Latest news with #Heinisch
USA Today
4 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
'Balance is everything': UFC alum Ian Heinisch finds traction with Ice Wars, BKFC fights on ice
'Balance is everything': UFC alum Ian Heinisch finds traction with Ice Wars, BKFC fights on ice Finding the perfect balance in life is important. It might be even more important in BKFC Ice Wars. If not, you might be in trouble. Fighting an opponent is difficult enough? But fighting physics if you don't have the tools? That sounds like an equal challenge – and the coinciding struggles is all part of the fun, says its president and former UFC fighter Ian Heinisch. "Balance is everything in this sport, so hockey players do have the advantage there," Heinisch recently told MMA Junkie. "But the fighters have that grit, that clinch work. They probably have more power in the hands. But that's what makes it so interesting. You have to have that full package of balance, of being good on skates most importantly because I don't care how hard you can throw a punch. If you can't balance, you're just going to fall down. It's going to be interesting to see who has the advantage. So far, I've seen more seasoned vets on the ice, enforcers, have the advantage. But now we have some UFC vets who can skates, so it's going to be very interesting to see how they fair against some of these hockey players." The start-up ice fighting series of the world's leading bareknuckle boxing brand is set to debut Saturday. It'll feature combatants from across the combat sports world, but also ex-hockey enforcers. It'll stream live and free across various platforms including YouTube, in an effort to spread brand awareness. But Heinisch thinks it won't take long before fight fans become well-acquainted. Heinisch never envisioned getting into the promoting game, but the opportunity fell in his lap. He's happy it did. His competitive career was cut short due to brain injuries, though he's doing better now. Heinisch found success in the crypto world, and now adds Ice Wars to his diverse portfolio. "It's going to take off," Heinisch said, confidently. The concept was developed by a third party, which ran a pilot series months prior to its BKFC partnership. With much room to grow and the previous owner encountering health issues, BKFC president David Feldman got involved and soon Heinisch, who had commentated the fights held under the previous regime, was named Ice Wars president. "I was introduced through some friends," Heinisch said. "It was kind of like the beta testing for the Ice Wars concept. It was a lesser-production regional thing. They were kind of testing it out but I was one of the lead commentators then. I saw the fights and I had no idea what to expect, but it was special. These fights were incredible. There were so many techniques that I could've never imagined would be for hockey fighting. Some people were in the clinch. Some people had their hands down skating backward, slipping and ripping. I said, 'You know what? This is special. But the show is ran terribly.' It didn't have good backing but I stayed in touch with the owner. He had a life-threatening condition where he had to get heart surgery. We just stayed in touch and he eventually got this connection with Dave Feldman and BKFC and they basically said they were going to fully back it. They wanted to make in the sister company of BKFC. They loved the idea. Originally, I was just going to be the commentator but I was offered to step into a partial owner and be the president of the promotion, so I jumped all over it. I thought it was a great opportunity for me. I have the connections. I've seen poorly-ran promotions and I've see the highest of the high with the UFC, so I was all about it. I believe in what they're doing and I believe this is absolutely going to skyrocket." BKFC Ice Wars 1: "Battle at the Border" takes place at Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Mt. Pleasant, Mich. – on Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe reservation land. Heinisch said the company is working to get the sport sanctioned in ABC commission-regulated areas as well. The BKFC brass has recent experience, having led the charge in getting bareknuckle boxing, a sport long outlawed, sanctioned in dozens of states. "We're in uncharted territories but we have someone who has been through all of this before, Dave Feldman," Heinisch said. "Him getting bareknuckle sanctioned in all these states, and now them being one of the top fight promotions. So there are all these hoops to jump through. It's just such a new concept but we are being well-received in many states and I believe after they see these fights and they see this is an actual new sport, I think it's going to be opened up nationwide." Heinisch anticipates Saturday's launch will kick off an ambitious schedule of six-to-eight events in 2025, followed by 20-24 in 2026. Fighters are being signed to multifight deals. Two such examples are former UFC fighters Brian Kelleher and Charles Rosa, who have yet to have their debut matchups announced. "We have a lot of interest," Heinisch said. "People love this concept. But when you have the BKFC backing us, we have major interest with sponsors. We have an incredible team. We have an amazing startup guy from Tom Brady's portfolio. We have Dave Feldman guiding us, his production team, his marketing team, sponsors. Obviously now, I'm bringing in my fight knowledge. I'm having fighters in my DMs all the time. It's just proof of concept. Like, we don't even have an official fight. Yes, Ice Wars have been done before but that was with gloves. This is bareknuckle Ice Wars. Right now, we already have peaked the interest of the entire MMA community and boxing community and bareknuckle boxing community. I think after this first fight, the floodgates are going to open."
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ice Wars' mission statement is simple — let's take the hockey out of fighting
MT. PLEASANT, Mich. — For years there's been an outcry among hockey purists who've seen just about enough of the goonery that had come to mark the game — get the fighting out of hockey. If you're one of those, you might want to cover your children's eyes. Because as we reach the quarter mark of the 21st century, there's a group of organizers who are taking things a step further. They are attempting to take the hockey out of fighting. Advertisement On Saturday night, the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) will pull up its jersey sleeve to reveal an icy arm to go along with the naked knuckles. They call it Ice Wars. It's essentially sanctioned hockey fights, which aren't as spontaneous as the ones you see in a professional hockey game, but entirely premeditated and twice as vicious. The slogan they are using for the inaugural event, which takes place this Saturday in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, is as if lifted straight from the label on the Jolt cola can. 'The most exciting part of hockey, without all the hockey. No sticks. No pucks. No goals. Just the fights.' Take a bath, Connor McDavid. Get screwed Nathan McKinnon. To hell with you, Cale Makar. These gloves aren't going to drop themselves! Advertisement 'I always thought the fights were the coolest part about hockey,' Ian Heinisch says. Heinisch, a former UFC fighter, has been named the first president of Ice Wars, and — not surprisingly — he never appreciated those times when he'd find himself watching fights only to see a hockey game break out. 'I wasn't a huge fan of hockey, but I would watch it if it was on," he says. "It's a good sport, the agility, but the fights were fun. They don't really fight as much in hockey anymore. And I was always a fan of that aspect, a fan of fighting on the ice.' The first event goes down at the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort, on a fight-tailored sheet of ice. There are 10 scheduled fights that will take place on the ring-sized rink, spread across four weight classes — super heavyweight (more than 250 pounds), heavyweight (more than 200), cruiserweight (175-200), middleweight (150-175), and lightweight (under 150). What, you didn't think there'd be weight classes? Advertisement Who do you think is running this show, barbarians? 'It is going to look like a boxing ring a little bit bigger, but it's going to have walls — wood walls, not rope,' Heinisch says, indicating the boards. 'And as of now we're going to have synthetic ice, but we're looking at some arenas down the line that we're going to have real ice.' There will be two referees to stand idly to the side as the fight takes place. From the rules that the BKFC sent out, there will be at least three 90-second rounds for each scrap, with a maximum of five rounds, with a one-minute respite to set the jersey to rights. You get the sense that some of this stuff is malleable, as they figure it all out. And, oh yes, the fighters — comprised of former MMA fighters, boxers, and pro hockey players — will be wearing hockey jerseys, which are a key component to a hockey fight. The old Winnipeg gi is central to leveraging. The fistful of jersey, the twisting and contorting of the body, the pulling of the jersey over the head in a tangle of defending and swinging limbs. 'I mean it's like a boxing fight, right?' Heinisch says. 'You knock 'em down, it's a count. I think they're tweaking some of the round stuff. It's a short fight, pure action, smashing each other in the middle of the rink, and then if it's a tie in the one-on-one round, they go into an icebreaker round.' Advertisement Technically nobody is really dropping their gloves either, as each combatant will be wearing four-ounce MMA gloves. This is meant to protect the knuckles more than the skulls being targeted. As far as I know, fighters won't be permitted to take off skates to turn them into weapons. And as for hockey sticks — well, none of these people will be needing them. Toe-drags are things of beauty in a parallel world, but not for the Ice Wars aesthetic. Saturday night's first show is being called 'Battle of the Border,' as it pits Canadians versus Americans. A cold war of sorts, but only because of the northerly geography (the second event will take place River Cree Casino in Alberta two weeks later). 'We have pro hockey players, boxers,' Heinisch says, just as a collector might point out some of the lovely antiquities on his shelf. 'We have bare-knuckle guys, two UFC vets that we signed.' Those UFC fighters are Brian Kelleher and Charles Rosa, each who played hockey growing up, each who played punch-face for a living. Advertisement 'This is like the old-school days of UFC, where you had a jiu-jitsu guy against a wrestler against a boxer, except who you're seeing who's the baddest man on the ice," Heinisch says. "And the Canadians have a huge advantage. They grew up on skates. They have that balance. But you also have the American side of it, which is mainly better fighters, quicker hands, better boxing. So, people like Rosa or Kelleher.' If this all sounds like we've died and gone to goon heaven, it's because Heinisch — along with BKFC head David Feldman and Ice Wars founder Charlie Nama, who is as Canadian as they come — have made it that way. The rink is topsy-turvy. Enforcers are in. Skilled players are out. 'These guys, the fighters, their first love was hockey fighting, so it was a perfect fit for them,' Heinisch says. 'They saw it, they were in love with it. They jumped on board. They called me and we got 'em signed. So we've stacked the card, we're signing people long-term. We plan on doing around six fights this year and then we're looking at doing around 20 to 24 fights next year.' Advertisement Not that the supervisors of Ice Wars hope to need them, but there will be three judges for each fight, as well. The criteria for scoring will be based on effective striking, effective aggressiveness, and control of the fighting area. Damage is a key factor. Control, too. The idea, just like in MMA, is to keep the judges strictly ornamental. The idea is for knockdowns, knockouts, and dudes scrambling on all fours for their teeth. 'We're going to have blood on ice dropping,' Heinisch says. 'Imagine getting knocked out cold on the ice. I mean, you're going to see some crazy stuff just like at bare-knuckle. It's going to be action packed. 'And I think the gambling is going to be insane. We're making sure there aren't any draws, never want the fight to go to a draw. So it's going to be very appealing for people like gambling sites and stuff like that. It's going to be exciting.' Heinisch has seen some stuff in his day. He's seen the inside of the Canary Islands' prison and the colorless bricks of Riker's Island, from back when he was a drug mule. He has seen incoming fists from UFC middleweight contenders, such as Nassourdine Imavov, Derek Brunson and Kelvin Gastelum. He walked away from active fighting when the concussions took their toll, but he says he is healthy and enjoying life at 36. Advertisement Now he's overseeing a new game in town, a fights-on-ice league that does away with nuisance of actual hockey. Can it work? We're about to find out.
Daily Mail
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Former UFC star admits to smuggling a kilo of cocaine through an airport for a Colombian cartel
Former UFC middleweight Ian Heinisch has opened up about a stunning chapter from his past, detailing his harrowing experience working as a drug mule for a Colombian cartel. Heinisch, who retired from the UFC in 2023, made a lot of bad decisions in his younger days that led him to doing a stint in a Spanish prison. The 36-year-old American recently recounted an experience from his high-stakes life as a drug mule that eventually led to him being locked up and transforming himself into a professional athlete. On one fateful trip, Heinisch was stopped at Bogota, Colombia, with a kilogram of cocaine in his stomach and faced a heart-stopping few minutes with security. 'About four trips into this, this guy stops me at the airport, throws out a badge, he's like, "Who are you?" I'm like ... "No Comprende, sir," and he's like "secret police, sit down," and I sit down next to this beautiful chick and this sketchy looking dude,' Heinisch told Soft White Underbelly. 'I asked the girl, I'm like "Hey, what are we doing here?" And she's like, "The X-ray." I'm sitting with a kilo of cocaine in my stomach and I'm like dude, I'm looking at a long time in prison - and now it's in Columbia.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ian Heinisch (@ianheinischmma) 'The Colombians, every time we'd wrap this cocaine, there was a shiny paper that they put on it. 'They said, "This is what's gonna pass the X-ray," and I was like, "Nooo." In my mind, I was like hoping it was true, but my mind was like, "They're just telling me this so I feel better." 'So I went in this room, put my hands up in this big machine ... I've never been so nervous in my life. I walk over they said "Have a good day." 'I fingerprinted, I signed, and got smashed with a shot of adrenaline that I could never replicate - even in fighting.' The MMA star couldn't believe that he managed to get through the X-ray machine without getting caught. 'It was like that level of winning a fight,' Heinisch explained. 'I'm just like, "I can't believe I just walked out of that." '...And it was actually bad, because we started to get cocky.' The fighter's luck eventually ran out in 2011, with Heinisch getting caught and going on to serve over three years in prison. Heinisch, now happily married, says the whole affair helped him to become a better person and find his purpose in life. 'I feel the best is yet to come,' he said.
