Stich Duran book commentary

Stitch Duran book cover
Credit: Amazon (click image to buy book)

So I've been a big UFC fan for the past 6-7 years and every time I catch an event I saw this Carlos Santana look-alike that worked on the fighters before, during and after the fights; being a boxing follower I knew about the importance of a great cutman but Stitch showed up on damn near every event, there must have been something good about this guy that he was there every time.

After reading a but about him I learned he had a book, I mentioned it randomly to my girlfriend -who is also kind of a UFC enthusiast- but nothing came about it. Not until Valentines Day where she got me the book as a gift. I'm a pretty fast reader, more so when it it something that gets me hooked. Needless to say I was into this one from the foreword -written by Bas Rutten- and I finished it in a couple of days, no more than 3 hours.

This will be an awesome read for so many kinds of people, not only MMA or boxing fans, since it depicts the life of a man who is a prime example of what the so called "American dream" is all about. Of Mexican descent, he was a kid that worked from before the sun came up in the fields of Planada, California; I'd say that 99% of field workers don't amount to anything else in life but you can read the drive Duran had. Hell, who can pull off working in the fields then going to school and staying late for baseball practice?

Not to spoil the book, but it takes you on the ride he took from Planada to Oakland to join the Armed Forces, his service in Thailand and how his love for martial arts grew. Upon his return he gets involved in the boxing world , opens a gym, has a soccer team of kids (nah, he just has 4), keeps his day job while running the gym, moves to Vegas, travels the world over, develops some cutmen products based on his years of experience, gets into UFC... basically takes us from the 60's all the way to 2010.

I know the last paragraph basically takes 280 something pages into a couple of lines but the idea of the blog is to comment on the book as a whole and a couple of the great stories.

How many people in this world say that Don King tried (unsuccessfully) to hustle them out of 500 bucks? That story alone is worth the book; most people won't understand that but if you are into boxing you know big of a figure (I'll leave my personal feelings out of it) King is in that world and to have him try to hustle you out of money is a story that will stick to you for ever.

The travel is a big part of this book. Stitch has been all over the freaking world! From working UFC events in Vegas and all over the States, to Klitschko bothers boxing fights in Germany, stuff with Pride in Japan and every other place you can image. I love how he tells stories relating to the events and also travel stuff; things like Josh Barnett helping him make 500 bucks for wrapping Japanese fighters, to a back alley fight in London involving the infamous Lee Murray (read into him here, some crrrrazy shit), Tito Ortiz and other well known UFC fighters; also, who can say he taught stuff to a Klitschko while dining in a Japanese restaurant in Hamburg, Germany.

The book gives a great perspective into the stuff behind the scenes we never get to see during a boxing or UFC pay-per-view. What fighters, cutmen and everyone involved go to. I loved every moment and story in the book; the amount of big names Stitch has met and interacted with is amazing: Tyson, Cro Cop, Barnett, Lesnar, Couture and Rampage to name a few; the stuff he got to see being with them in their most intimate and vulnerable moments is beyond cool.

While I'm a huge MMA fan and respect what Stitch has done inside and out of the octagon what I take away from this book is that no matter where you came from or what you where "supposed" to be in life you can actually achieve your dreams and goals if you persevere, keep your focus on it and work you freaking ass off.

I'd really encourage you check out the book, well worth the 14 bucks it'll cost you on Amazon, and learn about a great journey in life of Stitch Duran...

... Only one missing thing, he doesn't get into any detail about his awesome guitar playing and music career :)

Mr Khakbaz out!