His parents divorced when he was 4 years old, and he and his younger brother, Levi, moved to California with their mother. A few years later, his mother began to struggle with health problems, so she sent the boys to live with their father, Richard, and his parents, Alberto and Clara Martinez, in New Mexico. His mother passed away when he was 7, and he and Levi settled into their life in New Mexico among their father's extended family.

Tragedy turned his life upside down again on April 1, 1991.

Rad remembers sitting at the kitchen table in his grandparents' home. The boys went there after school when their father worked.

"I was grounded, sitting at the table doing homework," he said with a slight smile.

The phone rang and a friend told Clara Martinez about an accident, an overturned truck. The caller said the truck looked like her son's company vehicle.

"It was only a mile from the house so she went over there," Rad said. "When she realized it was him, she went on to the hospital."

At the hospital, the family was told that Richard had suffered severe head trauma and it wasn't clear if he'd even survive.

"I remember thinking if this was an April Fool's joke, it was not a good joke," said Rad glancing at his father, seated next to him in a wheelchair for their daily ritual of "The Price is Right."

"His condition wasn't good," Rad said. "I remember thinking I hope he doesn't die. Our mom had passed away, so we were familiar with death."

Richard was in a coma for weeks. After that, he went to a rehabilitation center. For a year, Rad and Levi lived with their father's brother, Dennis Martinez. Then they moved in with Richard's parents. Rad grew up watching his grandmother care for his father, and Levi Martinez believes that has a lot to do with Rad's decision to take over their father's care after Clara's death.

"He was always close to our grandma, and she always put Dad first," said Levi.

Rad acknowledges his affection for his grandmother plays a role in his devotion to his father.

"She didn't want me to do this," said Rad as he gently wipes his father's mouth. "But I heard her say to Dad 100 times, 'Richard, what is going to happen to you when I'm gone?' She was desperately afraid of what was going to happen to him. I told her, I was going to do it. So I'm going to do it. She did it for 17 years, 24 hours a day. If she can do that, then I can do it."

That determination, that drive is what makes him a top-notch fighter. It also made him a successful college wrestler, although he almost chose a completely different path.