. I signed posters that I’d brought and finally called it a night.

Like a night of fights it took hours for the adrenaline to drain out of me so I could sleep, but I then slept like a baby knowing that I’d come home and checked my roots to find they were stronger than they’d ever been.

So my advice to you is: build and nurture your own strong roots and you will succeed.