Life in Hawaii seems like paradise.

Unless you’re a young kid who looks a lot different than the rest of the youngsters in the neighborhood.

Scott Junk was saddled with the nickname “Punk Haole” (punk white boy) by the kids on street. Those words led to lots of fights. Now Junk fights for a living with his first bout outside of Hawaii coming Friday, April 20 when he headlines the Maximum Fighting Championship’s Unplugged 3.

Recently, Junk shared some memories and a look into the future.

Z-Files: It wasn’t easy growing up for you in your neighborhood. Tell me why.

SJ: My father was in the military and my mom was a native of Hawaii so me and my brother grew up in difference places like Colorado and California and then we ended up back in Hawaii. But being a white boy in Hawaii, it’s like reverse racism. The white boys get picked on more than anybody. My older brother and I were always getting beaten up, getting scratched up and bloody. There were a lot of fights and we were always picked on at school.

Z-Files: That kind of bullying and torment isn’t easy for a kid to handle. How did you cope with it?

SJ: At first I had a very hard time with it. I was a fat kid and white. Being fat, I got teased enough and then being white made it worse. Then there came a time when my dad really toughened us up and my grandfather really toughened us up. My grandfather is Hawaiian and French, about six-foot-three and 210 pounds. He’s a very powerful man. Whenever I’d do something dumb like not doing my chores, he’d let me have it. After getting beaten on by my grandfather or my dad, I figured those other kids were nothing.

Z-Files: How much of an effect did toughening yourself up have on your life?

SJ: In Hawaii, things aren’t very academic. It’s seems like it’s cooler to be stupid. Now when I look back on that, I wished I would have learned that lesson a lot faster. But I eventually did and I wound up lettering in football, basketball and baseball in high school. I played two years of football at junior college and then two years at Oklahoma State.

Z-Files: Bullying is a problem in a lot of schools. Have you ever talked to kids about your experiences?

SJ: I did this thing once in Las Vegas with Ricco Rodriguez, Diego Sanchez and Kevin Randleman with troubled kids. I just wanted to tell them that the kind of things they were doing weren’t cool and they wouldn’t get them anywhere in life.

Z-Files: Do you ever take memories or feeling from being beaten up as a kid into your fights now?

SJ: I don’t because what I do know is a battle between two men. I train hard. It’s professional sports. I don’t talk with anger and I don’t go into a fight angry. I go in and scrap. It’s a fight and I want to make more of a name for myself for taking some guy down and beating him up than doing a lot of talking. A lot of guys fight and they take all this trash and try to be all gangster. I’ll show what I’ve got in the ring, not outside. Most guys do that kind of stuff to pump themselves up because they’ve got fear.

Z-Files: Your first fight on the mainland and in the MFC is right around the corner. How excited are you?

SJ: (Laughing) I’ve been ready for a while since my last fight only lasted 10 seconds. But I’ll be in the gym and getting ready. It doesn’t matter to me what the other guy wants to do. I’ll scrap and brawl him and I’ll beat him up.