Maynard beats the odds to make MMA debut

Lots of people struggle when they first begin wrestling.

Kyle Maynard was no different.

The Suwannee, Ga., native began wrestling as a sixth grader, losing his first 35 matches.

A start like that would’ve made it pretty easy to quit.

Especially when you’re a congenital amputee, a condition whereby blood flow to one or more limbs of a fetus is constricted, causing them to fall off in the womb.

“In the first year and a half I lost every match,” Maynard, whose arms end at the elbows and legs end at the knees, said. “My parents wouldn’t let me quit. I just pushed through it and got better and better.

“I was wrestling varsity on one of the top teams in the country. I was top 12 in the nation my senior year.”

And now, five years later, Maynard, 23, will make his debut in mixed martial arts tonight at the Auburn Covered Arena against Bryan Fry.

While someone with his condition getting into the octagon may sound like a risky proposition, Maynard feels his disability — though he doesn’t call it that — can give him an advantage.

“I fell in love with MMA when I saw the success a lot of wrestlers had in the sport,” he said. “I kind of blindly went and stepped into a tournament a few years back without any experience at all. I actually did pretty well.

“I kind of used my wrestling to stay with him, and realized I’ve gotta learn this. I went into the gym and saw girls that were smaller than I was flipping guys that were 200 pounds and choking them. Size doesn’t matter as much as the ability to out-think and outwit somebody else. I just want to capitalize on my mobility. It evens the playing field.”

But Maynard’s path to actually fighting tonight wasn’t so clear-cut.

He applied in 2007 to the Georgia Athletic Commission to fight that year. Just weeks before his scheduled fight, the commission denied his application.

David Oblas, the promoter for tonight’s event, said coming to Auburn was the best way to allow Maynard the opportunity to compete.

“The main reason we’re coming to Auburn is for Kyle Maynard to fight,” Oblas said. “He was denied in Georgia. Alabama doesn’t have an athletic commission.

“I’m an Auburn grad, so I knew an event like this would be supported. The students and the community are going to support this.”

And while waiting years for his first chance to fight was a struggle, growing up the way Maynard did can put things in perspective.

“My mom and dad were both instrumental in not allowing me to believe I had a disability at all,” he said. “Everybody’s got challenges. The world’s not going to be tailored to my every need.

“From an early age they’ve taught me to adapt, whether it’s pumping gas in my truck or carrying groceries. I never really encountered something I couldn’t do if I really wanted it, outside of maybe slamming a basketball.”

And overcoming those struggles prompted Maynard to write his autobiography, “No Excuses: The True Story of a Congenital Amputee Who Became a Champion in Wrestling and in Life,” while a freshman at the University of Georgia.

The book, published by Regnery, reached the New York Times best-seller list.

That book and, Maynard hopes, his fight tonight, has been an inspiration for many people.

“I truly believe everybody’s got challenges,” Maynard said. “I’ve gotten e-mails from people who have said my book or my speaking have stopped them from committing suicide. I think that’s a really special thing.

“I think that (tonight’s fight) can help people, not just with disabilities.”

Doors open at the Covered Arena at 7 p.m., and the first of 10 fights on the card will begin at 8. Tickets are available at www.battlepass.com or by calling 1-877-MMA-TIXX, and are also available at Tiger Package stores. Advance tickets are $20 and tickets are $25 at the gate.

A select number of VIP cageside tickets are available for $50.

And Oblas says he hopes as many as possible will take advantage of what he deems a “rare opportunity.”

“I don’t know if there’s many times we get to see events like this,” Oblas said. “A quad-amputee competing in mixed martial arts, that’s something we may never see again.”

tcottrell@oanow.com | 737-2511

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