WEC's Damacio Page proving an angel of life to New Mexico youth
Talking to Damacio Page isn't exactly what you'd expect from a guy that sometimes goes by the nickname "The Angel of Death."
The hard-hittng, heavily tattooed WEC bantamweight is an aggressive fighter who has racked up six first-round TKOs in his 15-fight career, including a stunning six-second knockout in 2006 and a brutal 18-second destruction of Marcos Galvao at WEC 39 in March.
But there's more to Page than meets the eye.
"I'm a role model now, and I've got to help these kids out," Page recently told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com). "I try to let them know there's a different path, a different road they can go besides being on the street all the time."
Page understands "these kids." A resident of Albuquerque, N.M., Page knows the hardships that come from growing up with little opportunity, little attention and little assistance from your hardly there support system.
"I'm trying to get into the schools right now and give talks, not just to the kids that are at the top of their class, but the kids that are on behavior disorder classes – special education," Page said. "I was a behavior-disorder kid. I had some special-education classes when I was a freshman and sophomore in high school. I actually worked my out of it to get to regular classes.
"It's not that these kids are dumb. It's just that they don't have anywhere to go, and their avenue out is to be destructive."
You can always find a way out
Through motivational speeches and educational messages, Page said he hopes to help stop the pattern of behavior that has lead many of his old friends toward an unfortunate path.
"I was actually eating the other night, and one of my old homeboys came up to me," Page said. "I was like, 'What's up man? You put a little weight on.' He was like, 'Yeah, I just got out of prison.'
"It was kind of crazy, but it gives me inspiration to help these kids out and figure out somewhere else to go."
Page believes the cycle of disruptive behavior must be halted outside the classroom. With teachers underpaid and classrooms overcrowded, the New Mexico resident believes it's up to him to challenge the students to improve themselves.
"The students don't get that proper education because the teacher isn't too focused on them because they're disruptive or destructive in class," Page said. "So I talk to these kids, get in these classes and let them know that I was one of these kids, too.
"I messed around, and teachers couldn't handle me. But there's a way out. You can always find a way out. Just because life is hard, you don't have to draw more attention to yourself."
For Page, that path was wrestling – and eventually MMA. But the 26-year-old doesn't think combat sports is the only way out of the difficult situation.
"Anything – whether it be basketball, baseball or any kind of sport," Page said. "Any extracurricular activity is going to help them out. It doesn't have to be fighting.
"Football, basketball, wrestling. It could be tennis. It could be chess. As long as they're challenged by something with their body or their mind."
I don't think he could ever beat me again
Fighting out of the famed Greg Jackson's Mixed Martial Arts in Albuquerque, Page knows about challenges. With a world-class roster of training partners, Page has to go 100 percent every day.
"It's great because one day you might be tuning somebody up, and the next day they might be tuning you up," Page said. "There's never a dominant one in the room. One day it might be your day, and the next day it's not your day, and there's nothing you can do. But it's good because those are the days that make you better."
The training obviously paid off in his March dismantling of Galvao, though watching his opponent writhe and shake on the floor following the bout proved difficult.
"It was tough," Page said. "I'm an athlete. I'm not some guy off the street. I respect my opponent. I hope my opponents respect me.
"We're all in there to fight. He's there to fight, I'm there to fight – and for him to get hurt like that, you don't wish that harm on anybody. You want them to come back. It's a show of sportsmanship. He's in there to knock me out. I'm in there to knock him out. But you don't ever want somebody to get hurt that badly."
It was hard for Page not to be able to fully enjoy his win. Waiting seven months after a disappointing loss to current No. 1 contender Brian Bowles left him eager to erase the pain.
"I got a little cocky in there," Page said of his bout with Bowles. "I was winning the standup game. He shot on me, I stuffed his shot. I took a shot on him because I was feeling cocky, and I held him up in the air too long.
"If I do ever fight him again, that's not going to happen. I'm going to go in there to destroy. It's not me being cocky knowing that I'm better than him. It's me going in there to destroy and get that loss back."
While Bowles appears set for an August title shot with current champ Miguel Torres, Page will keep the HardCore Gym fighter on his radar.
"I believe I'm a better fighter," Page said. "[Bowles] is a tough cat. He's going to fight for the title soon. But everybody has their day. And me personally, I don't think he could ever beat me again."
Just throw them at me
While he waits for another shot at Bowles, Page said he's focused on improving the skills that have already lead him to two wins in his first three WEC events.
"I've got to get my ground game better again," Page said. "I sidetracked away from it.
"I just need to polish my game all the way around. I've got to get back to my roots and wrestle some more. Everybody now in the top-10 is no joke. You've got to be on top of your game."
And it's only top-10 opponents that "The Angel of Death" hopes to face.
"I told the WEC, 'Just throw them at me,'" Page said. "I don't want a chump. I don't want a newcomer coming in off the street. Just give me a top-10 guy in the world. That's what I want.
"You're only as good as your last fight, so if I fight some newcomer it puts me in a position where I can't learn something and improve. You're only as good as your last opponent. So put me against the best of the best."
I can't just be a piece of coal
Page doesn't yet know when he'll fight again. He's heard August as a possibility. Tough opponents like Joseph Benavidez and Dominck Cruz have been thrown around.
But while his own future is currently unknown, the WEC fighter wants to ensure that the futures of local kids are being arranged.
His message is simple.
"Be challenged," Page said. "Have something to challenge yourself. Whether it's in the classroom, outside the classroom, wherever. Just be challenged.
"We need to challenge these kids so they can have a better outlook on life. A lot of these kids aren't challenged, and that's why they do all this stuff. If you get hold of these kids and get them to work out – or you challenge them somehow, mentally or physically, or even emotionally – you're going to help that kid out."
And Page hopes his evolution in MMA – and his improvement as a human being – can influence those that he touches.
"I have to be polished up," Page said. "I've got to be a nice little diamond. I can't just be a piece of coal."
