Duane Ludwig Discusses Occupy Wall Street: "This Movement Affects You, Too"

If you’re a “friend” of Duane Ludwig on Facebook, there’s a decent chance that you’ve seen a post or two on the striking specialist’s wall regarding the Occupy Wall Street movement over the course of the past several weeks.

According to Ludwig, who first learned of the movement after watching a clip of a police officer assaulting a female protester online, this is no coincidence.

“Yes, I've always been into things like making life better for the human race,” Ludwig, 33, recently explained to Bleacher Report.

“When I looked into what it was about, I was very surprised and happy to see such a wide array of issues that ‘the people’ wanted addressed.”

In addition to Ludwig’s Facebook updates, the professional mixed martial artist, martial arts instructor, academy owner, and self-described “family man” has ventured to a local chapter of the movement several times.

For Ludwig, a native of Colorado, his trips to Occupy Denver have admittedly been unique experiences.

“I've visited the Occupy Denver a few times and dropped off supplies and talked to a few of the people and told them, ‘Thank you,’” Ludwig said.

“I was shocked to see cops just waiting in their oil-leaking vehicles parked on the grass with exhaust just pouring over the vegetation. I also saw a sweet igloo someone made. Overall, the experience was cool to see the people get together to fight for the better of each other.”

In contrast to Ludwig, who is to return to the Octagon against Josh Neer at UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller in January, some have been less interested in the movement—much to the chagrin of the UFC lightweight.

“I’d say that, unless you own an island, this movement affects you, too,” Ludwig explained. “It's about the border issues, families losing their homes, government greed, the financial structure of the Federal Reserve, inequality and how, basically, if you have a dollar bill in your pocket, it affects you. 

“Those opposing the OWS are thinking it's just about the unemployment rate,” Ludwig added. “There are so many aspects to this movement that it's crazy to think it's just about one thing. I wish people would realize the movement is about so many issues that it affects a lot of us.”

Although Ludwig—much like everyone else—is admittedly unsure what the future holds for the movement, he is nevertheless, based on what he’s seen so far, optimistic for the future.

“I’m loving the fact that people are finally seeing results of what happens when people come together,” Ludwig said. “It's great to see people realize that we are strong together and each individual plays a part and has value.”