About two years ago, Keith Rocheville’s life was falling apart.
He was having a divorce and he was struggling to gain custody of his children. Besides, he was always late with his support payment.
In an interview with DailyMail, Keith recalled:
“Trying to save the marriage and family I had, I used what little I made to pay our bills. We owned a really reasonably nice home, the only I had ever owned. Our marriage just couldn’t be saved, and I eventually fell so far behind in support the state charged me with a felony.
I was depressed, in the worst ways. I couldn’t leave the house. I basically stayed in a room all day, walked to the corner if I bummed $5 from my mom. I was 38. Pathetic.”
Keith was eventually left without a choice but to move back with his parents. With all his life’s troubles, he decided to do something – he began training.
Photo credit: Keith Rocheville
“I ran in the mornings and I ran at night,” Keith said. “I would do push-ups and just body weight exercises at home twice a day, at least once at worst. Only a small amount of all this because I wasn’t very strong. I would take a day off when I felt wore down.”
He later discovered MMA after the owner of the Cage of Champions tournament asked him to join them. He then had to drop his body weight from 220lbs to 147lbs in order to qualify for the featherweight division.
Photo credit: Keith Rocheville
Things didn’t go as smooth for him though.
“I had always admired MMA but I never thought I’d get to do it. The transformation for me has been surreal, I kinda feel like someone else.
I lost… I was too eager to prove myself and I just was off my time. I didn’t have any discipline. I had two years worth of emotion bottled up into walking into the octagon.”
Photo credit: Keith Rocheville
As of present time, 40-year-old Keith is working as a carpenter and is already able to pay child support. He still has some legal problems to deal with though because of his past money troubles.
He shared:
“I still have nothing. I spent six weeks in county jail this summer, I have a court date for felony support on 19th. There is no help for someone like me, I just can’t get back on my feet. I don’t have drug or alcohol problem, I just have life problem.
I am emotionally 200 per cent better. My spirit is in a good place, it’s just not the same without my kids to share it with.”
Hope life improves for you soon, Keith. Just hang in there!