Guerrilla Journalism: Dan Severn breaks faces, stereotypes

Guerrilla Journalism Series
Reporter Ron Counts is exploring the world of ‘alternative’ sports and will be writing a weekly column about his experience. You can follow him on his blog here for continous updates. 

I have never been so honored to have a sore back.

It’s not every day that someone gets to experience getting thrown around like a rag doll and slammed to the canvas by UFC Hall of Famer Dan “The Beast” Severn.

It’s a moment I’ll never forget. He even sweat on me while submitting me with such ease that I’m pretty sure he was trying to figure out where he was going to eat dinner that night.

I didn’t even want to wash my shirt!

Don’t worry, though. I did finally break down and throw it in with the rest of the laundry once I realized the odor in my car closely resembled what a sumo wrestler’s locker room must smell like.

To most, it probably sounds gross that I wanted to frame a smelly gym shirt and put in on the wall. And others probably think I’m downright weird.

But anyone who has followed the UFC from its early days and knows that Severn has traded sweat with the likes of Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock and Mark Coleman understands how I’m feeling and is probably pretty jealous right now.

“I learned more from him in two hours than I have in years of training,” said MMA fighter Billy Reynolds, who was also giddy about meeting the UFC legend at Zamora Boxing Gym Wednesday.

Severn showed a room of at least 20 fighters-in-training why he has such a high success rate in 100-plus MMA fights, but what really stood out was how in just talking to him I realized he shatters all preconceived notions about cage fighters.

The 51-year-old native of Flint, Mich., was given the moniker “The Beast” by former UFC commentator Chip Brown because of his relentless fighting style.

“During one of his closing comments he (Brown) said something like, ‘Dan was just a wrestler when he first burst onto the scene, but now he’s so aggressive and violent he’s like a beast.’ And it just stuck from there,” Severn said.

That’s exactly how most people probably see mixed martial artists. They view them as violent, inarticulate barbarians who just love the thrill of hurting each other.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Fighting is violent — whether it’s in a ring, a cage or the street, and Severn has no qualms about admitting that’s a big part of why MMA is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world.

“Violence sells — I don’t care how civilized you are,” he said. “Boxing used to be the king of violence, but now it’s just one more element in MMA.”

Those who speak with Severn will understand how he shatters the aforementioned stereotype.

He’s educated, eloquent and funny. Although, I do have to admit he could have told a knock, knock joke and I would have laughed for fear of angering someone with his particular skill set.

At the end of Wednesday’s session, he even shared a poem that he had written, which makes me wonder what people would have thought of Edgar Allen Poe or Robert Frost if they had decided to step into a cage and fight in their spare time.

There’s no denying that most people will never understand how someone can climb into a cage and do bodily harm to another human being without bringing that same violence to their everyday lives.

But if you have any questions about Dan Severn’s character, just take a look at why he walked away from the millions of dollars he could have made with Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation.

“The best way to put it is that we had ‘creative differences,’” Severn said. “If you’re a good guy, they want to make you bad, and if you’re bad they try to sell you as good.

“I had ideas of what I could live with, and when they wanted to put 666 on my forehead and make me an Undertaker disciple, I said no way because I won’t allow there to be repercussions for my family or myself.”

So the next time you happen to come across an MMA fighter, don’t just assume he’s some dangerous thug and cross to the other side of the street. Instead, maybe think about getting his autograph and striking up a conversation.

He might just surprise you.