Top Scots cage fighter reveals he took up MMA after teenage bullying ordeal

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A top Scots cage fighter has told how a teenage bullying ordeal turned him into a fierce warrior in the ring. Reece McEwan, 29, has become one of Europe’s highest rated Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighters and is tipped to win a world title belt.He takes a massive step towards that aim on Saturday when he fights French MMA fighter Miguel ‘Santa Muerte’ Haro in a Cage Warriors fight bill at the Braehead Arena.But 13 years ago he was a shy, skinny schoolboy when he was attacked by an older bully near his hometown of Greenock.

Reece, 29, believes that terrifying ordeal as a teenager transformed his life and turned him into the explosive cage fighter he is today.Speaking before Saturday’s bout Reece told the Daily Record: "I was tiny – only five foot two – super thin, timid and an insecure boy with little confidence.

I first heard of MMA when I used to stay up till 3am to watch a reality TV show, called Ultimate Fighter. "I dreamed of being like the fighters I saw on TV.

When I was 16 I went camping with a group of school friends and some older guys turned up and started picking on me. The biggest one squared up to me, said ‘who are you looking at?’ and started pushing me.“I wanted to scream for help but I felt so petrified and vulnerable, I couldn’t get the words out of my mouth.