As Talented as Cutman Jacob Duran Is, Passion has Taken Him to the Top of the Fight Game
By Tony Reid
Cher. Sting. Madonna. Stitch.
In this world, there are a handful of people who others know by a single name, and the MMA world is part of that elite group.
Jacob “Stitch” Duran has one of the sport’s most recognizable faces. In the following story, you’re going to meet the man who stitches up the fighters. — Editor
Q: You have said that wrapping hands is similar to putting the armor on the gladiators before they went into battle in ancient times. What is the most memorable wrap job you have ever done?
A: Let’s talk about Meisha Tate the other day when she fought. It was the first time I wrapped her hands. She requested me because I already had Marloes Coenen. They give me five guys, and I end up doing eight. It’s tough for me to say no. So, I put her in my schedule.
As I’m wrapping her hands I said, “Meisha, I wrapped just about every great fighter’s hands in MMA, and it’s nice to have you as one of the people I wrapped.”
She got all excited and said, “Stitch can you sign them for me?”
I have never signed a wrap before they go out to battle so I signed, “Have a blast,” and she ended up winning the fight. She said was going to hold on to them and put them in a special place.
Here is another great story.
We were at the weigh-ins at Abu Dhabi, and you have all of these princes and sheiks. We are in the back dressing room, and I heard one of them talking to security about how he wants Anderson Silva’s autograph. He then sees me and wants to take a picture, which we did.
Come fight night I thought it would be nice to do something special for this guy, so I said, “Do you want to go to the back with me? I have to go wrap BJ Penn, Anderson Silva, Renzo Gracie, Mark Munoz and Kendall Grove.”
While back there, I asked Anderson Silva if he would sign.
Anderson said, “Oh, no problem, sure, sure.”
I thought it would be nice to do something different, so I wrapped his hands and had Anderson autograph the wrap. During the fight, the camera zoomed in on him, and he is waving the wrap around. The guy ended up being one of the princes, and he was very grateful.
Q: From Forrest Griffin to Marvin Eastman and everyone in between, you have been there for most, if not all of the biggest cuts in the history of the sport. What was the most challenging cut you ever had to work on?
A: It happens at just about every event. If you give me an event, I’ll give you a story (laughing). Brock Lesnar when he fought Cain Velasquez. I was with Brock, and I love Brock. I have wrapped his hands since day one. But on this one he ended up with a major gash, and I started working on him.
As big and manly as he is, he looked at me and said, “Stitch, take care of me.”
I said, “Don’t worry about it, Brock.”
Those are the moments that I’m talking about … the one only the fighter and I share.
When Fedor got knocked out he whispered to me, “What happened?”
I had to tell him, “Fedor, you got knocked out.”
This is an excerpt from the January issue.
Credit: Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Source: Ultimate MMA Magazines
By Tony Reid
In this world, there are a handful of people who others know by a single name, and the MMA world is part of that elite group.
Jacob “Stitch” Duran has one of the sport’s most recognizable faces. In the following story, you’re going to meet the man who stitches up the fighters. — Editor
Q: You have said that wrapping hands is similar to putting the armor on the gladiators before they went into battle in ancient times. What is the most memorable wrap job you have ever done?
A: Let’s talk about Meisha Tate the other day when she fought. It was the first time I wrapped her hands. She requested me because I already had Marloes Coenen. They give me five guys, and I end up doing eight. It’s tough for me to say no. So, I put her in my schedule.
As I’m wrapping her hands I said, “Meisha, I wrapped just about every great fighter’s hands in MMA, and it’s nice to have you as one of the people I wrapped.”
She got all excited and said, “Stitch can you sign them for me?”
I have never signed a wrap before they go out to battle so I signed, “Have a blast,” and she ended up winning the fight. She said was going to hold on to them and put them in a special place.
Here is another great story.
We were at the weigh-ins at Abu Dhabi, and you have all of these princes and sheiks. We are in the back dressing room, and I heard one of them talking to security about how he wants Anderson Silva’s autograph. He then sees me and wants to take a picture, which we did.
Come fight night I thought it would be nice to do something special for this guy, so I said, “Do you want to go to the back with me? I have to go wrap BJ Penn, Anderson Silva, Renzo Gracie, Mark Munoz and Kendall Grove.”
While back there, I asked Anderson Silva if he would sign.
Anderson said, “Oh, no problem, sure, sure.”
I thought it would be nice to do something different, so I wrapped his hands and had Anderson autograph the wrap. During the fight, the camera zoomed in on him, and he is waving the wrap around. The guy ended up being one of the princes, and he was very grateful.
Q: From Forrest Griffin to Marvin Eastman and everyone in between, you have been there for most, if not all of the biggest cuts in the history of the sport. What was the most challenging cut you ever had to work on?
A: It happens at just about every event. If you give me an event, I’ll give you a story (laughing). Brock Lesnar when he fought Cain Velasquez. I was with Brock, and I love Brock. I have wrapped his hands since day one. But on this one he ended up with a major gash, and I started working on him.
As big and manly as he is, he looked at me and said, “Stitch, take care of me.”
I said, “Don’t worry about it, Brock.”
Those are the moments that I’m talking about … the one only the fighter and I share.
When Fedor got knocked out he whispered to me, “What happened?”
I had to tell him, “Fedor, you got knocked out.”
This is an excerpt from the January issue.
Credit: Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Source: Ultimate MMA Magazines
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