Fred Ettish on UFC 2 saga and over 15 years between bouts

Fred Ettish is a veteran of UFC 2 who embarked on an incredible redemptive journey to secure his first MMA win in the late 2000's.

I spoke with Ettish and we touched on several subjects such as: -What a day in the life of Ettish looks like

-When his work began with The Salvation Army

-A student of his showing him a tape on the UFC which began Fred Ettish's MMA journey

-Some of the politics behind karate tournaments Ettish competed in and the excitement with the UFC framework seemingly subverting those politics

-The lack of specific game-planning, tape study, and the entirely different landscape of competing at UFC 2 versus the modern landscape

-Initially playing a Burt Watson type of role, facilitating fighters getting from place to place until Rorion Gracie found Ettish to see if he could fight minutes later 

-Thoughts on Bare Knuckle MMA coming back nowadays as someone who fought in bare-knuckle MMA in early 1994

-If any other offers came Ettish's way years back from PRIDE, IVC, etc

-How a PRIDE FC fight would have very much piqued the interest of Fred Ettish

-Achieving his first MMA victory at 53 years old yet and beating the brakes off a guy who was 24 years old

-The aesthetic representations of the traditional Gi and years later being in the classic shorts and the four-ounce gloves

-A pronounced period existing between his two fights and if Ettish would ever entertain taking a third MMA fight

-Weapons based training and being in his mid 60s sparring with some of the younger guys

-His relationship with James Krause and knowing him for a meaningful period of time since he was a younger lad

-What inspires the perpetual pursuit of learning for Fred Ettish within the martial arts space