(STUFF) — Invercargill cage fighter Hiriwa "T-Man" Te Rangi will transform into the punching preacher next year when he moves to Christchurch to study to become a pastor.
Te Rangi, who has carved out a colourful mixed martial arts and kickboxing career during the past 25 years, will fight in his last bout in Southland on December 10 when he defends his New Zealand heavyweight MMA title against Wellington's Pete Aberdeen at the Battle of the Gladiators event at Wallacetown Stadium.
The gregarious Te Rangi has never been short of a surprise during his fighting career and ad-mitted his aspirations to study theology at Christchurch's Vision College next year was a surprise even to himself.
"If you asked me a year ago, that I'd be training to become a pastor, I'd have told them to shove off," he said.
"Being a pastor is going to be unreal. I'm prepared for whatever the man upstairs has ready for me."