An MMA vet sat on UFC 173's Vinc Pichel, ultimately sparking his pro career

Vinc Pichel’s path to becoming an MMA fighter doesn’t stray particularly far from the norm.

The current UFC lightweight was a troubled teen prone to street fights while growing up in California. Pichel claims he would win those street fights far more often than not, but it was hardly a healthy habit.

Pichel struggled to find an effective output for his aggression and desire for combat, but that all changed one day after a trip to his girlfriend’s house and an encounter with an MMA veteran.

“My ex-girlfriend at the time, her dad was best friends with Mark ‘The Bear’ Smith, who was an MMA fighter who has fought Dan Severn,” Pichel told MMAjunkie Radio. “Him and her dad are pretty big boys and close to 300 pounds, and I was a little guy. I was growing to my (current) size, but I was still like 150 pounds. Her dad and him used to always pick on me during holidays and sit on me and crush me. They would pick on me and dog pile on me, and I couldn’t get up.

“Then one day I was just like, ‘Just wait fat boys. I’m going to get big, and I’m going to whoop both your asses.’ Then he said, ‘Why don’t you go to the gym and fight some guys who really know what they’re doing?’ And I said, ‘Where do I go?’ He told me, and it’s been seven years now.”

The 31-year-old credits that moment as the turning point toward a career as a professional MMA fighter. Pichel is obviously doing quite well for himself; he’s suffered just one loss and is currently readying for his third appearance in the world’s premier organization, the UFC.

Pichel always wanted to thank Smith for his encouragement to begin training at an MMA gym, but unfortunately, the opportunity never came as “The Bear” suffered an untimely death in May 2010.

“It really sucks for me because I never got the chance to thank him for putting me on the path that I’m on,” Pichel said. “He’s probably one of the guys who saved me from my life and what I was going to end up doing, which was probably be in jail.”

While Pichel has some regrets for never expressing his gratitude to Smith personally, he was actually provided with some closure in the form of a recent unplanned encounter with Smith’s mother.

“I work for AAA,” Pichel said. “I drive around, and I jumpstart cars and sell batteries and all that stuff. That’s my job. Full-time job, part-time fighter. So I get this call, and her last name was Smith, I think her first name was Patty or Patricia. I go there, and I jumpstart her car. I get in her car, and I see a picture of him and her and then her daughters. And I was like, ‘Hey, Mark Smith? Is that your son?’ Then I told her the story about how he got me into fighting. Then I said, ‘I’m really sorry he passed away and that I never got the chance to thank him for putting me on the path that I’m on.’ I got to basically let that out with her and talk to her.”

The conversation stretched nearly two hours, he said.

“My boss got pissed, but I didn’t even give a s–t,” he joked. “No problem. It felt good that I could finally tell her how much it meant to me what he did for me and put me on my path. It was really cool, and I felt so good about that inside.”

The chance to indirectly thank Smith via his mother was a truly meaningful moment for Pichel (8-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC). It’s also provided him with a vast amount of motivation going into Saturday’s UFC 173 showdown with Anthony Njokuani (16-7 MMA, 3-3 UFC). The event take place at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena and airs live on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass. Pichel and Njokuani close out the UFC Fight Pass portion of the card.

For the latest on UFC 173, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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