Christian Jungwirth was once a promising goalkeeper for Bundesliga stadiums – now he’s an MMA star fighting inside stadiums.
Jungwirth played for Stuttgart’s youth team during his early teens alongside players such as future Champions League-winning Chelsea manager Tuchel.
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The former Bayern Munich boss has built a reputation for demanding too much from his players – but Jungwirth had no objection to Tuchel having him as a teammate.
He told Bild: “I had no problems with him because he saw that I was a hard worker and gave everything for the team.”
Despite Jungwirth’s talent, his football career was cut short at the age of 22 due to ankle and knee injuries – which required six surgeries.
After seeing his dreams shattered, the former stopper plunged into a life of alcohol, drugs and parties.
He said in the five-part SWR documentary: “I had no goals in life. Sport was always my goal. At that time, I had other ideas.
“You couldn’t see it on the outside, but on the inside it hurt me when people would say, ‘He’s no good, he can’t do anything, he’ll never be successful.’
“Then you also start replaying it in your mind.”
Things got so bad that Jungwirth had to spend six months in a correctional facility in Munich for drug-related crimes.
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Jungwirth is now a 15-8 MMA star in Germany and taking on fellow countryman Christian Eckerlin in Frankfurt for local bragging rights.
But before he was a salaried prize-winner, Jungwirth first received a call to violence on football terraces.
“I tend towards extremes. Football was my life,” he said.
“I saw videos on the Internet where fans went wild, singing, clapping, booing. I always loved that.
“Let’s just say no one was innocent there. The people we met there all wanted the experience of the game.
“Team Kickboxing. Everyone was there, from lawyers to insurance agents – normal people just looking for excitement.
“Then we would just agree: ten versus ten. And that’s how I started fighting.”
At the age of 28, Jungwirth decided to pursue his passion for football by moving away from the serious world of hooliganism.
Instead, he joined a boxing club and just two years later he made his MMA debut at the age of 30.
He said, “Martial arts lit a fire inside me. Then I realized: ‘This is where you belong’.”
Jungwirth racked up impressive victories and over the past seven years he now stands as one of Germany’s top fighters.
But there is only one person who can rival him in popularity – Ackerlin, another former footballer turned MMA fighter.
And both are competing for the throne in Frankfurt’s 60,000-seat stadium on Saturday octagon 62,
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Promoters are confident it will break the UFC’s attendance record of 56,214 set by Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm in 2015.
And this will finally settle the argument over who really is the king of German MMA.
