DMX dies at age 50…a look back at his life and link with the world of martial arts

DMX recently died of a heart attack. He was best known for his rap career where he had big success in the early 2000s and found his own lane with an aggressive, energetic style. As a result, he quickly became a global star…then it all unraveled. DMX then found himself in jail, bankrupt, and addicted to drugs. Sadly, this eventually caught up with the troubled star.

So, what was his link with the martial arts? This story isn’t that well known, but it isn’t tenuous either. Firstly, DMX starred along some big names in the martial arts world. During his peak he acted with Steven Seagal in the hit action movie Exit Wounds. Here, he played a drug dealer, whilst Seagal was an undercover cop that used Aikido to defend himself. He later teamed up with Seagal later in Beyond The Law.

During this period, he also acted in Cradle 2 The Grave…this time with the legendary Jet Li. Li was known as one of the most promising wushu practitioners before he had to retire from the art aged 18. He practiced everything, from strikes to weapons, before heading to the big screen.

It turns out that DMX was also a fan of mixed martial arts too…apparently he was meant to fight at a boxing or MMA event in 2009, but this never materialized. However, his talents weren’t wasted in the cage – as he did the voice over for the UFC 196 promo with Conor McGregor vs Nate Diaz.