MMA fighter Chris Price: ‘Autism isn’t a bad thing, it’s a superpower’
- kamcavanagh1
- Apr 29, 2025
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 30, 2025
Mixed martial artist Chris Price has affirmed that autism is a superpower, rather than something that should hold him back.
The 27-year-old was placed on the spectrum at a young age and ended up finding martial arts at seven years old, beginning with traditional jiu-jitsu.
Despite disliking it initially, he grew to love the sport and eventually moved into mixed martial arts.
He made his amateur debut at 17 before turning professional in 2020.
Price credits the sport with helping people such as himself to express themselves.
He said: “I think what helps is the freedom of expression, if that makes sense, especially in MMA.
“More so, MMA is the type of martial art where you kind of figure it out yourself, your instructor will give you techniques to work with, and you just make it your own, basically, not everyone styles the same, so that's number one.
“And number two, it's not like we have to line up and bow to someone, if that makes sense.
“It's just [a] be you type thing, and that's what I liked about it as well, I loved about it.
“And the fact that it's not just one discipline, it's loads of different disciplines, especially the jiu-jitsu aspects and the wrestling aspects, you can really delve into stuff.
“And you can, with someone with the type of brain that I've got, you can map stuff out and just, yeah, it's a whole world of its own for me, and I love it.
“Some of the most interesting people I've ever met have been from this sport that I do, and I see other athletes from different sports, and it's just not the same.
“Do you know what I mean? The energy is not the same.
“You have to be a little bit [crazy] to do mixed martial arts, you have to, and a lot of the time, you end up with a pretty interesting personality.
“Whether you're a bit of a lunatic, you're a bit eccentric, you just have weird tendencies.
“And I feel like, for me, I fit in very well in that kind of environment.”
Now fighting in Cage Warriors, Price says he does not care about hiding his autism.
Although, this was not always the case.
“So, early on [as an] amateur, I didn't like giving it away.
“I always had this ego, so to speak, you’ve got to hide all your weaknesses, you’ve got to hide all your insecurities, and you’ve got to portray yourself in a certain light, almost a fake, sort of, image.
“And you know, to some, to some degree, part of me wishes I kept that, but I look back on it like, no, I think that builds more pressure.
“I feel like, in the world that we're in right now, you've got to be yourself, if that makes sense.
“And if you've got something up with you, if you've got something that makes you a little bit different, you know, just f******… give it away, man, give it away.
“Because [at] the end of the day, people are going to like you, hate you for who you are, do you know what I mean?
“That's it, if you're going to hide it, there’s no point really living, is there? Just f****** be yourself, man.
“As I've got older, especially when I turned pro, I just thought ‘f*** it’. A lot of kids grow up and they want to hide it, and they almost look at it like it's a bad thing.
“It's not, it's a superpower.
“Don't get me wrong, there's some downsides to it.
“I'm not saying there's loads of downsides to being autistic.
“But in terms of, you know, being a high-functioning autistic person, of course, there are quite a few advantages to being on the spectrum, as well as you know, some of the disadvantages.
The impact he hopes to have by raising awareness
Price has used his social media presence to raise awareness of autism.
Part of this was becoming an ambassador for ‘Fighting For Autism’, a charity that hopes to encourage people on the spectrum to participate in recreational activities.
Other ambassadors include Bas Rutten and Price’s teammate Paddy Pimblett.
He said: “The main thing with me is, a lot of kids growing up, especially nowadays - people say bullying is, you know, not as bad, I think it's getting a lot f****** worse, especially with the internet.
“I feel like I'm giving a lot of young kids in a similar situation as me growing up, giving them hope, if that makes sense.
“Because when I was growing up, and I was getting picked on, and I was thinking, ‘Oh, there's something wrong with me, blah, blah, blah, am I going to get a girlfriend? Never going to do this, never do that’.
“I even had some f****** teachers saying that I'm going to be a fucking bin man, do you know what I mean? Absolutely no hope in anything.
“But when I found martial arts, it gave me a pathway of excellence, if that makes sense.
“So yeah, my vibe is to just push the young kids in my situation, [hope they] can find something to strive towards, to make themselves great in something to build confidence.
“To basically just be a normal person, but have your own thing, if that makes sense, and if you're getting picked on, or whatever, there is a light at the end of that tunnel.
“It's not going to last long.
“Another thing I want to start doing, you know, like I said, when I get time for it, is I want to do school talks and stuff.
“That's something I've actually been interested in.
“My old coach, Rob Freedman, he took us, me and a few other fighters from our old gym to a few different schools across the country.
“He mainly did it to try and advertise MMA, but I just remember doing a lot of them school talks, and I'm thinking, you know, something like this to push autism awareness would be pretty good.
“Because, being a professional athlete, you know, a lot a lot of people will look at me and think, ‘f****** hell, he’s supposed to be a weirdo.
“We've got a kid in our classroom that we pick on or whatever, and you know, we don't think he's ever going to amount to anything but look at this guy, he's done all this’.
“I feel like that would help, doing programmes and going into schools like that. I think that would help a lot.
“And I'd love to do that, to be honest."
You can watch the full interview with Chris here:
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