Hank Peppers trading basketball sideline for cage fighting

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — Hank Peppers is a familiar name and face in Northwest Georgia — coaching the area’s best boys basketball team, the Lafayette Ramblers. But that’s not all he does.

Basketball coach by day. Cage fighter by night. Peppers, known for his success and intensity on the Lafayette sidelines his that same reputation inside the cage.

“When I’m training four or five times a week hard, everything falls into place in my whole life. It’s great for me. It’s therapy,” Peppers said.

“He’s a perfectionist,” training partner Torrez Finney said. “He wants to be the best. I mean, you see it in the way he coaches. You see it in the way he fights.”

When asked how he would feel if he had to fight Peppers, coach Larry Scott laughed and said, “I wouldn’t feel good. I’ll pass on it.”

“He’s constant pressure. Constant, staying on you the entire time, so you’ll be like, ‘Man!'” Finney said. “When I talk to him about his basketball games, he talks about how he puts pressure on teams, and he like, he don’t never let up. If they’re up by 20, he trying to get up 30, you know? And that’s the way he spars! He fights like that.”

“It’s more than a hobby. It’s a passion,” Peppers said. “To me it’s hand and hand with coaching. And a lot of people might look and go, ‘What’s he talking about?’ … Whenever you’re kind of living it and doing it, the players receive it much better. When I tell them to be the hammer not the nail, they know that I’m not just saying it. I’m trying to do it myself. It leads to your mentality, your identity, as a team, as a coach, as a fighter, as a man.”

Unsurprisingly, Peppers is undefeated and will step inside the cage again Saturday — after over a year break.

“I do it because I enjoy it. I love it. I love competing. I feel like it’s where God wants me when it comes to putting yourself in adverse situations. And that’s what it’s all about. Every time I compete, every time I do something outside my comfort zone, that’s when I grow. I feel like I change, for the better,” Peppers said.

“Hank’s a special kind, man, and I’m excited to see him on April 16th. It’s going to be a really exciting fight. I can’t wait,” Finney said.