In light of Derek Hough presenting at the 4th Annual Fighters Only World Mixed Martial Arts Awards Wednesday night, the Las Vegas Review Journal has a great article up on him and how he was once bullied in school. Below is a take on how he became a “defuser”….
“I would get in fights. I broke some kid’s nose. Well, he punched me first,” says Hough, who appears Wednesday at the World Mixed Martial Arts Awards at the Palms.
Hough, 26, remembers that particular fight well.
“He tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around. And he punched me,” he says.
“My nose was bleeding all over the place. All this blood filled up in my hand. I turned around and threw all this blood in this kid’s face. Then I started getting on him and I broke his nose.”
Hough was expelled, but the bully wasn’t. Hough’s parents were supportive.
“My mom was like, ‘Damn right, you fight back if somebody touches you.’ ”
His dad took a different approach and advised him to “just work it out.”
“And that’s how I am in general — I’m a defuser of a situation,” Hough says.
Doesn’t it break your heart to know how several of the dancers were bullied when they were kids just because they danced? 🙁 Be sure to read the full story here. Derek also talks of how he got into Martial Arts and more.