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Video: Watch UFC matchmaker battle back tears awarding daughter a blue belt – and a car
While the UFC machine is a multi-billion-dollar behemoth, it’s often easy to forget the company is directed by a group of individuals who have lives outside of the sport, as well.
Take UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard, for instance.
While it’s sometimes fun to criticize the UFC matchmakers’ decisions, or to even take a moment to put on a pair of their shoes, the role is a high-stress position – and one that requires quite a bit of time away from home.
Maynard, however, made the decision to skip Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 31 event for one very important reason: his daughter, Sydney.
Maynard, who in 2018 earned his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt from the legendary Renzo Gracie, continues to practice the sport alongside his daughter at Renzo Gracie Lake Houston in Texas.
On Saturday, Maynard was on hand at the academy to issue his daughter a blue belt in the art, and to give her a car, as well. The UFC matchmaker explained it’s a deal he has with all of his children – you don’t have to practice jiu-jitsu forever, but learn the fundamentals of self-defense before you head out into the world, and you’ll be rewarded.
“We have a main family rule that every kid that gets their blue belt, I’ll buy them their first car,” Maynard said at the ceremony. “The method to the madness is that she’s going to always be able to defend herself, and she may tell me to go away one day and not do jiu-jitsu anymore, but at the end of the day, she’ll always be able to choke someone out if they try and steal her stuff.”
Maynard made good on his promise once his daughter delivered on her end of the bargain. Check out the moment, courtesy of Renzo Gracie Lake Houston’s Instagram:
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