Joseph Henle Most people take one look at Joseph Henle and think, “I don’t want to run into that guy in a dark alley.”

Henle has wild, dark hair like Samson in his prime. He has a thick beard, muscles and tattoos.

When he fights, the Thousand Oaks resident sometimes wears contacts that turn his eyes pure white, or he wears a mouthpiece that make his teeth look like sharp, jagged daggers.

Scared yet?

Don’t worry, he’s actually a great guy.

“The biggest thing with him is to not judge a book by the cover,” said Scott Barry, the freshman football coach at Thousand Oaks High. “He definitely rewrites the rule book.”

Henle enjoys going to the Ojai Cafe Emporium and sitting at the same booth every Sunday morning for breakfast with his girlfriend. He wants to make enough money to provide for his mother. He enjoys being a positive influence in young athletes’ lives.

READY FOR PRIME TIME—Joseph Henle, 26, is hoping to earn a spot on TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter.” Henle coaches football and wrestling at Thousand Oaks High, and he also teaches locally. “He’s a class act. He really is,” said Kerry Lyne, wrestling coach at Thousand Oaks. “He’s got a real calm demeanor, and he’s very trustworthy.”

Said Cody Owens, an assistant athletic trainer at Cal Lutheran University: “He’s a great person. You see the rough exterior. But he’s a soft-spoken, softhearted and caring person.

“He happens to like beating peoples’ faces in.”

Henle, 26, is a man of multiple talents.

He coaches the offensive and defensive lines for the Lancers’ freshman football team. The offensive line gave up one sack for this year’s 7-3 squad, while the defensive front helped contribute more than 50 sacks, Barry said.

Henle works with the younger wrestlers at Thousand Oaks and even offers a helping hand for the bigger athletes who don’t have anyone else to grapple with at practice.

He’s a substitute teacher within the Conejo Valley Unified School District.

He’s a bouncer at Outlaws Grill & Saloon in Camarillo.

The man has more nicknames than Shaquille O’Neal.

On top of all that, he’s a talented mixed martial artist who is close to getting a big break in the fighting world.

“I feel like I’m living a dream,” Henle said outside a local coffeehouse along Moorpark Road. “I’m lucky and blessed to do the things I’m doing.”

Henle is in the midst of trying out for the 11th season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” a reality television show that chronicles the trials and tribulations of fighters hoping to earn a shot to fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the preeminent MMA league.

The story of his first audition for the “Ultimate Fighter” is the stuff of legend.

Henle and about 180 other middleweights showed up at the Renaissance Hotel in Los Angeles for an open tryout in October.

Dana White, the president of UFC, tried to pronounce Henle’s name but butchered it.

“What was I thinking? Why did I correct him?” Henle thought.

Warming up for a two-minute round, Henle let his hair down. His friends started joshing him.

“Hey, it’s Jesus!” they shouted.

“It’s the caveman from the commercials!”

Henle pummeled his opponent with a variety of moves when White stopped the session with a minute remaining.

“I’m going to call you ‘Hairy,’” said White, according to Henle.

The fighter is still waiting to find out if he’ll qualify for the show.

“He’ll make the ‘Ultimate Fighter,’” Barry said. “I have no doubt in my mind.”

Henle, who is 3-0 as a professional and 7-1 as an amateur, didn’t become sensational overnight.

The Lompoc native—who earned a black belt in taekwondo as a youngster— played football, wrestling and tennis in high school. He was a defensive lineman for Cal Lutheran’s football team, where he and Owens became good friends.

Henle trains six days a week with a variety of coaches and trainers. Joseph Janik is his boxing trainer. Brian Peterson is his MMA coach. He works on jujitsu with Fabio Leopoldo. Steve Melero is his strength and conditioning coach.

His next fight is Fri., Dec. 18 at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.

He said he doesn’t really remember his first three fights, just that there was a “blur of adrenaline.”

When it’s time to fight, Henle transforms from Mr. Nice Guy to Leonidas, the king of Sparta made famous by Gerard Butler in “300.” Barry calls Henle a Man of a Thousand Hairdos, one of many nicknames.

“He’s all calm, cool and collected,” Barry said. “When it’s time to go to work, he definitely flips a switch.”

Chuck Norris has the roundhouse. Joseph Henle has the choke out.

The fighter prefers dispatching his foes by tap out or choke out instead of a knockout blow.

Henle has the crazed look of Kimbo Slice, the cold-blooded tenacity of Charles Bronson and the gentleness of Snuffleupagus.

He now has more motivation to fight and succeed after 13-year-old fan Trent Gerke died earlier this month from leukemia.

“This kid worked so hard to be happy,” Henle said of Gerke. “Even when he was in pain, he’d still be cracking jokes. I feel like I’d be cheating life if I didn’t do the things I do. I’m athletic and I have ability.

“I’m not the best now, but I will be. Nothing is too big in my way.”

Henle’s friendship with Gerke symbolizes the fighter.

Henle gave up a steady, comfortable income as a financial planner to follow his dreams of teaching, fighting and bringing a smile to all his fans.

In one word, Henle is a mensch.

“If you ever need anything,” Owens said, “he’s going to be there for you.”