#334 - WE ARE MAX MADORSKY KICKING, CHOKING, AND PUNCHING HIS WAY BACK FROM 300 LBS.

I first met Max Madorsky when the kids on my cross country team at Littleton H.S. invited me to join them at an all-you-can-eat sushi joint in the southern suburbs of Denver. They had invited along this guy who had this amazing capacity to shovel in food. This restaurant couldn’t have been too pleased seeing Max down eight plates of sushi all by himself. I happen to have a remarkable ability to consume large amounts of pizza, so right away I knew Max was my guy to win a challenge from a local parlor in which if two people would win $100 if they could eat a 28”, two-topping pie in an hour. Max and I crushed this prize in only 45 minutes. Because 28” is not just double 14” (think pi-r-squared), that’s something like 14 pounds of pizza. And then Max weaseled a couple of those oversized chocolate-chip cookies out of them, and later went out and ate a handful of doughnuts! What I didn’t know at the time is that Max was relatively svelte at the time, having weighed close to 300 pounds a few years prior as an eighth-grader! Max got bullied for his size and resorted to using drugs to mask his feelings. Some great mentors introduced Max to martial arts like jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, and kickboxing. It was scary for a young Max when one of these mentors got deployed to Iraq, so this soldier promised Max he would return home alive if Max would turn around his life. With that kind of motivation, Max did indeed. He eventually became a professional mixed-martial arts fighter, and has lived in Thailand and Mexico both perfecting his craft and teaching others. During a time in Thailand in which he was injured, Max even opened up a bagel shop/marijuana dispensary! Now Max is additionally pursuing a standup comedy career. It’s a great comeback story from someone who got bullied when he was as young as 8 for his weight. With these and other twists and turns, I’m sure you’ll enjoy hearing Max’s compelling story.Max MadorskyInstagram @maxmadorsky @muaythaijew @toebra This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit billstahl8.substack.com