Alex White’s long, hard trip from drinking gasoline to UFC
Alex White: “If I can overcome everything, other kids can also. I can’t let them down. It’s not just me losing; a loss would be them losing. I can’t have that.”
Normal people don’t do this.
But that is part of the beauty of mixed martial arts.
Undefeated UFC featherweight Alex White spoke with MMAJunkie‘s Mike Bohn ahead of his fight with Lucas Martins at UFC Fight Night 45 on Wed. White relates a financially unstable upbringing in Tescumbia, Missouri, population 218.
At age four White accidentally drank gasoline which scarred his vocal cords, and left him with a speech impediment.
I didn’t know someone drank all (the juice in a box) and that my dad decided to pour gasoline in it while he was messing with the carburetor, said White. I took that jug and drank out of it. Next thing I knew, I woke up in the hospital. They said it would be a miracle if I survived the night.
That led to the speech impediment, which doubtless drew in the bullies.
Me and my brothers were walking, and all of a sudden these guys pulled up in a car and picked a fight with my biggest brother, said White. Me and my other brother tried to help, and the other guys just held us back. We watched him get beat up, and ever since then I wanted to get strong enough to do something.
In time White found coach Joe Worden’s Destruction MMA, in Farmington, MO, some three hours away. When his parents moved, he decided to stay.
It was a gut feeling to stay, said White. I was homeless for a couple days. My neighbors kind of took me in for a little bit, and then I eventually got a place of my own.
White is now a UFC fighter, a dangerous dude, and a role model.
I’m a small-town boy, and I’m kind of a role model, said White. If I can overcome everything, other kids can also. I can’t let them down. It’s not just me losing; a loss would be them losing. I can’t have that.
