Damacio Page: The Night That Changed His Life

By Frank Curreri

There were eight of them, and one of him. The gang members attacked like a pack of wolves, and he still fought back. When the hail of fists, kicks and stomps finally ceased, and the thugs ran off, Damacio Page was a bloody and barely conscious mess. But in hindsight, the gruesome beatdown -- a low point in his adult life -- may have been a blessing.

Within a few days of the melee, while he struggled even to lift his arms, walk and breathe, Page was booted off the Fresno State University wrestling team. His athletic scholarship had been terminated. You're out of control, a coach told him. It was true. Page, a junior college transfer, had been on the Fresno campus for just three months. He was forgiven for previous fights against frat boys; the last incident, whether his fault or not, was the final straw.

The 22-year-old obsessed over his next move.

"I actually lost it," he said. "I wanted a gun. I was ready to kill these people that jumped me. And I knew people that knew who they were, but they wouldn't tell me who they were. Everything was out the window. I didn't care anymore."

As revenge plots whirled throughout his brain, the phone rang. It was his father. The Old Man had a surprise: I'm in Los Angeles visiting family.

Damacio didn't mention the violent episode or his battered condition. Come pick me up, he told his father.

"He got there and saw me all beat up and swollen because they hit me in the head with a bat a few times," Damacio said. “I was all welted up. But it was as if God had sent him, because he didn't tell me he was in LA at the time. It was either he came to pick me up or I was going to go do it (seek revenge). He picked me up the same day and I went back to Albuquerque."

That was almost three and a half years ago, right before the Thanksgiving holiday. Page rested his ailing body for the next month, started training mixed martial arts after that, and turned pro in February 2005, winning his first fight by TKO. Now fresh off a win over Scott Jorgensen, the ultra-aggressive Page (10-3) is bracing for a June 1 showdown with Yoshiro Maeda (23-4-2). And Page, who says he has been a model citizen for the past three years, knows why he has come so far so fast.

"The turning point in my life was when I got jumped in Fresno," he said.

His is a life rooted in poverty. He was raised on the westside of Albuquerque, in an area many would consider a ghetto. His parents divorced when he was six or so. His mom, a former pro kickboxer, worked two jobs. By the time he was in high school he had joined a gang, which wasn't a big deal by the community's standards.

"It was just the way I grew up," he said. "My friends and cousins were all in gangs. That's something you grow up around. If you grow up in a good neighborhood -- if your dad and neighbors are electricians or engineers, or mechanics -- and that's what you see, then you are going to want to be an electrician, mechanic or an engineer. But that was the lifestyle that was around us, so that's what you're going to fall into. You're with your homeboys and starting stuff with other

gangs.

"I saw some crazy stuff. A real good friend of mine got shot in the head, man. But the craziest thing I ever saw was a guy get shot and then get stabbed in his neck, and blood was just squirting out of his neck."

It was high school wrestling, and later MMA, that Page believes saved him from the streets. He won a state title in high school and believes training helps him channel his emotions and use it productively. Training under Greg Jackson, he is often reminded that rage is actually counterproductive in the cage. He is learning a lot from Jackson and the lessons go way beyond just learning armbars and leg locks.

"I don't even know how to explain it," Page said of Jackson. "The guy, I guess he is a living saint. At the drop of a dime he will help you out. He's like a big brother, a father, everything mixed in one. He's there to help you, not be a jerk. He'll give you mental support, love, everything. He's there and you can talk to him no matter what....... He knows I'm an amped up fighter. He tells me I got to keep calm. If I get amped up the whole game plan goes out the window. I just start swinging."

So what is the best advice Jackson has ever given Page?

"Don't throw up," Page responds.

Page expounds on the story. He took his last fight against Scott Jorgensen on relatively short notice. They fought at a blistering, back-and-forth pace. After the second round, Page walked back to his corner.

"I gotta throw up," he said to Jackson.

"Don't throw up," Jackson told him.

"OK," a semi-exhausted Page told him.

Against the veteran Maeda, Page realizes he will have to be in much better shape to win.

“Yoshiro is a tough guy," Page said. "He’s fought in Pancrase. He’s probably one of the top fighters in Japan. He’s real strong. He bullies his opponents around. He has a good left hand, a very good left high kick or body kick. That’s what he’ll be looking for; I’ve got something for that. I think he’s ranked fifth in the world at 135 so by me beating him it will show where I’m at. I feel that I’m ready for him. I just feel good about this fight.”

Fighting just comes natural, Page said. He wants to prove himself at 135 pounds, win the WEC bantamweight title, then go up to 145 pounds and fight his buddy, current WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber. Along the way, Page said he hopes his life turnaround impacts other kids growing up in westside Albuquerque.

"A lot of the homies (people in the gang he used to belong to) are behind me 100 percent now," he said. "They're like, 'Hey man, we're glad you're doing what you're doing. You're representing New Mexico and Albuquerque.' You can get out of a gang. It's not always blood in, blood out. If they see I can get something better without the drugs and not being in a gang, then they're cool with it.

"I do have a lot of people that look up to me, kids that grew up in the hoods and ghettos. Even though I got into trouble, I was able to get out of it. And not many people are able to get out of that lifestyle."