- Former UFC star Kyle Noke tells Steve Irwin stories
- Reveals what Crocodile Hunter was like off camera
- Noke worked as a bodyguard for Irwin and his family.
Australian UFC great Kyle Noke opened up about his relationship with ‘Crocodile Hunter’ Steve Irwin, revealing what he was like off camera and the most important lesson the Australian icon taught him about life.
Noke, who retired from the sport in 2016, was hired by Irwin as part of his personal security after the late savage warrior became fascinated by the sport of MMA and wanted someone to train with.
Irwin built an MMA training cage at the zoo and had Noke practice with him every morning.
“It was the same as on camera, except he swore a little more,” Noke revealed in the interview. Podcast Take care of your head.
“I hate to tell everyone, so the ‘crikeys’ and all that (were) so he wouldn’t say fuck on TV.”
Noke says some of his best memories of Irwin were after they finished their morning session.
Kyle Noke, who was The Crocodile Hunter’s bodyguard for several years, says Irwin was the same off-camera except he swore a little more.
Noke says the most valuable lessons he learned from Irwin were about fatherhood
“My favorite days were when we would sit after practice and he and I would talk for hours,” Noke said.
“He would just tell me stories about when he was younger and his life.”
The pair bonded through MMA and soon Irwin was so intrigued by the burgeoning combat sport that he wanted to quit his job in television so he could have a charity fight against Vin Diesel or Wesley Snipes.
Noke said that Irwin’s producers hated the idea, but he wanted to do it anyway.
The former UFC star said the most valuable lessons he learned from Irwin were about fatherhood.
“The way he interacted with his kids,” Noke explained. “The way he always had time for his kids.”
“I was in the middle of a meeting with the Discovery Channel, huge people in the world, and Bindi would come and ask for something and he would say, ‘Wait guys, my daughter needs something.’
“He would stop what he was doing and talk to her…
Irwin built an MMA training cage at the zoo and had Noke train with him every morning.
Noke says he wouldn’t be where he is today without Irwin’s support
The former UFC star says Irwin (pictured with his family) always had time for his children no matter how busy he was.
‘You could see it in his eyes, his children just lit him up. That’s probably the most important thing I learned from him: how to be a good father and be present for your children.’
Irwin was so popular among other celebrities that Noke says he and the other guards gave him a nickname.
“We used to call it ‘The Celebrity of Celebrities,'” Noke said.
‘All the A-Listers when they came to Australia just wanted to meet him. So he met everyone: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Owen Wilson, Wu Tang Clan. They were eager to meet him.
Irwin helped Noke greatly with his own career, paying for the Dubbo-born wrestler to travel abroad to train.
Tragically, Irwin died in 2006 after being pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while filming on the Great Barrier Reef.
Tragically, Irwin passed away in 2006 and never got to see Noke compete in the UFC.
Noke was preparing for a fight in the United States when the news was announced. He says he didn’t believe it at first.
“I laughed and said ‘nonsense,'” he said.
Noke says he initially decided to stay in the United States and dedicate his fight to Irwin, but then changed his mind.
‘The next day I started thinking about it a lot and I wanted to say goodbye to my friend, someone who is so important in my life, so I decided not to fight and fly home and have the chance to say goodbye what would I do? never come back…
“I wouldn’t be here today without him.”