• Local lad Chris Indich—making his mark in the tough world of UFC.

BY the time you read this Chris Indich will be in the air, on his way to the US to train for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The UFC is not for the faint-hearted: rules are few and far between and fighters employ elements of jujitsu, boxing and wrestling to better their opponent. They keep fighting till one gives up or is knocked unconcious.

In January Indich—the first Aboriginal to make the Australian team—was flown to Canada to compete, his first big break within the UFC competition.

“Going to Canada, seeing snow, and experiencing all of what they did for me over there was such a surreal experience, even seeing myself on TV now is still a little bit crazy to think about,” the 26-year-old told the Herald.

Because the show was to be filmed he had to sign a confidentiality agreeent, with only his partner kept in the loop: “I basically disappeared for 10 weeks and my parents kept asking my partner, ‘where is he, is he OK, is he in gaol?’” he laughs.

He hopes his fighting doesn’t send conflicting messages to young Aboriginal boys, but instead sets an example to focus and have a goal.

“Someone once told me, ‘you just need a direction to shoot your arrow’ and for young Aboriginal guys sport always seems to be a good outlet.

“It gives them something to put their time and energy into, and it’s important for young kids to have something to focus on, to get them away from all the riff-raff and all the bad stuff.”

Out of the ring Indich lives a Buddhist-like existence, enjoying yoga surf retreats and eating no meat (except fish). Before leaving he let on that “something very exciting” is happening soon: “Unfortunately I can’t say anything about it right now, but something very big is coming up for me,” he said.

by CLARE KENYON