The first few UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) events were pretty crazy. I recall gathering at a friend’s house in middle school to soak in the pay per view event. Giant men. Strange fighting styles. Almost no rules.
It seemed destined to fail. And it almost did. Until the UFC had an amazing resurgence in the early 2000’s.
New money, new rules, and a new generation of athletes.
As the UFC was gaining some renewed traction, one of my BFF’s decided to hop in the ring with pretty much no experience. The next seven years saw a pretty wild ride from bar stool critic to Las Vegas fight nights and national TV.
Lucky for the Dude, Alex “T-Rex” Karalexis took me along for many of the celebrity filled rides. Movie premiers, dinner with UFC champs, Las Vegas penthouse parties. Interesting times.
I’d much rather be hanging with the fam these days, but it was nice to see how the other half live.
Alex has moved on from throwing punches for a living, and he is now helping run Jared Allen’s Foundation for Wounded Warriors. But living vicariously through Alex for a few years has carved out a small spot in my heart for MMA and the UFC.
I stumbled across the below MMA video today, and it grabbed the Dude. I started watching out of respect for my Red Bull fueled UFC nights, but by the end, I was laughing at myself as tears rolled down my cheeks.
Mrs. Dude often refers to me as the Cave Man. How often does the Cave Man tear up? Not often. But this dude is pretty rad.
Garrett “G-Money” Holeve has down syndrome. He is also an MMA fighter.
That is a crazy combination. At first glance, it seems questionable. But to see the confidence that Garrett has in himself is inspirational.
Most of us sell ourselves short on a regular basis. We underestimate our abilities or we don’t push to reach full potentials.
Then someone like Garrett comes along and reminds us how totally awesome we ALL are.
This is definitely worth 13 minutes of your time. Garret “G-Money” Holeve whoops down syndrome MMA style…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMf7jgopJXc[/youtube]
Hat tip Ross Training.