‘Life is a fight,’ former UFC fighter tells Tyrone students
Hollidaysburg native shares story to help teach life lessons
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TYRONE -- A former Hollidaysburg Area School District Spanish teacher who became an Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter returned to a school setting to share his message of resiliency with students in the Tyrone Area School District.
Charlie "The Spaniard" Brenneman, a Hollidaysburg native, is a retired mixed-martial artist who fought in a losing effort against the likes of Anthony Johnson and Johny Hendricks in the UFC.
Brenneman, who has won more fights than he's lost in his eight-year MMA career, told students that he grew up watching "Rocky" and lives by the analogy that "life is a fight."
He guaranteed students that life will hit them hard at some point, if it hasn't already. But the choice to get back up after taking life's hits and to "keep moving forward," as the "Italian Stallion" once said, is what defines how far they'll go in life, he said.
Brenneman shared a story of when life hit him hard after his older brother, Scott, was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a fast-growing brain tumor in 2019.
"We went from living our normal lives to all of the sudden being punched in the gut," he said, adding his brother has survived multiple brain surgeries.
"He continues to lift us up through his example," he said. "We're not talking wrestling or mixed-martial arts, we're talking life and death."
Like the story of Rocky Balboa, Brenneman said there's a deeper meaning to his story of life that he wanted the students to understand: Never give up through an up-and-down journey of wins and losses.
Brenneman said he started wrestling when he was eight years old, and the sport taught him lessons of hard work, dedication and sacrifice.
He said, as a kid, he wanted nothing more than to win a PIAA wrestling championship. Although he made it to state championships twice, he never achieved his goal.
He said the negative self-talk inside his head was what dragged him down when he was younger, despite being a two-time silver medalist.
"That voice you have in your head, it can be your best friend or it can be your worst enemy," he said.
After failing to realize his goal, Brenneman said he stopped taking care of his body and pursued a job as a Spanish teacher for three years. But then he started to get bored, he said, so he decided to challenge himself in mixed-martial arts, which was growing in popularity at the time.
He said being knocked out on live television "stung" and having everyone stare at him at his lowest point in life was difficult to overcome. He said his childhood bullies were now grown adults making troll social media accounts just to attack him.
"I don't share any of my adversities so you feel sad," he said, adding he shares them to let students know they're not alone and they can overcome adversities, too.
Before he demonstrated boxing and wrestling moves on high school Principal Chad Packer, Brenneman told the students that they have more strength than they think they have and said it's OK if they need to reach out to their teachers or guidance counselors for help.
He also said they don't know what their peers are going through and asked them to be mindful before taking to social media to make someone feel bad.
Packer said the school has an open-door policy for students who want to talk about their struggles. He said the school district can provide services for students, if the district doesn't have them available internally.
"I hope they get that everyone has a struggle, everyone fails and they can be resilient and bounce back from it," Packer said of what he hopes students learned from the assembly.
Senior Ethan McCloskey said he was inspired by Brenneman's story because he grew up in a nearby area.
"I just thought it was really neat getting to see a guy who was from around here actually be famous," McCloskey said. "I didn't know that people from around here are famous."
Christian Daniel, a junior student, said he learned "to get back up and never give up in life."
"As much as you've been knocked down, get back up and keep trying," he said, adding he doesn't use social media platforms but hopes to uplift classmates who are feeling down.
Brenneman said he enjoys sharing his story with students in Blair County. He's written several books and has a couple podcasts geared toward students to help them through tough times.
"It's awesome to speak in Blair County schools," he said. "If I can use my story of professional fighting to teach kids valuable life lessons, that's the direction I want to go."
Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.