The Cage Fighter - The True Story of Ian 'The Machine' Freeman

Book excerpt: 'Hit me first and that's when I turn psycho. I cracked him so hard that he fell against the wall behind him; that was the only thing that kept him up. He was so dazed that he turned to run away and just ran straight into the wall...'Meet Ian Freeman...otherwise known as The Machine. A friend to keep close and an enemy to steer clear of, cross him and you will live to regret it. For Ian, violence is no glamorous profession, but a way of life.At 18 years of age, Ian's destiny changed forever, when he stepped in to help the victim of a brutal attack. Ian's bravery was rewarded by the gang of bullies turning their fists on him. He was beaten to within an inch of his life but escaped through sheer determination.From this point on, Ian became fighter rather than victim and The Machine was born. Soon he was running the doors of Sunderland's toughest nightclubs with an iron fist, but merely controlling his patch was not enough. Determined to be able to defend himself whatever the challenge, Ian quickly established himself as an unbeatable force in the fighting art of Vale Tudo - Portuguese for 'anything goes' - and rose to be Britain's finest heavyweight Mixed Martial Arts fighter.