Issue 209

September 2024

Before championship belts were on the line, the world's greatest fighters were locked in their own battles. Isaac Barnett delves into the gritty and inspiring MMA origin stories that forged these warriors into the legends they are today.

BAS RUTTEN-THE PIONEER 

Born in Tilburg, Netherlands, on February 24th, 1965, he suffered severe asthma, and when he turned six years old, he developed eczema, which significantly impacted his childhood.

“All my family was sending sheets to my parents,” he says. “They would tear them into small pieces, and every night, they would have to put everything on me and wiggle me in like a mummy.”

However, he didn’t let his conditions get in the way of his imagination. The young boy was fascinated by comic books and took great inspiration from Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four. He lived near a forest, so he often climbed the trees and jumped between them without touching the ground, imitating his childhood heroes from the comics. Because of his skin condition, he had to wear obnoxious gloves to school, which made him a target for bullies. It wasn’t until 1976 that he had his first interaction with fighting. During a family holiday to France, Rutten and his brother visited a movie theatre to see ‘Enter the Dragon.’ Bruce Lee inspired Rutten, so he begged his parents to let him do Taekwondo. It took him two years to convince them, but he eventually wore them down and allowed him to begin training.

Speaking to the UFC, he said: “After six weeks, two months? I was beating up the brown belts, so my confidence rose; I felt good about fighting. Then, I got into a street fight with the biggest bully in town. I knocked him out. One punch, I broke his nose, and I knocked him out.

The police showed up, and that meant no more Taekwondo because, of course, my parents were against it.”

It wasn’t until he was 21, when he moved out of his family home, that he could begin training again. He started with karate, leading to Thai Boxing and kickboxing, where he had 16 fights, winning 14 by knockout and losing his last two. His friend invited him to the Japanese MMA promotion Pancrase scouting event in Holland, where he was chosen to join the promotion after knocking out the RINGS champion in the first round, which led to him making a name for himself in Japan and the rest is MMA history.

RONDA ROUSEY - THE GOLDEN GIRL

Born on February 1, 1987, in Riverside County, California, Rousey faced plenty of challenges the moment she was born. First, she needed CPR because her mother's umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. Next, she was diagnosed with apraxia, a neurological speech sound disorder, thanks to her birthing complications. Rousey struggled with speech and could not form coherent sentences until she was six years old.

"My sisters would translate my gibberish, so they'd be like, ‘What do you want for a bedtime snack, Rony?’ And I'd be like, ‘Blah, blah, blah,’ and my sister would know that I wanted chocolate milk and cookies," she told the UFC.

Her father, Ron Rousey, was confident she would recover, although her mother, AnnMaria, had doubts about it. Tragedy struck Rousey's family when Ronda was eight. Her father became paralyzed after a sledding accident, and his health rapidly deteriorated. Her father took his life shortly after, which devastated her and her family.

Rousey was also bullied at school for having a muscular physique from her competitive swimming. Often called names such as ‘Mrs. Man, she chose to be home-schooled during elementary school and her early high school years.

By age 11, she was tired of being bullied, so she asked her mother to train her in judo. Her mother was hesitant at first because she was the first American to win a world judo tournament, and she didn't want to put that pressure on her daughter, especially after the family had been through so much.

In her Netflix documentary, her mother said, "If you want to do judo, your mom was always the first person to win the world championships in this country. Everyone is going to expect too much of you. Do your thing. Stick to swimming. Until one day, when my friend Hayward was listening to me argue with her, he said, ‘Nobody remembers you; let the kid do whatever she wants.’

They began training for hours because her mother told her she started late, so she had to catch up. By the time she was 13, she got so good she accidentally broke her mother's wrist. She began training at Hayastan MMA with much bigger and stronger men, so by 17, she had dominated when competing against people her age and size.

In 2006, she became the first female U.S. judoka in nearly ten years to win an A-Level tournament, going 5–0 to claim gold at the Birmingham World Cup. Later that year, the 19-year-old won the bronze medal at the 2006 Junior World Championships, becoming the first U.S. athlete to win two Junior World medals. Her continued success earned her a place on the 2008 Olympic team, where she won a bronze medal. She became the first American to win a medal in Judo since the sport's inception into the Olympics in 1992. After the Olympics, she retired from Judo at 21 before eventually transitioning to MMA.

JUSTIN GAETHJE - THE MOST VIOLENT MAN FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Justin Gaethje, along with his twin brother Marcus, was born on November 14, 1988, in Safford, Arizona. His working-class parents instilled the value of hard work and dedication. Gaethje's journey into the world of fighting began when he started wrestling at four. Alongside wrestling, he also played baseball and American football, which developed his athleticism and fierce desire to win and compete. He loved wrestling so much that he and his brother would relentlessly practice with each other, often resulting in the Gaethje family home taking the biggest beating. 

Speaking to Secret Base, Marcus Gaethje said: "There's nothing better than a twin that you can be competitive with, grow off of, and push each other. That's why he's (Justin) successful now."

When he came to Safford High School, Justin was an extremely talented wrestler. His high school wrestling coach, Herman Andrews, told Secret Base, "When he came in as a freshman, we were showing throws or lateral drops, and he was already hitting them, so I pulled him up to start talking about it. Everyone was right there watching, and next thing I knew, my feet were up in the air, and he threw me in front of everybody. He still won't let me live that down. I don't care if you are playing marbles. He will do what he needs to do to win because he hates to lose."

He finished high school with a record of 191-9 and was a two-time state champion. When he was 18, Gaethje spent a summer working at the Morenci mine. While he made good money, the work was tedious for ‘The Highlight,’ which motivated him to pursue a career in other fields. He aspired to attend college in Arizona to remain close to his family. Still, his high school wrestling success earned him an offer from the NCAA Division I program at the University of Northern Colorado. He became the first Northern Colorado wrestler to obtain Division I All-American status in 40 years. He was inducted into the University of Northern Colorado Athletics Hall of Fame for his achievements in wrestling in 2020. It was also during this time he first became entwined with MMA. He trained with George St-Pierre, Rashard Evans, and his future UFC opponent, Donald Cerrone, and after spending time with these legends in the sport, he decided to fight. His college grades were low then, so his coaches told him that if he could improve his grades, they would get him an amateur fight after the wrestling season. Gaethje upheld his end of the bargain and had a successful amateur career, going 7-0 before turning professional in 2011.