UFC KO artist Francisco Rivera gets violent style from tough upbringing

Francisco Rivera reserves his violence for the cage.

The UFC bantamweight knockout artist grew up in a tough area of Buena Park, Calif., rife with gangs. Rivera's mother worked two jobs and he helped take care of his older sister and younger brother. Rivera had his own caretaker -- someone who was in a gang himself and didn’t want that life for him.

"My older cousin would come and say, 'You need to stay away from this,'" Rivera told FOX Sports. "We would always see my cousin get jumped or my cousin jumping someone or him getting shot at. I kind of just stayed away from that. It was kind of scary."

There was trouble inside their home, too. Rivera's father wasn't around early due to work and then he left altogether. Rivera's mother would date different men and some of them felt like hitting children was an apt punishment. Rivera was the scapegoat by design. He wanted to protect his siblings from a beating.

"I was always the one trying to stand up and taking punishment," he said.

So maybe it isn't a surprise that Rivera's style in the Octagon is all about casting caution aside, taking pain to give it right back.

"That's not a big deal to me," he said. "I'm putting my head down and swinging. It taught me a lot, growing up the way I did. If it wasn’t being so aggressive because of all the things I dealt with, I might not be where I am today."

Where Rivera happens to be is the largest MMA organization in the world, the place he can make money for doing what he loves: fighting. He's one of the success stories, a Mexican American kid who made it out of a dangerous area and is thriving.

This week, Rivera accepted the biggest fight of his life. At UFC 181 on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas, he'll meet Urijah Faber, a legend in the lighter weight classes. While some would have reservations taking such a huge bout coming off a loss, Rivera didn't hesitate at all.

"How can you turn down a huge opportunity, a life-changing opportunity like that?" Rivera said. … "If I defeat Faber, that would change my life."

Rivera, 33, has a son and daughter of his own now. He'll make sure they know where he came from and about his Mexican heritage, which is extremely important to him. Rivera begged UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby to put him on the card at UFC 180 on Mexico City, but it didn't work out. Rivera is still trying to find his father, who he has not seen in 21 years.

"Maybe I should have just opened my mouth and ran it like Conor McGregor, but that's not my style," he said.

Fighting Faber is a nice consolation prize. Rivera (10-3, 1 NC), ranked No. 11 among UFC bantamweight contenders, lost in his last bout to Takeya Mizugaki at UFC 173 in May. In 10 wins, Rivera has even knockouts and another was overturned due to a failed drug test in 2012. Faber is ranked No. 3 and has won five of his last six fights.

To many, the bout doesn't make much sense. Rivera doesn't care. He knows he has sacrificed plenty for a chance like this. It will also come with a brand-new, five-fight contract extension with the UFC.

Rivera isn't going to treat the fight with Faber any differently. He's going to come forward and be aggressive like the Mexican boxers he watched when he was young. There isn't much that scares him.

"Maybe it's just the upbringing in my life," Rivera said. "Maybe it's going through a lot of stuff growing up and not being afraid."