Legendary cutman Jacob ‘Stitch’ Duran reveals how fan interaction, both good and bad, is what keeps him smiling

I’ve seen a lot of crazy things in my 20-plus years as a cutman both inside and outside of the cage or ring. I saw Wladimir Klitschko bloody his own nose before a fight once, whilst I’ve wrapped the hands of crying men, and I’ve seen others laughing uncontrollably as if they were in a comedy club rather than a locker room before a big fight.

Combat sports have a unique way of drawing emotions out of fighters and fans alike. Some of my wackiest experiences have come with the fans. Traveling the world to work with great fighters is massively rewarding, but interacting with the fans can be just as fun, especially when a situation comes up and we are at the right place at the right time.

I went sightseeing in the Gold Coast in Australia with cutman Mike Afanasiev after the TUF Smashes Finale in December. We were watching a street performer when suddenly this young man fainted and hit the back of his head on the concrete. Mike, a fireman and paramedic by trade, went to his aid. But after regaining his senses and returning to his feet he soon went limp again. This time both Mike and I caught him before he got reacquainted with the pavement.

He started convulsing and the ambulance was called. He was rushed to the hospital where I hope he made a full recovery. At least Mike and I were in the right place at the right time, and Mike really saved the kid from further damage. 

I’ve had a couple of situations like that, but with happier endings. After UFC 104 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, fellow cutman Don House and myself were walking out of the arena on our way to a late dinner. We took pictures with fans and were enjoying talking with them when these two drunken guys started shoving one another. 

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the son of one of the drunken gladiators push the opponent so hard that he fell head first on the cement, temporarily knocking him out. 

I was just five feet away, so I quickly came to his aid. I lifted his head and could see he had a two to three-inch cut on his eyebrow. House and I went into action and worked like a team during a UFC fight. House immediately gave me a gauze pad for his cut and I went to work cleaning it out and stopping the bleeding. 

When a fighter is recovering from getting knocked out, his first response is almost always, ‘What happened?’ This guy was a little different. He realized who I was and a smile broke out on his red face. “Stitch, I can’t believe you are working on me,” he said. I laughed and my final instruction was to go to the hospital and get stitches.

On a lighter note, on my last visit to the UK, MMA journalist Nick Peet invited me to participate in a hand-wrapping promo with the UFC Fight Club fans following the weigh-ins. The contest was to copy me wrapping a hand and then the pair who had the best imitation wrap would win two tickets to the following night’s UFC event. The fun part of this contest was that these five pairs of participants were only allowed to use toilet paper and scotch tape. To see the seriousness of these temporary cutmen was hilarious, that was until one of the losers burst into tears! 

He wanted to take his girl to the fights after she had recently lost their unborn child. Upon hearing this, one of the ecstatic winners walked over to him and said: “Here, mate, I’d rather you had them than me.” He donated his floor tickets to him! What a heartwarming moment, and such a class act coming from a true fan. This act demonstrated just how emotional people can be about MMA and how much fans can care about each other.

These are just a few of the ‘outside the Octagon’ moments we cutmen experience. The emotions we experience are some of the biggest reasons we all love working with the fighters and being with the fans