Take a look inside the careers of Josh Barnett, Christos Giagos, Pedro Munhoz and Victor Henry in Life of a Fighter: The Journey.
The MMA movie airs on FITE on Friday at 8 p.m. ET.
Directed by Anna Cespedes, the film follows the life of Chad George as he prepares for his final fight.
“This film really puts you in the heart of a fighter,” says Cespedes. “It’s different because it’s so personal, you feel like you’re there with him going through this crazy journey and then rooting for him because now you’re a part of his world.”
Chad, a Jewish-Italian native of Sacramento, CA, was an All-American wrestler in high school who had two periods of homelessness before beginning his fight career with World Extreme Cagefighting, and later, BAMMA and Bellator. The 18-8 fighter was also the first Combat Jiu-Jitsu champion featured on UFC FightPass and a multiple-time world champion in NoGI.
“My career as an MMA fighter has been nothing short of the Cinderella story,” says Chad. “I’ve had every single up and down that you can think of, and I would change absolutely nothing about it. Easily the biggest obstacle I’ve had to overcome is myself. I had low self confidence and never gave myself enough credit.”
Amidst the action in the film, the hard training and the hard truths, Chad coaches some young fighters and eventually faces a tragedy that hammers home, to both Chad and the viewer, the dire need for more care for mental health in combat sports.
“Fighting has given me a platform to teach others to ‘fight’ for whatever they want in life,” Chad says. “It’s time to pass the torch. Fighting is selfish. It’s time to be more selfless.”