'King Kong's' fight within

There are fighters that tell epic tales of battles inside the ring. They’ll carry their scars like war medals, brag and boast about staring another man in the face — who is trying to knock them senseless — and living to tell the story. If they’re lucky enough, good enough, they’ll wear a big shiny belt around their waist and be labeled "champion.” Then there’s Vince Hernandez, a fighter who’s been fighting his whole life against a different kind of opponent — deadlier than any punch or kick in the ring could ever be. For 25 years, the San Francisco native has been battling personal demons that have landed him anywhere from homeless to near lifeless. These mental demons that Hernandez fights — anger, hate, neglect and fear — have knocked him down and out time and time again. But recently Hernandez has found a way to swing back—– and the man can pack a nasty punch. The truth is, Hernandez shouldn’t be alive. The mixed martial artist who trains out of Undisputed Boxing Gym in San Carlos can’t count the number of times he’s been on the brink of sure death, or the times he’s been locked up, or the instances where he’s either been kidnapped or close to it. All Hernandez knows is that he’s a changed man — a man with a purpose much bigger than strapping on some gloves and throwing punches and kicks in the ring. What that purpose is has yet to be seen, but whatever it may be, Hernandez is surely on the right path. Six months ago, the story was completely different. Hernandez has just gotten out of jail, a year and half removed from being in a gang but with a desire to leave behind a life full of useless violence fueled by years of gang affiliation. When he found Undisputed Gym, he had no idea that his encounter with owner Brian Schwartz would change his life. "They saw me and knew that, ‘Hey, this guy has had a tough life,’” Hernandez said, pointing to the mural of tattoos that line his whole body — markings that could have been used to stereotype him and cast him to the side just like he’s been his entire life. "But they didn’t hold that against me,” Hernandez said. Instead, his trainers extended a hand of friendship and love that he has never experienced in his life. This gesture moved Hernandez to do a complete 180. Maybe you’ve heard stories like Hernandez’s before. Maybe even think you’ve heard all the clichés and in a lot of ways, this fighter fits all of them. But sitting down and talking to the man is a whole different experience. Hernandez still has many scars from his life on the streets. While the physical ones are obvious — like missing the top part of his left ear after being shot at by a rival gang member with a shotgun, or his numerous stab wounds — the emotional ones are the ones that have hurt Hernandez the deepest. Those are the ghosts he fights everyday. "We could sit here till six in the morning. I could write you a book,” Hernandez said, as he reeled off story after story about his tough-as-nails up bringing. You name it, Hernandez has lived it. Kidnapping? check. Homelessness? Yes. Murder? check. Jail? Been there, done that — a handful of times. Won’t be defined by past But what you need to know about Hernandez is this: He’s a man who has been molded by his past, but not a man who will be defined by it. And that’s where his story is different than the others. Hernandez is focused, almost in a scary kind of way. His eyes are so intense, he oozes confidence and as a physical specimen, well, let’s say if you ever got into a bar fight, you’d want him on your side. As a professional fighter, Hernandez’s talent is unmistakable: Proof of that lies in the broken nose and stitched up right eye of the last guy he beat to a pulp in his first professional fight. His hands are huge. When clenched, they look like a boulder. He’s ripped, with a six-pack decorated with a 49ers tattoo across his abdominals and his chin looks like it was carved out of oak. It’s safe to say that he’s got all the tools he needs to be a great fighter. But in a lot of ways, fighting in the ring is the easy part. Not that training isn’t grueling, at times sickening, but Hernandez points out what he is doing now is nothing compared to where he’s had to dig himself out of. It’s a complete transformation, one that has been gradual but swift at the same time. Hernandez is adapting to a world full of love and understanding. This would be easy for most people, but for a person with such a troubled past, it’s like learning to walk all over again. In Schwartz, he’s found a father figure and at Undisputed he’s found a home and a family. "I’ve never had that before,” he said, adding it fills him with joy, but also anger, because he doesn’t know how to classify the feelings he has. "I think [the feelings I have are] what it feels like to have a father,” he’s written to Schwartz before, "but I’ll never really know because I’ve never had that,” he said. Finding a purpose So Hernandez fights. He fights for his family at the gym. He fights in gratitude. He fights for himself. He fights for the haters. He fights to make his baby sister proud. "I owe to these people to do my best,” he said. "The person that I was before, my goal is to be the complete opposite of that.” Hernandez’s heart is full of a lot of things; guilt among them. "There are a lot of people that I’ve hurt and you have no idea how much I’d like to say that I’m sorry. But I’ll never get that chance. But doing this, this is how I can do that.” Hernandez’s past also filled him with anger and hatred. He’s been fighting larger and older men since he was a child, earning the nickname of "Loco” on the streets. But today, that nickname has changed to "King Kong” for his beast-like mentality in the ring and a caring, surprising loving side on the inside. "I’m a big softie,” he admits, "(But) when that bell goes off, I’m a beast.” So while Saturday night, at Fight Night at the Fox in Redwood City, Hernandez will add another chapter to his professional career, the truth is, his life is already quite the success story. And with his ascent up the MMA ranks, it could turn out to be an even more fascinating story— a truly epic tale.