MMA Fan
21-10-2009, 20:55
(het is een bekend verhaal, maar het was gister geplaatst in de LA Times)
This time, Antoni Hardonk was fighting for more than UFC glory -- latimes.com (http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw-ufc-hardonk21-2009oct21,0,3346954.story)
This time, Antoni Hardonk was fighting for more than UFC glory
The heavyweight, who will battle Pat Barry at Staples Center on Saturday, took on three alleged armed robbers last June.
By Lance Pugmire
October 20, 2009 | 2:26 p.m.
Antoni Hardonk is used to fighting, but until an evening last June, his battles were in a training gym or under the bright lights beaming onto an arena's Ultimate Fighting Championship octagon.
Hardonk, a 33-year-old heavyweight from Amsterdam who relocated to Los Angeles after joining the UFC in 2006, lives in a Westchester apartment building. One night after a training session, as he and his attorney talked outside the building, three young men approached and asked the 6-foot-4, 245-pound Hardonk if he had any change, which they said they needed for a phone call.
Hardonk said that after checking his wallet, "I told them I didn't have any change. "They didn't like hearing that. The tone in their voices changed, and one of them said, 'Give me your wallet,' and pulled out a knife."
Hardonk said he stared at the hand-made six-inch-long shank with a blade taped to it. He had looked inside his wallet and saw there was $80 inside.
"Nothing in my character would allow me to hand that wallet over," he said. "I fight for my money. That's my living. I'm not just going to give it away. Eighty dollars is a lot of money; that's money I need for food. And I'm a heavyweight. I need food."
So Hardonk said he told the three young men, "You'll have to come and get it."
There's no way to know if any of the three knew that Hardonk defeated three UFC heavyweights by technical knockout in 2008, or if that his only recent losses are to former heavyweight champ Frank Mir and contender Cheick Kongo. But none of the three stepped forward to press that matter with Hardonk.
"I think they realized something was wrong with me," Hardonk said, "either that I was crazy or just tough."
As Hardonk's attorney called police about the incident, the fighter noticed the three men had walked down the street and were confronting a neighbor exiting his car.
"They asked for my money, but I only had $6," said Hardonk's 23-year-old neighbor, Dillon Chance. "One said, 'Hey, you better give me some money, my friend,' and they said, 'This ain't a joke, we're going to kill you.'"
Chance said one of the young men grabbed his wallet and started leafing through it, when suddenly a thundering, large man came sprinting "like a 6-foot ninja out of the shadows," asking, "Is that your wallet?"
"From the look on [Hardonk's] face, the sheer anger, I could tell he was there to help me," Chance said. "I was like, 'Sweet! Yep, that's my wallet.' He hit two of those guys like a freight train, with full force. A double-handed push: Smack!"
Chance said Hardonk struck one of the alleged robbers with such impact that the young man's knee left a large imprint on the lawn where he fell. The shank went flying from his hand. Another alleged robber went flying backward about three feet, Chance said, and Hardonk began chasing the third man, who had grabbed the wallet but then dropped it to get away. The other two men who were hit also ran away.
Los Angeles police officers who later responded said a similarly described trio had been involved in at least three other recent robberies. Hardonk and Chance said they believe the three young men remain on the loose.
"I think they were on drugs -- stoned or drunk," Hardonk said. "When I jumped on them, I didn't know who had the wallet or the knife. My health is important, and with that knife, they could've done a lot of damage. But at a moment like that, you don't think. You act on instinct."
On Saturday night at Staples Center, Hardonk returns to the UFC octagon for the first time since the attempted robbery and his April TKO loss to Kongo, when he fights Pat Barry. It's part of the UFC 104 card headlined by the light-heavyweight championship main event pitting unbeaten champion Lyoto Machida versus fellow Brazilian Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.
"There's nothing else in the world I can imagine myself doing at this point," Hardonk said. "As long as I'm still getting better, improving, I love the challenge to compete."
Plus, opponents can't carry a knife into the octagon.
This time, Antoni Hardonk was fighting for more than UFC glory -- latimes.com (http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw-ufc-hardonk21-2009oct21,0,3346954.story)
This time, Antoni Hardonk was fighting for more than UFC glory
The heavyweight, who will battle Pat Barry at Staples Center on Saturday, took on three alleged armed robbers last June.
By Lance Pugmire
October 20, 2009 | 2:26 p.m.
Antoni Hardonk is used to fighting, but until an evening last June, his battles were in a training gym or under the bright lights beaming onto an arena's Ultimate Fighting Championship octagon.
Hardonk, a 33-year-old heavyweight from Amsterdam who relocated to Los Angeles after joining the UFC in 2006, lives in a Westchester apartment building. One night after a training session, as he and his attorney talked outside the building, three young men approached and asked the 6-foot-4, 245-pound Hardonk if he had any change, which they said they needed for a phone call.
Hardonk said that after checking his wallet, "I told them I didn't have any change. "They didn't like hearing that. The tone in their voices changed, and one of them said, 'Give me your wallet,' and pulled out a knife."
Hardonk said he stared at the hand-made six-inch-long shank with a blade taped to it. He had looked inside his wallet and saw there was $80 inside.
"Nothing in my character would allow me to hand that wallet over," he said. "I fight for my money. That's my living. I'm not just going to give it away. Eighty dollars is a lot of money; that's money I need for food. And I'm a heavyweight. I need food."
So Hardonk said he told the three young men, "You'll have to come and get it."
There's no way to know if any of the three knew that Hardonk defeated three UFC heavyweights by technical knockout in 2008, or if that his only recent losses are to former heavyweight champ Frank Mir and contender Cheick Kongo. But none of the three stepped forward to press that matter with Hardonk.
"I think they realized something was wrong with me," Hardonk said, "either that I was crazy or just tough."
As Hardonk's attorney called police about the incident, the fighter noticed the three men had walked down the street and were confronting a neighbor exiting his car.
"They asked for my money, but I only had $6," said Hardonk's 23-year-old neighbor, Dillon Chance. "One said, 'Hey, you better give me some money, my friend,' and they said, 'This ain't a joke, we're going to kill you.'"
Chance said one of the young men grabbed his wallet and started leafing through it, when suddenly a thundering, large man came sprinting "like a 6-foot ninja out of the shadows," asking, "Is that your wallet?"
"From the look on [Hardonk's] face, the sheer anger, I could tell he was there to help me," Chance said. "I was like, 'Sweet! Yep, that's my wallet.' He hit two of those guys like a freight train, with full force. A double-handed push: Smack!"
Chance said Hardonk struck one of the alleged robbers with such impact that the young man's knee left a large imprint on the lawn where he fell. The shank went flying from his hand. Another alleged robber went flying backward about three feet, Chance said, and Hardonk began chasing the third man, who had grabbed the wallet but then dropped it to get away. The other two men who were hit also ran away.
Los Angeles police officers who later responded said a similarly described trio had been involved in at least three other recent robberies. Hardonk and Chance said they believe the three young men remain on the loose.
"I think they were on drugs -- stoned or drunk," Hardonk said. "When I jumped on them, I didn't know who had the wallet or the knife. My health is important, and with that knife, they could've done a lot of damage. But at a moment like that, you don't think. You act on instinct."
On Saturday night at Staples Center, Hardonk returns to the UFC octagon for the first time since the attempted robbery and his April TKO loss to Kongo, when he fights Pat Barry. It's part of the UFC 104 card headlined by the light-heavyweight championship main event pitting unbeaten champion Lyoto Machida versus fellow Brazilian Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.
"There's nothing else in the world I can imagine myself doing at this point," Hardonk said. "As long as I'm still getting better, improving, I love the challenge to compete."
Plus, opponents can't carry a knife into the octagon.