NATHAN COOK is five fights away from changing his life with a whopping $1million payday.
But don't expect him to give up his day job as an osteopath if he becomes a millionaire.
The Camberley clubber is one of 32 men competing in Glory Kickboxing's eagerly anticipated ‘Last Heavyweight Standing' tournament.
The 28-year-old kicks off his bid to win the year-long competition in Amsterdam on Saturday night with a first-round clash with Anis Bouzid.
Winning the huge pot of gold at the end of the blood-soaked rainbow would allow Cook to quit his day job and train full-time for years to come.
But ‘The Axe' is adamant he won't abandon rehabilitating his injury-stricken patients, telling SunSport in an exclusive interview: “I don't think I'm gonna give it up.
“Obviously, the amount of money you make is pretty life-changing. And a few things come to mind.
“The first is that the job of a full-time kickboxer relies on your body.
“And being an osteopath, I know you can only do as much as you can.
“But if you fall in an odd way or something happens, something beyond your own control, it could be a career-ending injury.
“Then you're sort of back at square one. But also, I don't know what I would do with the [spare] time.
“I might train for four hours a day, or let's say, if I'm crazy, like six hours a day. Then there's still a lot of the day left.
“I think I'll do shorter clinic hours. But I think I'll still work two or three days a week, if I can.
“I'm also conscious of the need to keep your brain active to keep knowledge.
“Because getting punched and kicked in the face as a day job is probably not good for your sanity and your intellect.
“I want keep my brain working.”
Cook enjoys getting his patients back to full fitness just as much as he does having his hand raised.
He said: “It's rewarding. It's sort of why I went into it.
“I don't think you could do a job like that if you weren't a nice person.
“Or, if you weren't, you wouldn't be able to stay in it for too long. But I always find it's a nice contrast.
I don't think I'm gonna give it up
Nathan Cook on the prospect on giving up osteopathy if he wins the tournament
“I feel like it's sort of balances the scales.
“So I spend my evenings and my training days hurting people and then I can fix people to make up for it.”
Cook wouldn't be human if he hadn't thought about what he'll do with the money if he wins the tournament.
But unlike most people, the prospect of what he can do to help others is at the forefront of his mind rather than how he can change his own life.
“I do think that about some of the stuff,” he admitted. “Especially when it's for other people, rather than selfish stuff.
“It's added motivation, for sure. Whenever I'm in training and my coach is beasting me and I feel like, ‘Why on Earth am I doing this? No one's forcing me to do it.'
“It's those little things that [get me through]. ‘Oh, actually, I could buy this and I could take [some] stress off this person.'
“That definitely gives me a bit of extra fuel in the tank.”
Standing between Cook and the last 16 of the tournament is Belgian bruiser Bouzid, who will have a serious axe to grind having lost his Glory debut last May.
“I couldn't tell you how it's gonna turn out,” Cook said of his tournament opener. “But, it's likely going to be a kicks and punches versus punches type of fight.
“It's gonna be leaning towards our strengths, but I'm gonna give him whatever works on his flaws.
“So whatever he comes out focusing on, I'm then gonna find a way around it.”
