At twenty-one, Chris Haseman decided he wanted to be a fighter, and that where he was wasn't serving him. He stopped drinking. He didn't touch alcohol again until he was thirty-six.

He is clear that the alcohol itself probably wasn't why he did so well. It was a measure of how badly he wanted it. As he puts it: if you're not assessing, you're guessing.

Chris Haseman is Australia's original mixed martial arts fighter. He fought in RINGS in Japan, in the King of Kings tournament, and at UFC 38 against Evan Tanner, who went on to become world champion. He instructed at the Queensland Police Academy, built a training system for the Iraqi police during the war, and ran conditioning for the Brisbane Broncos.

His father gave up a poultry farm to teach jiu-jitsu full time and is still teaching at seventy-six. To see his dad, Chris had to go to class. That's how the whole thing started.

In this conversation with Kenneth Cutbush, he describes fighting his first no-rules bout in Alabama in 1995, being drawn against a Brazilian black belt in his first round in Japan and being told by his coach to simply wipe the grin off the man's face, and sitting alone on the fighters' bus in Tokyo while everyone else had a corner and a country behind them.

He is candid about what it cost. Instinctive training, run further, lift more, roll every night with no measuring and no recovery. He says he'd do it completely differently now.

The Broncos camp section is extraordinary and, as he says, would never be permitted today. Six o'clock start, jerry cans of water carried up a mountain, three days on a protein bar and a tin of beans, and a lesson about chickens that the players never forgot.

And there is his shoulder: bone on bone, completely worn out, and what happened when he tried to move it after Ken replaced it.

Chapters

  • 00:00 Fifteen years without a drink
  • 00:46 Welcome, Australia's original MMA fighter
  • 01:38 A father who gave up a poultry farm for jiu-jitsu
  • 02:42 Four nights a week at police youth clubs
  • 03:01 How his father found jiu-jitsu
  • 04:28 Kicking at his reflection for hours
  • 05:13 Judo groundwork, throws and a karate stand-up
  • 06:36 What jiu-jitsu gave him beyond the fighting
  • 07:17 The band, and why they only kept him for the station wagon
  • 08:48 The decision at twenty-one
  • 09:39 Fifteen years of total focus
  • 10:45 Superstition, repetition and something close to OCD
  • 11:11 "Instinctive training", and why he'd change all of it
  • 11:58 The police job that was effectively a sponsorship
  • 12:37 Overtraining with no measurement at all
  • 15:53 His first no-rules fight, Alabama 1995
  • 17:30 Bill Turner, and the coach who never left his corner
  • 17:55 Drawn against a Brazilian black belt in round one
  • 19:19 "Just wipe that grin off his face"
  • 19:52 Sitting alone on the fighters' bus in Japan
  • 21:35 The rare days when he just wanted a great fight
  • 23:32 The opponent whose power he still can't fathom
  • 25:10 A beer alone in Japan afterwards
  • 26:44 Watching the crowds get smaller
  • 29:06 How the police service let him keep fighting
  • 31:23 UFC 38, and fighting Evan Tanner
  • 32:41 Knowing it was time to stop
  • 34:18 Iraq, and training the Iraqi police
  • 36:23 Why a disciplined environment suits him
  • 37:17 A shoulder worn to bone on bone
  • 38:30 How the Broncos camp came about
  • 39:25 Six o'clock, casual gear, and no warning
  • 42:11 Jerry cans of water up Wild Horse Mountain
  • 43:14 A protein bar and a tin of beans
  • 44:38 The chickens, and the debate
  • 46:18 The bus that kept driving away
  • 47:44 The shirts hung in the dressing room before the grand final
  • 49:55 The reunion fight in 2012
  • 50:49 An opponent who pulled out on the morning of the weigh-in
  • 52:17 "The operation was a success, but the patient died"
  • 53:13 Testing the new shoulder before he was supposed to
  • 53:39 The three Ps
  • 55:54 Whether he regrets the fifteen years