A martial arts dynamo whose every limb delivers punishing blows can hardly be thought of as ‘handicapped.’ Watch Ron Mann in a chute match — fists and feet flailing his opponent — a series of wrestling holds alternating with jiu jitsu attacks — brute force and cunning dodges.

The 31-year-old athlete who carries 163 pounds on a lithe, rock-hard six-foot frame, is minus his left leg below the knee. An amputee; but don’t call him handicapped. On the contrary, the Tampa resident who trains four hours each day is aiming to be named an “Ultimate Fighting Champion,” the highest level attainable in the U. S. in a sport which took off here a decade ago, but has been popular in South America and Asia for generations.

Ultimate Fighting combines mixed martial arts skills with kick boxing, ground fighting, judo, and Muay Thai, the national sport of Thailand in which contestants can use knees and elbows as well as feet.

“The only rule is you can’t bite or eye-gouge. In Brazil, you can head-butt, but not here,” he notes.

Matches are scheduled in a boxing type ring or in ‘cages,’ enclosed chutes that contain opponents for two five-minute rounds. Protection is limited to light, leather gloves, a mouthpiece, and a crotch cup. Action goes from standing to ground fighting and all points in-between.

Passionate about his sport, Ron believes he was the first amputee to do cage fights featuring mixed martial arts, and the first to do amateur kick boxing. He considers his sport the culmination of a youth wholly devoted to ‘living on the edge.’

A native of Lansing, Michigan, Ron spent seven years in the military, three in active duty and four in the reserves. He started martial arts training at 20 while stationed in Korea in the U.S. Army. In that first year, he earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and won the Army’s Tae Kwon Do championship in his weight and belt division.

Three months after leaving the service, Ron was in a motorcycle crash, causing the traumatic amputation of his left leg. Later, he returned to martial arts as rehabilitation. In Lansing, he trained with Sifu Dan Smith at the American Academy of Martial Arts, studying Muay Thai and Machado Jiu Jitsu, plus standard boxing to improve his punching skills.

A major initial obstacle in his six years of training was his prosthesis. Ron was bent on destroying one prosthesis after another. Eventually, certified prosthetist Jan Stokosa fabricated the athlete’s College Park Venture™ Foot prosthesis, accompanied by an Alpha Liner.

“My prosthesis is designed for high levels of activity — which makes it good for kick boxing. It’s very stable and so heavily padded that it’s softer than my right leg. I kick with either, but my prosthetic leg is a much weaker weapon than my sound leg,” he insisted. “If it comes off in a match, I try to get an equipment time-out and put it back on – or I just keep on fighting without it and put it on between rounds.”

Although as an amateur, Ron was responsible for setting up his own fights and paying an entry fee for the events — there can be eight to 10 fights per night on a card, he noted — he’s in the process of going professional and shooting for the “Ultimate Fighting Champion” designation. And though his younger sister, Lisa, cheers him on, he knows the ring won’t be there forever. Consequently, he’s combined a B.S. degree in psychology from Michigan State with his Army experience as a medic; additionally, he’s taking a two-year certification program in respiratory therapy. An ultimate goal is enrolling in medical school.

“It’s a long path, but I want to be able to live life along the way,” Ron insists. “Everything I do in life has to be as far on the edge as possible — whether at work, or school, or in my training. I’m collecting experiences along the way, and I wouldn’t change anything,” he exults.

“I’m really much saner now! I just want to pack in as much life as possible!”