Doggy Bag: Catch Me If You Can

We know exactly where he is

These “Where Is He Now?” articles Sherdog has been featuring are fantastic. Mark Schultz, Harold Howard, Art Jimmerson and now, the one and only Fred Ettish -- the man who has probably taken the worst verbal beatings for being a traditional martial artist back in the early days of the UFC. I’ve made my fair share of Ettish jokes since I first saw UFC 2, but after reading firsthand about this man’s life, his years of service in the Armed Forces and his struggles in overcoming personal tragedy, I won’t ever make another. Much respect to you, Fred.
-- Jonathan Doughty

Brian Knapp, associate editor: I think we all can agree that the ridicule Fred Ettish faced after his fight with Johnny Rhodes at UFC 2 was unwarranted and unfair. No one was more disappointed with his performance than was Fred, who remains a productive part of the mixed martial arts community -- as a trainer, referee and judge.

“I could have accepted losing so much better if I’d gone out and fought up to my capabilities,” he said. “Johnny Rhodes was definitely better than I was, but I was a better fighter than I showed. So much of that night is like a bad dream. Things happened so fast, and everybody’s heard how last-minute it was. The fallout was tremendous. I left Denver with my tail tucked between my legs. I went home to lick my wounds, having no idea what the ramifications would be.”

So often sports fans lose touch with reality. The men and women who populate MMA and other professional sports are real people with real feelings; at their cores, they are no different than you or I. Few who laughed at Ettish’s expense would have had the guts to set foot in the cage on that night in March 1994.

Ettish has endured a tremendous amount of adversity, very little of which was related to martial arts competition. That he became the brunt of jokes for such a long time will always stand as one of the sport’s great injustices.