Issue 164

February 2017

Why fighting on screen is an easy fit for an MMA star.

Buy Bust is being directed by Erik Matti. It’s with one of the biggest stars in the Philippines, Anne Curtis, and the whole of the Philippines and the rest of the world are waiting for it to come out.

I’m the rookie in the room when I move into this genre, but everybody else is eager to work with me because I just go with the flow and try to make everybody happy. I’m always on time. My discipline from training mixed martial arts goes right over into the entertainment industry. People can’t believe I’m on set on time.

When I was a little kid, my grandma used to watch all of the kids and she’d ask, ‘Which one of my kids is going to be a movie star in the Philippines?’ We all used to say, ‘We will, we will.’ It’s really a dream come true since then. I’ve always wanted to come back to the Philippines. All my plans and dreams shifted and then came true. I’d never really thought about becoming an entertainer, or an actor, until I moved to the Philippines full-time.

I’m doing action, which is not easy. I get hurt more on set than I do during training. There are so many accidents and so many different variables I have no control over. Things are blowing up and people are falling over all around me. There are explosions, stuff flying by your face, things blowing up and popping on your hand, motorcycles falling on you – it’s crazy action stuff, stuff I never felt would happen to me before I did a film.

In this whole movie, there is only one thing I did not do. Everything else is us. The martial arts stuff is easy. That’s like drilling for me. When there’s a fight sequence, the whole stunt crew and everybody’s tired, and I’m like, ‘Again, again, again!’ I want to make sure that all the timing’s down. I want to make sure it’s not fake and it can be as real to life as it can be.

They are always asking for my opinion. It’s collaborating. It’s very helpful. There are a lot of things I didn’t know in the acting world. The punches we call out for in fights aren’t the same punches they call for on film. The camera angles are wrong. It’s better. I enjoy working because I let them hit me on camera. I say hit me, and they say, ‘What are you talking about?’ I say they can hit me and promise it’s OK.

My delivery has to be correct and their reaction has to be correct. Timing is the most important part. It’s like drilling with your partner. You’re hitting him, but not really hitting them. It looks authentic on camera because they are actually hitting me. They can show whatever angle they want. It works.

Right after this movie we might have three more lined up. I thought I was going to be able to move to the Philippines and do the movie thing and train for fights, and it’s really hard. The only thing I can do right now is do movies and go to the gym. I don’t have the time or energy to do pad-work or mitt-work or sparring or rolling. All I can do right now is lift. I’m just trying to maintain my strength and conditioning for as long as I can. I need to fight again!

People ask why I fight so infrequently. I ask why would I need to fight more? Win, lose or draw, I have other things I’m doing in my life. I’m not just a fighter. I’ve never been focused on one thing. I don’t think you should be. There are guys that fight six or seven times a year. Man, you’re missing out on life.