Issue 151

February 2017

From: Bemiji, Minnesota,

First seen: March 1994 (UFC 2),

Last seen: August 2009 (CFX Gladiator Evolution),

Record: 1-1.

Lifelong karateka Fred Ettish entered UFC 2 as a last-minute replacement at the semi-final stage to face Johnny Rhodes. It was obvious from the start that he was in way over his head. Rhodes was bigger, stronger, faster and more skilled. He needed only a few seconds to impose his will on his overmatched opponent.

Ettish was cut, bloodied and nearly blinded by a bare-knuckle barrage. “When Johnny Rhodes hit me early in the fight, I lost vision in my eye and didn’t regain it until a few hours after the fight,” he says.

“I still have a spot deep in my eye that shows up on eye exams. I thought at the time that if I could keep Rhodes away and not take too much more damage, I could clear my vision and fight better. Of course, that is not how things played out. I got my ass kicked by a better, more well-prepared man.”

He was mercifully stopped by rear naked choke shortly after the three-minute mark. It was one of the most one-sided and sustained beatings in the tournaments of the UFC’s early days.

Unfortunately for Ettish, he was never able to redeem himself inside the Octagon and that fact haunted him for years after.

“The firestorm of ridicule and criticism that followed and has continued for so long has hurt far worse than the beating at the hands of Johnny Rhodes,” Ettish says.

“I was in no way prepared for the intensity and duration of it. I can accept criticism but the way it was handed out was so unfair. For many years I let it affect me far too deeply.”

Despite the criticism and the trolling, Ettish didn’t give up on martial arts.

Though he didn’t pursue a career in fighting, he never gave up on his passion. In the years following his disastrous lone Octagon outing, he ran a martial arts gym affiliated with Pat Miletich and the UFC Hall of Famer’s Miletich Fighting Systems.

“I have had many different jobs since UFC 2,” Ettish adds. “Although I always do my best whatever job I do, a job to me is just a job. I give my best. I draw my pay, then go on to do what I love, which is train, teach and work out.

"Of course I have other passions in life such as family, animals, outdoors, reading and music but I am a martial artist to my core and work is just a way for me to be able to do what I love. I continue to practice martial arts, literally, every day of my life and will for as long as I live.”

Ettish continued to take licks from the MMA community. He was disheartened by “dishonorable and slimy” promoters that stood in the way of his students’ fledgling careers and continued to be ridiculed online.

Finally, in 2009, Ettish redefined how he’d be remembered by entering the cage one more time at the age of 53 in a promotion run by UFC veteran Brock Larson in Brained, Minnesota. This time, it was his turn to earn a stoppage in the first round.

“I often say that we don’t have a choice in the cards life deals us, but we always have a choice in how we play the hand,” Ettish adds. “I chose to make sure I can stand tall and answer for what I do or don’t do. I chose to not hide behind excuses.

"I chose not to take the easy way out. I chose to try my best to be a better man every day than I was the day before.

“Everybody can make that choice. Anybody who knows me will likely tell you that I am not one to take the easy way out. We all fall short sometimes but you realize that this is only part of being human. Learn your lesson and keep fighting.”