John ‘The Hitman’ Hathaway is making his way back to MMA live on DAZN this Saturday, after battling ulcerative colitis for almost a decade.
Hathaway will compete at Oktagon 44 in Frankfurt, Germany, as he faces Luka Siwiec.
The British fighter had a 7-2 record in the UFC and even beat the tough Diego Sanchez during his time with the franchise.
After eight years away, Hathaway reflected on his time with injury and fitness concerns.
He told Oktagon: “I stopped enjoying watching MMA for the first couple of years. I was trying different medications and they were making me unwell. Your body feels constantly run down trying to find a balance between medicating so the disease does not flare up, but not so much that you get ill.
“I was never going to let it overcome me. I wanted to fight again. There's not necessarily a particular fight I wanted. I just had a will to compete again. I had that end goal to get back to what I love doing. I enjoy doing this. Professionally or not, I'd still be doing this in the gym. It doesn't matter if I compete professionally or not. I'd still be training with the guys, in that family environment.”
“You kind of get on with it, you can't help the cards you're dealt. All I wanted to do is fight, I remember watching it as a kid of 14. I managed to get to the UFC before the layoff. It was a dream come true and it's a dream I already lived.”
Hathaway explained the lengths he went to on his path to recovery.
“You start by saying there's no way I'm going on immune suppressants, that's terrible,” he noted. “Then you do it. Then you say I'll never get surgery, then you do it. I had the birth of my daughter coming up, so I wanted to do it as fast as possible. Normally it's over two years and we got it done in eight months. But I don't have to worry about it flaring up again because I had my large intestine removed and it completely removed the problem.”
“It took about a year and half after the surgery finished to get ready to fight. Spending time in the gym and getting my body strong. It got incredibly weak after the surgery. It was about getting used to a new body in a way.
Fans can watch John Hathaway’s return to action at Oktagon MMA 44’s, as he competes in €1 million Tipsport Gamechanger reserve bout on June 17 against Babilon MMA champion, Lukasz Siwiec, DAZN (check for details).
“I've got lots of scars in my stomach, the keyhole sites. I had a hole in my stomach for eight months. I had my stomach wall sewn back together after deep adhesions and it was initially difficult to stand up. I'm more hunched and probably shorter than I used to be from these cuts.”
“Over time I started to compete with the guys at the gym then I knew I could compete with other people. I started to be able to do stuff at a high level and became confident that I could do it again with other people.”
Hathaway is confident as he prepares to fight Siwiec, and is not looking past his talents.
“I expect to win. Lukas is an incredibly good grappler. He carries power in his stand up, he throws flashy knees and spinning kicks. But there's nothing there I haven't seen or dealt with,” he asserted.
“I want to get back into the tournament. I was in it but I got injured, so me and Lukas are fighting for the replacement spot in this tournament. We are one step away from it, it's a hard one because you've almost got to wish for some in the tournament to get injured and replace them. Ideally I get back in and win the tournament. If I beat Lukas I'll be in the reserve for the semis and the final so hopefully I can compete in the tournament setup. It's a real throwback to the early MMA days.”