Painful Victory
Tommy Messano Sep 26, 2007
Step one towards breaking addiction is admitting you have a
problem. Mixed martial artist Joe
Riggs (Pictures) had little choice but to
acknowledge his crisis.
After successfully making weight for a Zuffa-promoted WEC bout against veteran Hiromitsu Miura (Pictures), Riggs, bothered for two years by a bulging disc in his back, attempted to keep loose by hitting mitts.
"He was in so much pain and at one point he just slumped over,"
recalls Scott Lewis,
Riggs' manager since the fighter was 18. "I knew he had been
struggling, so I pulled him knowing he couldn't do what he is
capable of doing."
Riggs' withdrawal from the fight was the final straw in his long battle with painkillers, which began when he injured his back in one of the biggest wins of his career: a stoppage over Chris Lytle (Pictures) in October of 2005.
The former heavyweight from Phoenix, Ariz., who managed to fight as low as 170 pounds and was once in line to battle Matt Hughes (Pictures) for the UFC welterweight belt (but failed to make weight), is candid about his trials and tribulations.
On Saturday at the Playboy Mansion, Riggs fulfills the first bout on a five-five agreement with Strikeforce when he takes on veteran Eugene Jackson (Pictures).
He hopes his story will cause other combat sports athletes to look in the mirror.
"The thing about fighters," warns Riggs, "they have to realize you are taking [painkillers] for pain to get through the day. But it's so dangerous taking those things because they can be so addictive."
Estimating "a good 40 percent of the fighters" take something for pain, the middleweight warns aspiring fighters not to follow in his footsteps.
"It's a dangerous game and it's hard to get by," he says. "You got to be careful."
Tragedy in Riggs' personal life compounded the troubles in his professional life. In the summer of 2006, he and his wife Kim endured the birth and subsequent passing away of their son.
But a lot can happen in a year, particular in the life of a fighter.
This June the Riggs family saw the birth of Joseph Diesel Riggs. A month later, knowing another loss would likely see the WEC part ways with him, Riggs went to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to fight Dan Chambers (Pictures).
"It's always a little nerve racking when you have a lot on the line," Riggs says. "I thought my contract (with the WEC) was going to be over, it ended up not mattering anyways."
Though Riggs had won by triangle choke in the first, he asked the WEC for a release from his deal.
"Joe Silva was nice enough to let me go," Riggs says. "It was my choice. I'll be back with Zuffa one day. I'm 100 percent sure of that."
With his body at 100 percent, the UFC vet says health isn't an issue for the first time in his career.
"Right now my body feels the best it felt in a long time," he says. "I feel like I'm 25. Before I felt like I was 23 going on 60. I feel good. The rehab on my back went great. I'm done taking those pills. That's a huge part. Everything feels great in my life."
With 35 professional fights to his name before hitting the quarter-century mark -- which he did Sunday -- Riggs manages to put a positive spin on his hectic fight schedule.
"Besides my back surgery, I've never had too many injuries," he says. "I got a lot of miles on this ‘Diesel,' but I just keep on going. The more fights I have under my belt and the more years in training are great. Its not like time is ticking against me."
Lewis offers a different perspective of his close friend.
"I think the weigh cut takes a lot out of him physically," says Lewis, a representative of MMA agent Ken Pavia's management team. "You throw in the weight cut, you throw in the fact that his back has been hurting him for a long time, all the painkillers he admitted he was taking, and you really get a guy who was struggling with himself."
Sobriety has given Riggs, now mentally focused and possessor of a reconditioned body, a new lease on his MMA career.
An unforeseen spiritual side has also become a part of the new Riggs. As recent as Sept. 19, Riggs says he experienced an awakening of sorts while attending a UFC Fight Night card.
"I give Nate Quarry all the props in the world," Riggs says. "Coming off a back injury like that when they say he couldn't do it. I started crying when that guy won. That guy is my hero. I've never had any more respect for any other fighter in the world. Just hearing about his back injury and all the things he went through. His was 10 times worse than mine. For him to come back from it when everyone said he couldn't was really inspiring. It touched my heart and I was praying for him the whole time."
As one of the first MMA fighters to open up about the struggles that occur when the cameras are off, perhaps Riggs will inspire others to do the same.
After successfully making weight for a Zuffa-promoted WEC bout against veteran Hiromitsu Miura (Pictures), Riggs, bothered for two years by a bulging disc in his back, attempted to keep loose by hitting mitts.
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Riggs' withdrawal from the fight was the final straw in his long battle with painkillers, which began when he injured his back in one of the biggest wins of his career: a stoppage over Chris Lytle (Pictures) in October of 2005.
Following the Lytle fight, Riggs' MMA career became a pendulum of
alternating wins and losses. And during the six-fight span, Riggs
(26-9-0, 1 NC) admitted to taking up 20 pills a day.
The former heavyweight from Phoenix, Ariz., who managed to fight as low as 170 pounds and was once in line to battle Matt Hughes (Pictures) for the UFC welterweight belt (but failed to make weight), is candid about his trials and tribulations.
On Saturday at the Playboy Mansion, Riggs fulfills the first bout on a five-five agreement with Strikeforce when he takes on veteran Eugene Jackson (Pictures).
He hopes his story will cause other combat sports athletes to look in the mirror.
"The thing about fighters," warns Riggs, "they have to realize you are taking [painkillers] for pain to get through the day. But it's so dangerous taking those things because they can be so addictive."
Estimating "a good 40 percent of the fighters" take something for pain, the middleweight warns aspiring fighters not to follow in his footsteps.
"It's a dangerous game and it's hard to get by," he says. "You got to be careful."
Tragedy in Riggs' personal life compounded the troubles in his professional life. In the summer of 2006, he and his wife Kim endured the birth and subsequent passing away of their son.
But a lot can happen in a year, particular in the life of a fighter.
This June the Riggs family saw the birth of Joseph Diesel Riggs. A month later, knowing another loss would likely see the WEC part ways with him, Riggs went to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to fight Dan Chambers (Pictures).
"It's always a little nerve racking when you have a lot on the line," Riggs says. "I thought my contract (with the WEC) was going to be over, it ended up not mattering anyways."
Though Riggs had won by triangle choke in the first, he asked the WEC for a release from his deal.
"Joe Silva was nice enough to let me go," Riggs says. "It was my choice. I'll be back with Zuffa one day. I'm 100 percent sure of that."
With his body at 100 percent, the UFC vet says health isn't an issue for the first time in his career.
"Right now my body feels the best it felt in a long time," he says. "I feel like I'm 25. Before I felt like I was 23 going on 60. I feel good. The rehab on my back went great. I'm done taking those pills. That's a huge part. Everything feels great in my life."
With 35 professional fights to his name before hitting the quarter-century mark -- which he did Sunday -- Riggs manages to put a positive spin on his hectic fight schedule.
"Besides my back surgery, I've never had too many injuries," he says. "I got a lot of miles on this ‘Diesel,' but I just keep on going. The more fights I have under my belt and the more years in training are great. Its not like time is ticking against me."
Lewis offers a different perspective of his close friend.
"I think the weigh cut takes a lot out of him physically," says Lewis, a representative of MMA agent Ken Pavia's management team. "You throw in the weight cut, you throw in the fact that his back has been hurting him for a long time, all the painkillers he admitted he was taking, and you really get a guy who was struggling with himself."
Sobriety has given Riggs, now mentally focused and possessor of a reconditioned body, a new lease on his MMA career.
An unforeseen spiritual side has also become a part of the new Riggs. As recent as Sept. 19, Riggs says he experienced an awakening of sorts while attending a UFC Fight Night card.
"I give Nate Quarry all the props in the world," Riggs says. "Coming off a back injury like that when they say he couldn't do it. I started crying when that guy won. That guy is my hero. I've never had any more respect for any other fighter in the world. Just hearing about his back injury and all the things he went through. His was 10 times worse than mine. For him to come back from it when everyone said he couldn't was really inspiring. It touched my heart and I was praying for him the whole time."
As one of the first MMA fighters to open up about the struggles that occur when the cameras are off, perhaps Riggs will inspire others to do the same.
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