The answer came to Ben Burrage as quickly as one of his ferocious leg kicks.

Growing up at Murrurundi, the former three-time Muay Thai and kickboxing world champion wanted to become a police officer like his father, Dallas.

"Obviously, every day you'd see him get dressed and go to work," he said. "And we even lived at the police station, down there at Murrurundi, for quite some time."

Burrage never became a cop. Instead, he became obsessed with achieving elite-fighter status.

Now, that little boy is long gone - replaced by a 46-year-old who has fought more than 100 times around the world and ran his own gym, ridden bulls and toiled as a boner, promoted fights and started a security business, and doted on his daughter as a single dad before finding a woman to share his life with.

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