Most people would consider locking themselves in a cage with another man hellbent on inflicting as much damage on you as possible just a wee bit crazy.

And most people would probably also consider rushing into a burning building for a living a bit risky, as well.

Not James Hammortree (5-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC). He does both.

"I work for the Marion County Fire Rescue in Ocala, Fla.," Hammortree told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "I've been there for two-and-a-half years.

"Our thing in the fire service is we always say, 'We run in even when the cockroaches are running out.'"

A former high-school wrestler and collegiate football player, Hammortree said he grew up with dreams of playing professional football. When he started to sour on the sport, Hammortree turned to a bit of his past in order to seek his future.

"My grandfather who passed away, he was a firefighter up north in Chicago, which is where I'm originally from," Hammortree said. "I had heard back in the day a couple of stories here and there about it. My whole life I wanted to be a professional football player. I didn't really think about it much. But I was kind of burned out on football. Wrestling was kind of a pain in the ass with all that weight-cutting all the time – which is kind of ironic since I do this now. I was like, 'I really want a career. I want something that's going to benefit me down the road in life.'

"I met a volunteer firefighter that worked for my dad. I did roofing with my dad, and it sounded like a really cool job. Let's go run into a burning building and get to look like a hero. It just worked out good."

So Hammortree left Webber International University and began training for a career as a firefighter.

"I'm a firefighter and an EMT, so we get called out for everything," Hammortree said. "Medical calls, day-to-day sick person, we get called out. Vehicle accidents, which the cars tend to start on fire when you get a bad vehicle accident. So you're not just dealing with the injury of the medical patient, you're putting out a fire, then you're peeling off your gear to hold pressure on somebody's leg that's broken.

"We have awesome training. I can't say enough about how we're trained. But we don't ever stop training because things don't ever stop changing. We always have to stay up with the new day. It's an awesome job."

And the MMA, well that came up nearly by accident.

"The fire department found out I was a wrestler, and they brought up the idea to wrestle in the Firefighter Olympics, which was held in Brevard County in 2008," Hammortree said. "One of the guys from my station, Frank York, he's now one of my training partners. He's me but 265 pounds. He's like Brock Lesnar. The kid's a freak. He's the most athletic big person I've ever seen in my life.

"He said to me, 'If you want to go somewhere to get in shape while you get ready for the Olympics, why don't you come to my MMA gym? I could use some wrestling background to help me with my training.' I said, 'Yeah, no problem.' I went in there and started throwing these guys around, and the coach was like, 'Hey, what do I have to do to keep you here? Your wrestling is a lot better than these guys.'"

Hammortree did stay, and he took to the sport right away. A former linebacker in football, Hammortree took to the cage quickly, and he earned five-straight wins by knockout or TKO to open his career including a five-second win and an eight-second victory, as well – all while balancing his responsibilities at the firehouse.

"I have two full-time jobs," Hammortree said. "The schedule is 24 hours on, 48 off."

Hammortree said he owes his opportunity on "The Ultimate Fighter" to his fellow firefighters, who covered for him while he filmed the Spike TV-broadcast show.

"The guys on the other two shifts – I work 'A' shift – the guys on the 'B' and 'C' shifts volunteered basically to work for free 24 hours out of their life, each one of them, to cover one of my shift days," Hammortree said. "I didn't have enough vacation time saved up. I can't thank them enough.

"The first thing I did when I got in the house, I said, 'Thanks mom and dad, and thanks station 20.' Honestly I wouldn't be able to do it without them."

Hammortree earned his way into the house by breaking the will of French fighter Norman Paraisy, who refused to answer the bell for the second round of their preliminary round bout. After sizing up the other 13 first-round winners, Hammortree said he's impressed by the talent but believes he has enough skill and heart to go all the way.

"I like my odds," Hammortree said. "I've watched the show, and I've seen this weight class. I'm cutting down from 225 pounds, but there's some talent. There's some really experienced guys. There's some really unorthodox guys. Then there's some mentally strong guys. But I think I stand well. I think I'm really well-rounded, and I consider myself to be very athletic.

"I think that carries you in this sport. You look at like a 'GSP,' he's jack-of-all-trades, and he's just really good at everything he does. How do you beat somebody like that? The guy I fought to get in the house, he thought he was going to throw a big right hand and take me down. Well, you can get me down, but I'm not going to stay there. I just got up, and it frustrated him, and he ended up quitting and not wanting to come out for the second round."

Hammortree brings loads of confidence and athleticism to the cage, and he's certainly capable of making some noise in what appears to be a very talent-laden middleweight tournament. But even if the 23-year-old is able to secure the UFC's six-figure contract, don't expect him to walk away from his other full-time job.

"I want to keep my job at the fire department," Hammortree said. "I went through a lot to get that job."