From prison to UFC, inspiring fighter Ian Heinisch of Sanford MMA wants to help others
UFC middleweight Ian Heinisch of Sanford MMA in (South Florida) Deerfield Beach is living the dream.
It wasn’t easy to get there. He lived a real-life nightmare, before seeing the light.
An inspiration, he turned his life around in a Canary Islands prison — found religion and himself — to become an MMA fighter.
Ian “The Hurricane” Heinisch (14-4) vs. Nassourdine “The Russian Sniper” Imavov (9-3) is part of the prelims of UFC on ESPN: Sandhagen vs. Dillashaw (UFC on ESPN 27) on Saturday, July 24 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Heinisch, who signed with UFC in 2018, is 3-3 in UFC.
Here is my video interview with Ian “Hurricane” Heinisch.
Heinisch, 32, is originally from Denver. He was an All-American high school wrestler while being home schooled because of ADHD. He also wrestled for North Idaho College.
Heinisch dropped out of college, moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, was deported, started selling ecstasy, was arrested, fled the country, started drug trafficking, got caught, served time in jail in the Canary Islands in Spain, self-taught Spanish through an English dictionary and a Spanish Bible, began a true relationship with Jesus, boxed, was released from jail, returned to America, was charged for drugs and fleeing the country, served time at Rikers Island in the Bronx, was released, pursued an MMA career.
Heinisch is working, training hard to earn a UFC championship. Champion in UFC and/or champion in life, he wants to help others, like him.
”My dream is to open up a gym, an MMA gym/rehab facility where kids under 25 — young kids getting these huge prison sentences; instead of them going to prison and pretty much going to crime school, with a revolving door, in a system that is broken and doesn’t rehabilitate people — can get an opportunity to train full time and to have great mentors and people around them and get them on track, so they do get rehabilitated. Like I had the opportunity in Spain to do [at Canary Islands].”
After some pro fights with World Series of Fighting and Legacy Fighting Alliance, where he is a former middleweight champ, Heinisch beat Justin Sumter via first round knockout in Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series on July 31, 2018 and was then signed by UFC.
His parents stuck by him through the ups and downs.
He is friends with former NHL Colorado Avalanche enforcer “The Sheriff” Scott Parker.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ianheinischmma
Web: https://www.ufc.com/athlete/ian-heinisch
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/ian-heinisch-ufc
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