Matt Hamill Article (5/7/2006)
Matt Hamill Proved Deafness No Bar to Ultimate Fighting
In a crowd of fighters, heavyweight Matt Hamill stands out.
The award-winning wrestler has become a fan favorite on the Spike TV reality show “The Ultimate Fighter” (Thursdays at 10 p.m.). Hamill, 30, was born deaf and seems a natural to go all the way for the show’s grand prize, a six-figure contract.
“Naturally, a lot of people, not only the fighters, would underestimate me because of my hearing loss,” Hamill said in a series of e-mails. “But I didn’t think anything would be held against me because of my deafness. I know my true potential, and I wanted to prove that. On top of that, I have been training for six months, and I like to shock and awe the more experienced fighters with all the surprises this deaf guy has in store for them.”
In the premiere last month, coach Tito Ortiz stunned some when he picked Hamill to be the first man on his squad. Asked about that moment, Hamill said, “I was shocked, surprised, excited and relieved as well. Just imagine if (rival coach Ken) Shamrock picked me? Do you think he would take all his time with me to communicate with me? (I think not.) Hence, Tito, he’s got a big heart. I’m sure that’s why he picked me - because he saw in me what I didn’t see in myself. . . . Great things are to happen with him coaching me.” Some of Hamill’s teammates have carped to the camera that he is Ortiz’s pet. “I ignore that label,” Hamill said. “I’ve been training very hard to reach the top, and I have the heart to be a champion. I know what I am capable of.” Hamill grew up in Loveland, Ohio, and started wrestling when he was 6. He became a three-time NCAA wrestling champion and a 2004 inductee into the Division III Wrestling Hall of Fame. The divorced father of a 5-year-old girl was working as a bouncer in a Utica, N.Y., bar one night when he was forced to use his moves to subdue some troublemakers. A cousin of another bouncer who works for Ultimate Fighting Championship suggested he try out for the show, Hamill said.
At first he was intimidated about moving into the house and being followed by cameras. “But then I got those thoughts out of my head and just followed my heart, and my heart is telling me, ‘You can do it!’ ” His training regimen consists of jujitsu, boxing, Muy Thai and cardio conditioning. He can’t reveal the outcome of the show (the live finale airs in June) but did say he is also training for the 2008 Olympic freestyle wrestling competition. “I’m more than a wrestler. My mind is like a sponge. I absorb things quickly and I think being determined, with that attitude, is one of the additional things needed to prepare for UFC. “It’s all in the mind, the body and the soul.”
http://theedge.bostonherald.com/tvNe...ticleid=138178
