Anchorage Daily News

The scars remain on his face, neck and shoulder, strong reminders of how close 21-year-old Daniel Leituala was to dying last July.

That's when a pickup football game at Anchorage Football Stadium turned into a violently ugly shootout between opposing players that sent bullets zinging and people scurrying.

Leituala didn't find cover. He was hit twice, with one bullet piercing his left eye and exiting his neck, and another bullet entering his right shoulder and going through his elbow.

Being in the wrong place at the wrong time nearly cost Leituala his life. Laid out on the artificial turf field and losing blood, the married father of two feared the worst.

"I told my brother to take care of my family," he said.

Leituala survived because he is a fighter. And come Friday night, he'll be fighting again. Except this time it'll be in the caged octagon of the Alaska Fighting Championships at Sullivan Arena.

The man who calls himself "The Infamous Samoan" has never participated in organized fighting entering his AFC debut against fellow mixed martial arts first-timer James Wesley.

Nearly 12 months to the day after the shooting, the soft-spoken Leituala is excited and ready, nervous and scared about his fight.

He's not the only one concerned. His family has asked him not to fight.

"I guess they're scared for my safety, for what I went through the past year," he said.

But he's doing it anyway.

"It's just something I always wanted to do, even before I got shot," he said. "When I was a spectator I used to say, 'Oh, I could kick that dude's ass.' I want to see for myself."

The 5-foot-10, 171-pound Leituala will fight a heavier middleweight in the 185-pound Wesley, but that doesn't bother him. Though a mixed martial arts rookie, Leituala has followed the sport for years.

Plus, he's been in plenty of fist fights. Growing up in Hawaii before moving to Alaska in 2005, Leituala said everyone in his neighborhood fought. Most of the time it was over territory.

"I'm from here, you're from there. That type of thing," he said.

The shooting at last summer's pickup football game ignited when tempers flared after play turned rough. Opponents got upset, a fight nearly broke out and gunfire ensued, with as many as four gunmen spraying dozens of bullets into the air and onto the crowded field.

Leituala, one of the players in the game, was the only person injured.

"The day I got shot I was stunned. I couldn't feel the pain," he said. "I was like, 'Oh, hey, what's going on?' Everybody was saying, 'Get to the ground. You've lost a lot of blood.' "

Leituala spent almost a month at Alaska Regional Hospital, where he had two surgeries. He struggled to walk for weeks. He couldn't speak above a whisper. He lost all feeling in his right arm.

Despite all that, though, Leituala said he has forgiven the men who shot him.

"I'm just trying to put that behind me," he said. "I only want peace."

Leituala has since returned to nearly full strength, regaining most of his mobility and feeling in his dominant arm.

His cousin, Walter Hao, a veteran mixed martial arts fighter, is upset that Leituala's life was nearly taken over a series of arguments that escalated over a rough tackle that didn't involve Leituala.

"He's a very humble guy. I'm the cocky one. He's the quiet type. I'm the one that's loud and talking smack," said Hao, who will fight for the lightweight title on the same card.

But what really got him mad was that the shooters -- who were young Polynesian men like Leituala -- turned to guns to settle the beef.

"Where we're from, back home in Hawaii, you have to grow up tough," said Hao.

"That's the thing I love about back home. You don't have to worry about knives and guns because it's strictly hand-to-hand fighting."

Leituala will see plenty of hand-to-hand -- as well as foot-to-hand, elbow-to-hand, knee-to-hand action -- inside the AFC octagon.

Mixed martial arts is a rapidly growing combat sport that combines several fighting techniques, from striking and stand-up fighting to wrestling and submission holds.

Started in 1993, mixed martial arts fighting developed a cult-like following because of its no-holds-barred concept. By the late 1990s, the sport cleaned up its image by implementing stricter safety rules.

As a result, mixed martial arts went mainstream nationally with big-money pay-per-view events and well-known personalities like Ken Shamrock, Randy Couture and the Gracie family.

By 2004, mixed martial arts fight cards were scheduled for Sullivan Arena and other Alaska venues. Friday, is the 38th edition of the AFC.

"I'm a huge fan. I want to go in there and prove myself," Leituala said. "On the street anything goes. In the ring, it's only you and that dude."

His cousin Hao, 25, who has been involved with boxing and kickboxing since he was a teenager, introduced Leituala to mixed martial arts by taking him to previous AFC events.

It wasn't long before Leituala was hooked, in large part because Hao said fighting is in his family's bloodline.

"He knows what he's getting himself into," Hao said. "It's what we love, the combat sport. It's you and that guy, one on one. It's just fun."

After weeks of build up, Leituala is eager to climb into the octagon.

"The best way to see about something is doing it yourself. Don't just talk about it," he said. "I want to go in there and prove myself. I have no expectations. Get my first fight out of the way."

Find assistant sports editor Van Williams online at adn.com/contact/vwilliams or call 257-4335. m

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