Yahoo: Suicidal as a teen, MMA changed Hazelett's life

[Clark Kent]

01-01-2010 03:15 PM:

​

The dude's got huge ears and a gnarly beard. He's far from the typical fighter, who looks massive and ripped. That unusual appearance and some social awkwardness made it rough as a teen for UFC fighter Dustin Hazelett. Now nicknamed "McLovin" after a character from the movie Superbad, Hazelett was picked upon viciously as a kid. It was made worse when he transferred from a Christian prep school to public school in junior high. Hazelett found his salvation in sports:

"I got into martial arts and everybody stopped bullying me," told DC and The Sunshine Man on ESPNRadio1100. "It really helped in that area and it also gave me a lot of self-confidence. I kind of walked around with a chip on my shoulder in high school. Helped me get my life on track."

A native of Louisa, Kentucky, he began training muay thai in his garage using instructional videos and then jiu-jitsu at 16-years-old in Huntington, West Virginia.

Before that it was pretty nasty. He pondered suicide as a teen.

Understandably, Hazelett feels he owes a lot to martial arts and its code of respect and honor.

"Because a martial artist is about more than just fighting. You learn martial arts, you're supposed to learn the humility and the discipline. I feel like a lot of people are getting away from that."

Hazelett, 23, doesn't understand guys like Lesnar, Tito Ortiz and Dan Hardy:

"I don't think I should have to talk trash to hype up my fight. My last fight should hype up my next fight. I don't agree with disrespecting my opponent to hype up a fight."

We'll do it for him. Hazelett (12-4, 5-2 UFC) is in the co-main event at UFC 108 against Paul Daley. It's your classic ground specialist against striker. Hazelett has gotten eight of his 12 wins via submission while Daley has scored finishes via strikes in 17-of-22 victories.



More...
Yahoo! Sports.
Cagewriter is an MMA blog edited by Steve Cofield.

 

[Tez3]

01-01-2010 03:15 PM:

The dude's got huge ears and a gnarly beard. He's far from the typical fighter, who looks massive and ripped. That unusual appearance and some social awkwardness made it rough as a teen for UFC fighter Dustin Hazelett. Now nicknamed "McLovin" after a character from the movie Superbad, Hazelett was picked upon viciously as a kid. It was made worse when he transferred from a Christian prep school to public school in junior high. Hazelett found his salvation in sports:

"I got into martial arts and everybody stopped bullying me," told DC and The Sunshine Man on ESPNRadio1100. "It really helped in that area and it also gave me a lot of self-confidence. I kind of walked around with a chip on my shoulder in high school. Helped me get my life on track."

A native of Louisa, Kentucky, he began training muay thai in his garage using instructional videos and then jiu-jitsu at 16-years-old in Huntington, West Virginia.

Before that it was pretty nasty. He pondered suicide as a teen.

Understandably, Hazelett feels he owes a lot to martial arts and its code of respect and honor.

"Because a martial artist is about more than just fighting. You learn martial arts, you're supposed to learn the humility and the discipline. I feel like a lot of people are getting away from that."

Hazelett, 23, doesn't understand guys like Lesnar, Tito Ortiz and Dan Hardy:

"I don't think I should have to talk trash to hype up my fight. My last fight should hype up my next fight. I don't agree with disrespecting my opponent to hype up a fight."

We'll do it for him. Hazelett (12-4, 5-2 UFC) is in the co-main event at UFC 108 against Paul Daley. It's your classic ground specialist against striker. Hazelett has gotten eight of his 12 wins via submission while Daley has scored finishes via strikes in 17-of-22 victories.



More...
Yahoo! Sports.
Cagewriter is an MMA blog edited by Steve Cofield.

Oh dear again generalisations about 'ground specialist v striker', just because a chap wins by strikes doesn't make him purely a striker, Paul has very good ground skills and it depends on who he fights as what he uses, doens't anyone understand this? Tactics? Paul does what is necessary, we've known him since he was a kid and he a a brilliant MMA fighter in that he is an all round fighter. Nathan Leverton his ground coach is one of the best coaches in Europe, his knowledge of subs and wrestling is endless, he is a brilliant coach. He's also a close friend of Geoff Thompson.
Btw Paul's standup style is karate for all those of you who said karate isn't used much in MMA.

 

[SensibleManiac]

His commentary about trash talking is cool. It's good to see fighters with the right attitude.