IU's Ultimate Fighter

Chris Higi is a fighter, make no doubt about it.\nHe started at 4 years old and naturally has taken a few beatings in the 22 years since. But he sure as heck has dealt a few out himself -- like in his first mixed martial arts fight, which he deemed the worst beating he ever handed out.\n"I was looking to take him down and fight him into submission," said Higi, an assistant judo instructor at IU. "I pretty much ran across the ring, slammed him, put him in an arm bar. And I don't think he knew what was going on. \n"He didn't start tapping out, so I broke his arm. This is like seven seconds into the fight."\nIt didn't end there. Higi almost "freaked out" at the reality of his first fight, but the referee didn't stop the action because his opponent wouldn't quit swinging -- even with a broken arm.\n"Basically, your elbow goes, 'snap, crackle, pop.' The last pop is a total dislocation; the snap will hyperextend it; the crack will tear the ligaments," he explained. "His went 'snap, crackle,' so we kept fighting, and I pretty much had to pound on his face for the next two minutes."\nWhen the face pounding subdued, Higi raised his arm at center ring for the first time in his amateur career. A moment long in the making.\nBut forget the Chuck Norris brick-breaking idea of a martial arts fighter - because Higi is far from it. Higi chokes and pummels his opponents in mixed martial arts fights: an anything goes type engagement that mixes a wide assortment of fighting styles. And he does it with the day-time appearance of an ordinary guy.\nThe bell first tolled for Higi in Fort Wayne, where he, like any 4 year-old, just wanted to be like his dad. But unlike many 4-year olds, his dad practiced judo, a martial art of submission holds similar to wrestling.\n"I was raised on judo," said Higi, now working to get his second-degree black belt.\nBetween the ages of four and 14 Higi won five state judo titles, winning his sixth two years ago. He's been fighting in national tournaments since childhood and recently competed in the Amateur Athletic Union's national tournament.\n"When I got to be about 14 I didn't really want to do something that my dad was all about," he said. "After high school I moved to Bloomington and that was in 1998. I started coming to Judo class and it was pretty much like riding a bike."\nAfter he got his black belt, he found himself wondering: "What's something new?" He started gradually adding new fighting styles to his arsenal such as kickboxing and Brazilian Jujitsu, a fighting style of grapple moves and holds.\nHe then decided he wanted to "up the ante a little bit." Lucky for him, Indiana is one of 14 states that allows him to up that ante with mixed martial arts fighting, he said.\nMixed martial arts is exactly what it sounds like -- a "whatever works," no rules fight that mixes all varieties of martial art styles. A fighter can win a 3-round, 9-minute bout by judges' decision, knockout or submission.\n"Pretty much my style is: I'll fight you stand up, toe-to-toe," he said. "I prefer to get in an engagement with somebody -- like really get into it."\nBut Higi doesn't have the appearance of an individual who has choked a person into submission, or snap, cracked and popped an elbow.\n"I mean I'm a tall, skinny white kid with glasses," said Higi, who stands about 6 feet tall with a slender 155-pound build. "So people look at me -- and especially if my tattoos are covered up and I'm wearing a hat -- they just see some tall skinny kid," \nCall it his Clark Kent side.\nBy day, his appearance is not intimidating by any means, he said. By night, in the basement of the Health, Physical Education and Recreation building, the ball cap and long sleeves come off, revealing a tattoo-laden fighter.\nCall it his slightly scarier Superman side.\nSome random Japanese lettering and cobwebs splatter his pale white skin. But the most noticeable marking is on his skull. Tattooed atop his head are the Japanese characters for "Bushido," a word referring to the samurai code of principles.\nIt's that samurai demeanor that Higi brings to the ring for every fight. His manager Chad Wagner describes his fighting style as intelligent and relaxed.\n"What's unique about him is his ability to go almost comatose during a fight. He stays really calm," said Wagner, who manages more than 40 fighters. "He's really advancing a lot more quickly than the other guys."\nAs an amateur, Higi had 7 wins and five losses. He is winless with three losses as a professional, but in each of his fights he has been told he fought well.\nHis third loss came in Indianapolis last month in a rematch with the fighter from his first professional match. A powerful elbow to the back of Higi's head forced the referee to call the match.\n"The guy I fought was a weight lifter and wrestler, so he was just like super strong," he said. "I had several submission attempts, where I pretty much had the full extension on the arm bar, but I literally could not break the dude's arm cause his arms were just so strong."\nHigi is in the process of getting his passport so he can fight in Japan where mixed martial arts fighting is far more accepted.