Fighting Fit by Adam Hollioake
For those of you who aren’t aware I have had a busy 6 months or so… I have turned professional at boxing and MMA and had my first fight on the 13th April….I snuck a win after my opponent was unable to continue…Unfortunately it wasn’t due to my awesome boxing skills, but rather my unfeasibly hard head…I was caught with a big right hand late in the 4th round and unfortunately for my opponent this led to him dislocating his shoulder….Now I know at this stage people are going to start drawing comparisons between other great unbeaten Heavyweights like Rocky Marciano…but I would like to point out that Rocky couldn’t play cricket….Ok I just had my wife point out to me that neither could I…she has a good point ;-)
On top of this I made my MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) debut…for those of you who have no idea what MMA is…its basically cage fighting, no rules fighting or as my wife likes to call it licensed unlicensed fighting…lets just say its not her cup of tea…
Since finishing cricket one of the things I have missed is competing…I don’t have any vices as such, I don’t do drugs (never have), I don’t gamble (never have), ok, ok so I eat a lot but that’s not exactly a buzz its just something I like…. my biggest fight to date has been the fight against McDonald…Ronald McDonald to be precise…every time I drive past one of his restaurants I have a massive fight with Dave Hollioake…Dave is my alter ego and was dropped on his head several times as a baby…he developed a massive appetite for food and fighting….and is a public nuisance….
Anyway enough of the silly stuff!
What a bizarre few weeks it has been…. No one will ever be able to say my life is dull…You may love me… more than likely you may hate me…but even the most ardent hater out there would have to say I certainly keep people on their toes… I am not sure why it is but I always seem to find myself in interesting situations and hence find myself being scrutinized by the media…. Not always for things I am proud of I must admit….
Amongst things I am not particularly proud of was a miss quote that had me down as a drug dealer in 1998 and then of course there was the death of my brother…more recently has been the collapse of my property business…
When asked recently if I had noticed my life had involved extreme ups and downs I had a moment of clarity…Since then I refer to my life as a roller coaster ride…. there are always big highs and big lows…I realized at this point that although lows are not what we always want in life they are a part of the journey and you have to enjoy them as well….As long as you don’t take yourself to seriously this is pretty easy to do..I can get past everything with a smile apart from the passing of family members and that of Graham Kersey my dear friend… If you are going to ride the roller coaster you cant complain if things are a bit scary...it is your own choice...I have come to accept this is the path I have chosen…I could have gone and been an accountant and ridden the merry go round…yes I would have had a safe and consistent life…but I never would have enjoyed this…it would have been like caging a wild animal and would have killed me…
I would like to thank all the media who have taken the time to contact me and find out my story....I make myself readily available now and just hand out my cell number…If I don’t want to speak to someone I just tell them so or push my favorite button (the NO button) That is an advantage of being an individual sportsman you aren’t worried about what you say and can speak freely…This is in stark contrast with my cricketing days where I never handed out my number and avoided media like the plague
Despite 99% of the media being excellent unfortunately a couple have followed the old age killer of reporters careers…. laziness…. Any reporter who has taken the time to call me has been left under no illusion that I am not fighting for money…Despite my well documented financial problems (which I made public myself on this website and have always been open about,) I am not planning on retiring from the money I am making from fighting…Truth is I simply love fighting, just as most ex cricketers like golf (I personally cant stand golf…Maybe because I am terrible at it, maybe because I am insane, maybe because I am secretly a thug…) for whatever reason I just don’t like golf I like to fight…I accept that makes me in the minority but it doesn't make me a freak...All I have to say to the media who have reported badly is, your reporting is as bad as my bowling was when I was playing and thats nothing to be proud of trust me ;-)
I have a lot to thank my wife for and it was my wife who said to me one day…"if you hate golf so much why do you go and play?" It was a simple but thought provoking comment…It was at this point I learnt that it is easy to go through life doing what other people want you to do….I could easily go into coaching or commentary or I could even have carried on playing cricket…but would I have been doing what I wanted to do? No absolutely not….I would have been doing things to gain approval from people and therefore living an unhappy life…Sometimes your loves aren’t always good for you…I don’t know where fighting will take me…I know I will never give up in a fight and if someone wants to beat me properly they will have to do some serious damage…that is a slightly scary but exciting proposition…but if someone is going to do that they are going to have to stand in front of me and look me in the eye and take my best shots….. to do that they had better be a tough dude….I’m not saying I am ready to fight for a world title and I am under no illusions I am very raw and need to earn respect before I start talking in such a way…Things that aren’t proven yet are my boxing skills, fitness and temperament….. I don’t need to prove these to anyone else....just to myself…Things that I do know is I will never give up…when I have been faced with challenges in the past I have never given up…I may fall short…but I will die before I ever throw in the towel…
Anyway those reporters who have called me and decided that this is a publicity stunt? Again…what are you going on about? You called me right? I can swear on my children’s eyes I have not rung a single reporter about me going into fighting…you have all rung me! If you don’t think it should be public….don’t write about it…I don’t own a newspaper or TV Network and have no ability other than on my own website (which about 10 people look at..it’s hardly News of the World) to try and raise some publicity, if that indeed was my goa…write I am no good, fat, old, whatever, but don’t say I am doing it for publicity or money….I’ve been doing this stuff for nearly 30 years (when I have had the time) now because you (the reporters) decided its interesting I’m doing it for publicity? Please….
Anyway since my MMA fight I have made no secret of the fact that my wife wasn’t happy with the MMA scene…Compounded by the fact that my opponent Joel Miller a 27 year old dude from Mackay ended up with multiple facial fractures and had his left orbital bone shifted 5mm…She was devastated and was pretty much saying I would be devastated if I was that boys Mum…I have so much respect for this kid…damn he just came out to fight and could easily have given up in the 1
st round when the first of my big punches landed…we feel this may have been the punch that did the damage…to fight on in a no rules fight for 10 more mins…warrior!!! In fact he took me down onto my back and gave me a good hiding in the 1
st round….that wasn’t in my game plan and the mess he has made of my front leg has seen me getting around like a man with one leg for the last 2 weeks…
Adam Hollioake vs Lee Blacka (Pro Boxing Debut KO 4th Round)
Its funny…a lot of people ask me…do you hate the people you fight? I can honestly say that I have no ill feeling before, during, or afterwards…and in fact have been so fortunate to meet some amazing people since I have been fighting…Yes they are largely very different to the people that I met playing cricket but the core values are very similar….
I met one of the most amazing men I have ever met that night…his name was “The Rock Ape” yes you heard correct…My mind is always open to any individual…but you may be surprised to hear that a man with the name “Rock Ape” who fights for a living would be one of the most caring and compassionate individuals I have ever met….Rock Ape is a single father of 4 kids…all under the age of 5….This is har d enough on its own…but add to the fact he is the guy they ring up when someone pulls out! He is often fighting under rules he has never trained in like Muay Thai and has got a 0-4 record in MMA, most of the time he gives away a lot of weight as well, often fighting guys 10kgs heavier than him!…I love this guy..he just gets in the ring and lets it all hang out! If I could ever have more respect for someone than Joel Miller it could possibly be “Rock Ape”…We drank til the sun came up together and I listened to his most amazing story…people like this go through life unheralded but I was captivated by his passion for his kids and his desire to put a roof over their head and food on their table…even at the expense of his own safety…very brave human being…
Anyway stay tuned…I’m going to start writing some more blogs….I actually quite enjoy writing them
My next blog is going to be on the differences between being a professional cricketer in a team environment and between being a professional individual athlete…Quite interesting….even if I do say so myself
One Love x
by Adam Hollioake
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Adam Hollioake preparing for MMA Debut vs Joel Miller
Clarity from Adversity by Adam Hollioake
As a lot of you will have noticed in the media my family had some bad luck last week…My folks place was rolled last Tues night and pretty much every piece of England playing kit my brother had possessed was amongst the spoils…
I received a phone call from my mother to inform me what had happened. Whilst being disappointed that my brother’s gear had been swiped, it was the pain in my mother’s voice that tugged at my heart…
I mean know one could ever accuse me, or my brother for that matter, of being the most kit proud people…I have none of my medals left and my kit is packed up in my garage (probably eaten by moths by now) but it is a mothers prerogative to cherish a handkerchief of their sons if they so please….My mother still sleeps with the blood stained clothes my brother wore on that fateful night 10 years ago…
I am not saying that I am not proud of me or my brothers achievements, far from it, it is just the make up of both of our personalities to be fairly relaxed about these things… Whilst we were both pretty chilled dudes in every day life (I often heard people say Ben was the most laid back kid they had ever seen) I have been known to be a little bit crazy and to be the opposite of relaxed (don’t know a word for that??) when it comes to standing up for my family….I am sure I am not alone when I say every boy loves their Mumma. My poor sister couldn’t bring boys home to our house until me and my bro left home….such was the 3rd degree the boyfriends would get from me and my brother…
Anyway I immediately turned to social media to try to flush out the crooks… My thoughts on stuff is fairly straight forward…I totally don’t agree with theft but understand people get themselves into situations that they are so desperate for money that they steel to be able to provide food for their family… I have suffered my own personal financial issues over the last few years (although I haven’t turned to robbery just yet) and can understand that people get desperate…However I think there are so many good people out there that if these people tried asking for help there would be so many people willing to help…however they choose to try to take the shortcut…
I firmly believe that no one on our planet should have to worry about where there next meal is coming from….but I also understand that our society can’t allow people to just bludge….finding a balance is the difficult trick and sometimes we get it wrong and people turn to crime.
I would buy dinner for anyone if they asked me to and would gladly sit and listen to their story if they were down and out…I understand people aren’t all blessed with good parents or role models in their life and not all people are blessed with good education or sporting talents…For some people life is a battle…
I have had to change track on this blog…I was going down the route of calling these people vultures and low life’s however a lady came to my parents door the other night and made an attempt to return some of the goods of sentimental value…
Now I don’t know if it is because all my friends, twitter followers, Facebook friends, the media all got behind my family and spooked these people, or if they merely made them aware of the fact that they had stolen irreplaceable things…Either way the fact they returned the goods is a huge tick against their name in my eyes…It doesn’t excuse the fact they are thieves…but it doesn’t put them in the bracket below thieves, that bracket being people without conscience…
At one stage I was generally concerned that we may have a far bigger disaster on our hands than just a robbery…some of my friends in Perth who helped locate the thieves formed what I could only describe as a modern day equivalent of a lynch mob…I am thankful that the police got there 1st executed a search warrant and arrested the concerned…The speed with which things happened was scary…
Once you get the likes of Alec Stewart, Mark Butcher, Shane Warne, James O’Connor, Danny Cipriani, Kevin Pieterson, Michael Vaughn, Stuart Broad, Ravi Bopara, Quade Cooper to name but a few of the high profile people who got behind my family then you are really at a massive advantage as you are calling not just on your immediate friends but the network of some big names…I would like to thank you guys and the guys that I know I have missed (I’ve got a bad memory at the best of times)
Once the thieves were caught my father was asked to go in and see if he recognized any of the thieves and immediately he spotted the lady who had returned goods the night before (despite her changing her hair color etc..I think he thinks he is Magnum PI now, he was pretty happy with himself).... The couple were arrested and faced court on Friday…and are due to reappear later next month in court where a decision will be made on what happens to them…
I guess I have to make an apology at this point for my poor language on twitter and Facebook on announcing that my brothers stuff had been stolen…I was fairly emotional at the time and had just put the phone from my Mum and in hindsight would have waited an hour or so before putting anything in the public domain…That said I am just your normal son who doesn’t like seeing their Mum upset and I think a lot of sons would have reacted the same…I just didn’t realize that so many people would re-tweet and forward the message… I’m by no means an angel and have been known to swear a bit…but guess my language was a bit strong there….All I can say is I'm sorry if I offended anyone....I do swear a lot..but never in front of my elders or ladies normally
I would like to finish this blog with a message…The message is to myself and anyone else who wants to listen….
In this world there are bad people a lot of bad people…but there are a damn sight more good people…In modern day life unfortunately the news covers the bad news more than the good…this is because there is no value in telling stories of people saving old ladies cats out of a tree…We tell news about bad things to give people the opportunity to prepare or help the less fortunate…In this instance I was the less fortunate and the amount of offers I received was unbelievable…I’m not talking 5 or 10 close friends…I am talking thousands of people….literally…
At one stage the messages were coming in on twitter faster than I could read them….That’s especially amazing when you are only allowed 140 characters…
My point is don’t get down when all the bad and negative are in the media because behind the one or 2 bad people in the limelight there are thousands more good people working tirelessly behind the scenes…
Anyone reading my blog for the first time…you will need to get used to my poor spelling and grammar and disjointed thoughts…I write stuff down as it pops in my head and sometimes makes me look like I am dumb…Well Ok I’m no Einstein….but for a writer…I make a good sportsman ;-)
When the storm has swept by & the wicked are gone, the righteous will stand firm forever Proverbs 10:25
by Adam Hollioake
I am not sure if any of you are aware but I am starting a new career as an MMA fighter. I have told limited people so far and to be honest the reaction I have met has been anything but supportive. Why? Well MMA is an unknown activity for most people, they see people getting round with cuts and bruises and immediately think that it is an activity for thugs. Well I guess I’m in a fortunate position in having done several sports and this will be the 2nd that I have been professional at after cricket. I would have to say that whilst on first site there are many dangers involved with MMA I would consider it the least likely of the 2 I have done to suffer serious injury. When I say serious injury I am talking about career ending injury and even death. I would say cricket is one of the most dangerous sports I have done and if you were take out the brain injury aspect of boxing I would say that boxing is one of the safest sports I have done.
The thing which people don’t take into account with MMA is that the gloves offer very little protection from cuts and therefore blood is a regular sight. However it is internal organs where the real injuries occur. So whilst boxers don’t suffer anywhere near the incidents of cutting as MMA fighters they are taking 100s of thudding punches in the head a fight which is the thing that leads to the brain injuries.
Cricket and more specifically bowling remains the toughest physical activity I have ever done in any sport. The rotation on the spine and forces that travel through your body are second to none and I have the utmost respect for anyone who makes their career out of being a bowler. Batting on the other hand isn’t physically demanding at all in comparisons to many sports however there are very real physical dangers and there is nothing soft about facing bowlers above 80mp/h or 140km/h…..
So why am I opting for these activities….sorry if I keep referring to MMA and boxing as activities…My reasons are, you play cricket, you play tennis, you even play football, but you don’t play fighting…Fighting is real, you impose your will on your opponent and attempt to physically and mentally dominate them, in cricket and tennis there are elements of physical and mental intimidation that can be used but they are a small part of the game as opposed to the whole idea of the activity. The reason I am opting for these activities is I always had the desire to fight from a very young age, however I was spoilt for choice in my sporting professions
I have long held the view that people allow themselves to get old and that if the drive remains then there is no reason for why you cant compete well into your 40s…there are several athletes in the world today that are proving this, Bernard Hopkins springs to mind, he is 48 and has dominated the middleweight and more recently super middleweight ranks for the last decade.
I want to go out there and show all the young punks that us middle aged guys are more than capable of competing. Funnily enough it was a similar attitude that got me through my cricket career. Many a time it was suggested that I give up bowling, my action was at best equivalent to a club cricketers and I was once told by a bio-mechanist that I had no place in the game as I was biomechanically retarded. However I managed to make it to international level and have even dismissed most of the best batsmen of my era, including Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Steve and Mark Waugh, Graham Gooch, Graeme Hick, Rahul Dravid. Ricky Ponting. Every time I achieved any feat as a bowler I always thought in my head, there’s another one for the guy who cant bowl.
The difference with this and making a comeback at cricket is, I firmly believe I was born to fight and just happened to end up playing cricket as a career. Fighting is something I love, it is the ultimate test of will,
I will never give up, I will never throw in the towel in any sport or activity I attempt, I never ever in my entire career gave up in a game of cricket, many times I was outclassed, but I never gave up. This isn’t an attitude I had to work at, it was just natural to me, I carry the same attitude into my training now.
I have always enjoyed learning new skills and whilst striking and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu are very familiar to me I am adding kicking and wrestling skills daily, it is very rewarding.
Life is a strange thing, we often get rewarded for what other people want us to do, meaning if I had said I wanted to get a very safe and secure 9 to 5 well paid job I would have been met with a lot more support, because that is what people want for me. I learnt long ago, in fact almost 25 years ago that if you try and satisfy everyone else’s desires or do what everyone else wants you to do then you don’t end up living your life the way you want to and never truly make yourself happy. When I was a kid at school I constantly was told to forget cricket (in fact all sports) and to stop dreaming about being a sportsman and to concentrate on becoming a doctor or lawyer….well let me tell you, I wouldn’t choose myself to represent me in a court of lawyer and certainly wouldn’t want to be operated on by me ;-)
So here goes, I am loving the training and am pushing myself harder than ever I have already dropped almost 10kgs and am dominating younger and decorated fighters in the gym (of course this is only the gym and needs to be transferred into the cage)
Anyway watch this space and I will keep you all updated with my training and fight dates.
I may fall short but at least I will be doing what I truly love....If you are happy in life then you never really lose do you?
For those of you not aware, recently I was declared bankrupt. Although if you happen to live on the Gold Coast the chances of you having missed this is virtually impossible. As exciting as the news is, I cant believe there was nothing better to put on the front page of the Gold Coast Bulletin on Christmas Day! All I will say is that I am trying to avoid a certain big fat dude with a white beard and red suit who may not be very happy about me stealing the limelight on his big day ;-)
I have been advised by most people and not least by my legal team to refrain from making any public statements about this. However that is not how I operate and have always rathered face the music and all the consequences than to run away and bury my head whilst hiding like a coward. I am not embarrassed just disappointed, but I feel I want to explain the situation …..Apologies to anyone who is embarrassed by this article or not interested in my financial position (I have never really been interested in other peoples financial position either).
I would also like to take the opportunity to thank the several people who have offered me a hand out of my financial squeeze. I am too proud to accept charity ever and whilst appreciative of the great people out there, don't expect charity and have vowed to work my way out of it.
So how did this bankruptcy come about? Well I have to say that on retirement from cricket I was way too confident in my ability as a businessman. I had retired from cricket having been fairly successful and was confident my ability to lead a cricket team would equate to immediate success in the business world. Added to this I had managed to acquire 5 properties via what I thought was very smart investments. This was the first of many mistakes I made. The next major mistake I made was to not take the warning signs of the GFC seriously. I would like to say that I wasn’t aware of it’s arrival….but I would be lying….I have many friends who are highly successful businessmen and warned me of its dangers. Lets just say, I had never been through a GFC before (well I had but as a professional cricketer it doesn’t really affect you).
The truth in all of this is that I started my retirement during a property boom and everything was too easy, every decision I made turned to gold and when things started to head South my inexperience showed through. I thought it was a minor hiccup and in my mind knew things would turn around…How wrong I was! I can be thankful that all the people who invested in me, I say in me because most of the people who invested in my company all said they did so because of their relationship to me and the person I was, I have managed to maintain an excellent relationship with all of them except for one person and they all have been willing to wait for their money to be returned except for the aforementioned individual. At first I was annoyed at the one individual who refused to allow me more time to repay my debt, but truth be known he was the only investor who doesn’t know me very well and I guess I understand it. All he has done is follow his legal rights and I can’t blame him for that. I didn’t fight this individual and didn’t opt for voluntary bankruptcy but allowed this man to choose a trustee to examine my finances. Hopefully when he sees I have nothing he will finally be satisfied.
The only thing that upsets me about going bankrupt (apart from no holidays) is that whilst the process clears me of the debts, they remain unsatisfied. I have made a promise to myself to make every effort to make it up to those who are effected by my financial failing despite the effect of the law. I am a strange individual in that like everyone, enjoy money, but my happiness doesn’t hinge on it and I have a new found love of fighting and spending way more time with my family. Unfortunately I have never acquired any Degrees as such and have no working experience to speak of. Being a professional sportsman and entrepreneur for 20 odd years made sure that was the case.
In summarizing, I don’t expect people’s sympathy, I have made all the mistakes myself and deserve what has come to me, no one else other than me can be held accountable. After the initial disappointment of losing my money I think I am happier today than I have been for a very longtime and have found comfort in realizing money doesn’t bring me happiness.
I will however fight back and those who know me will tell you I will never give up. If I feel any sadness about losing money it is not for me but for my children whom are the only ones I feel sorry for in all this.
So where do I go from here? Like everyone who gets knocked down (and I am not alone in this GFC)…I can lay on the floor and take comfort from the fact I am no longer in the fight….Or I can get back up and vow to fight on with dignity and a new found experience. I have learnt from my mistakes and will be in a better position to make more informed decisions if the same situation arises. There are much bigger and wiser people than I who have been caught out by this GFC….to mention a few Ford Motor Company USA, Centro Group, and Allco Finance Group. I am informed. I vow to fight back using all the ingredients that go into making successful people…The number one ingredient being hard work!
For now I don’t have any money to my name and have taken to a comeback of sorts…not in cricket…been there done that…This time I am making a go of it in MMA (Mixed Martial Arts). I have boxed since I was 12 years old and have spent many a year around Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Gyms so the transition is proving fairly easy at the moment, apart from the grueling workouts. I have always had a love for fighting and think that I am well suited to it. Time will tell….don’t forget I thought I was a good business man as well!
Wish me luck and if you have got a job for me give me a shout ;-) With all the training I am doing I would make a great bodyguard for you ;-)
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