Chuck Zito: From Hells Angels Enforcer to UFC Cageside Fixture
Few faces are as recognizable at UFC events as that of Chuck Zito. The grizzled veteran, often spotted cageside or on stage during ceremonial weigh-ins, has become a staple of the promotion’s biggest nights.
But who is this enigmatic figure with the tough-guy aura, and why does he keep popping up at UFC pay-per-views?
From his roots as a notorious biker to his Hollywood career and deep ties to combat sports, Zito’s story is one of grit, controversy, and enduring passion for the fight game.
Born Charles Alfred Zito Jr. on March 1, 1953, in the Bronx, New York, Zito grew up in a family steeped in boxing tradition. His father, Charles Zito Sr., was a professional welterweight who fought under the ring name Al LaBarba in over 200 bouts. Young Chuck learned to defend himself early, dropping out of high school at 17 but later earning his equivalency diploma while incarcerated. He married his high school sweetheart, Kathy, and worked odd jobs like refrigerator mechanic and nightclub bouncer before diving headfirst into the outlaw motorcycle world.
Zito’s notoriety exploded in the 1970s when he founded the New Rochelle Motorcycle Club, which merged with the Ching-a-Ling Nomads. By 1979, he had joined the infamous Hells Angels, rising to become the founding president of the New York Nomads chapter in 1984—a position he held for a decade. His time with the club was marked by arrests, including a 1985 bust in a massive FBI operation that led to a six-year prison stint for drug conspiracy.
Zito left the Hells Angels in good standing in 2004 to focus on acting, but his biker past—including alleged ties to organized crime and high-profile brawls—has followed him. He’s no stranger to controversy, from knocking out gossip columnist A.J. Benza in 1997 to a reported altercation with actor Jean-Claude Van Damme the following year. (Chuck Zito talks about that incident below)
Transitioning from the streets to the screen, Zito leveraged his tough persona into a successful career as a celebrity bodyguard, stuntman, and actor. Starting in 1979 with Charlie’s Angels Bodyguard Service, he protected stars like Liza Minnelli, Sylvester Stallone, Michael Jackson, and Muhammad Ali. This opened doors to Hollywood, where he worked as a stuntman on over 50 films, including blockbusters like Die Hard with a Vengeance, Heat, and The Rock. As an actor, he’s best known for his role as mobster Chucky “The Enforcer” Pancamo on HBO’s Oz from 1998 to 2003, and as Frankie Diamonds in Sons of Anarchy in 2012. His autobiography, Street Justice (2002), chronicles his wild life, and he’s appeared in recent projects like The Weapon (2023) and the series Gravesend (2021).
But it’s Zito’s lifelong connection to combat sports that explains his frequent UFC sightings. An amateur boxer with a 36-5 record, including Golden Gloves appearances in the 1970s, Zito trained at gyms like Gramercy and coached actors like Mickey Rourke. He holds black belts in six martial arts disciplines and owns Chuck Zito’s Street Survival School dojo in Pelham, New York. His boxing expertise landed him gigs as a ringside reporter for HBO’s Monday Night Fights starting in 2003, rubbing shoulders with legends like Arturo Gatti and Mike Tyson.
Zito’s UFC ties go back to the promotion’s raw, no-holds-barred early days in the 1990s, when he witnessed events with “no rules, no rounds.” He’s a longtime friend of UFC brass, including former owners the Fertitta brothers and president Dana White, thanks to shared connections in the fighting and entertainment worlds.
At 70, he’s often featured on stage during ceremonial weigh-ins for major PPVs, like UFC 295 in 2023, where Hall of Famer Michael Bisping hailed him as the “legendary Chuck Zito.”
While not an official UFC employee, Zito has dabbled in MMA media, serving as a correspondent at the 2009 Affliction: Day of Reckoning event headlined by Fedor Emelianenko.
Fans spot him cageside because, as one Reddit user put it, he’s “been going to UFC events before you were born,” embodying the sport’s gritty origins.
Whether as a Hells Angels alum, Hollywood tough guy, or UFC enthusiast, Chuck Zito’s presence at events is a nod to the unfiltered spirit that built modern MMA. As the octagon lights up, expect to see him there—proof that some legends never fade.
