John Hopoate emmbarks on a new but familiar career path, cage fighting

HE'S like something out of a comic book.
John Hopoate is the man of many faces - and one who refuses to disappear.
The former rugby league bad boy, who once tried his hand as a referee, before switching to boxing and then checking IDs at nightclubs as a security guard, is set to reinvent himself again, this time in the Octagon.
That's right, cage fighting.
"I always seem to break the rules, so it probably suits me because there are hardly any rules," Hopoate told The Sunday Telegraph.
The former Test star has signed off on a deal that will see him pocket $20,000 when he makes his cage-fighting debut at the the Elite Cage Championships at Panthers Leagues Club on September 23.
At 37, Hoppa will fight retired heavyweight boxer Garth Williams.

Like Hopoate, Williams, has come out of boxing retirement for the bout.
Hopoate, a former heavyweight boxer, has six weeks to "learn" and "adjust" to a sport he has never experienced before.
"My knowledge of cage fighting is limited, but it's an itch I've always wanted to scratch, so when the opportunity came up I grabbed it with two hands," Hopoate said.

"It involves a lot of work on the ground and maybe with my footy background and tackling technique, it will suit me more than standing up and throwing punches like boxing."
Hopoate's venture into the cage is yet another chapter in his controversial and colourful career.
It comes just two months after he floored former Australian schoolboy Joel Latham in an A-grade game.
Hopoate is also serving a 12-month good behaviour bond following the bashing of a man whose brother died while Hopoate was working as a doorman at the Trademark hotel last year.
Hopoate said he cared little for the critics who will attack his latest career decision.
"I'll always have my critics, but to be honest I'm over them," Hopoate said.
"If getting smacked in the head puts food on the table for my kids, then that's what I've got to do."