Issue 095

December 2012

There have been many words used to describe Matt ‘The Hammer’ Hamill over the years, but confrontational certainly isn’t one of them. Despite his heavy hands and physical strength, the world’s most famous deaf mixed martial artist is a humble and sensitive individual. One who defeats opponents in the name of sport, rather than any perverse desire to get blood on his hands. A true mixed martial artist.

So, when Tito Ortiz, a former coach of Hamill, decided to up the ante and verbally stand toe-to-toe with the shy Loveland-native ahead of their 2010 grudge fight, he had a choice to make. Either shrink and wave the white flag, accepting defeat before the first bell, or fire back in a way that was both foreign and out of character.

“That was a very tough situation for me,” says Hamill, who still admires Tito’s coaching and fighting abilities. “I had to overcome a few mental hurdles before and during the fight and Tito did his best to mess with my head. We had shared a bond in the past, and I was surprised that Tito tried to taunt me and goad me the way he did.

“I always had plenty of respect for him, I liked the way he coached on The Ultimate Fighter show and I really looked up to him, as both a coach and fighter. It was only when Tito came out and started speaking bad about the deaf community that the relationship changed. I sat back and let Tito talk bad about me, because I knew he was only fueling the fire and that I would put things right in the Octagon.”

Then just a one-dimensional wrestler with a dream, Hamill listened to and learned from Ortiz on season three of TUF, oblivious to the fact he’d one day get the chance to share the Octagon with his mentor: teacher versus student. At the time, Matt was just happy to soak up Ortiz’s advice and then act upon it. He knew he had improvements to make and believed Ortiz, ground ‘n’ pound pioneer and mixed martial arts icon, was the man to steer him in the right direction. 

“I was very confident going into the Ortiz fight, because Tito picked me to be a champion on the show,” reveals Hamill. “I was his first pick on The Ultimate Fighter and he showed me a lot of respect on the show. By picking me first and spending the time he did with me, I knew he liked me as a fighter and as a person, and that he respected my fighting abilities.

“I had also trained with Tito in the past, so I knew what he could and couldn’t do as a fighter. There was no unknown element for me. I went into the fight prepared and mentally strong.”

This strength, of body and mind, would eventually help Hamill confound the doubters and defeat Ortiz over the three-round distance at UFC 121. The fight was close, and messy at times, but Hamill used natural gifts, as well as all he’d learned from Ortiz, to conquer the man who had once picked him first out of a line-up of aspiring mixed martial artists. Hamill was thankful for the leg-up, of course, but had now overtaken his role model.

If there’s one thing that riles Matt Hamill it’s people taking shots, whether loud or subtle, at the deaf community. He had, after all, experienced much of this through his childhood and therefore wasn’t going to stand for it as a 30-something athlete, one who had done all he could to alleviate the stigmas attached to his disability through sheer achievement.

“I never had a lot of confidence as a kid, as other children would often pick on me,” he says. “I had one of those old-style hearing aids that resembled a box and I’d wear it around my neck, like a necklace. Kids used to pick on me a lot for wearing that, and it was only when I found wrestling that I started sticking up for myself and realized nobody cared what you looked like on the wrestling mat. So long as you could wrestle well, it didn’t matter.”

Before discovering mixed martial arts and making his professional debut in 2005, Hamill wrestled at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in New York and was a three-time NCAA Division III national wrestling champion. Seemingly a natural, Hamill had found his true calling and, perhaps for the first time, experienced peace in silence. 

“When I wrestled, it didn’t matter whether I could hear or not,” he says. “I was just like everybody else. That’s why I loved competing in all sports. Wrestling was my favorite sport, though, purely because it was one-on-one and very competitive. I really liked the competition side of it. There was also very little communication needed.”

In the end, it was MMA that stole Hamill’s heart, took him by the hand and led him towards a better future. “There were a number of obstacles to overcome when I decided to become a mixed martial artist,” says ‘The Hammer,’ a pro since August 2005. “Above all else, being deaf impacts balance and a person’s ability to hear instructions from the corner. Thankfully, my balance is very good and I’ve never really had a problem with that. I’m able to stay in position to shoot takedowns and throw punches at all times, and rarely ever get taken off my feet. 

“The advice being fed to me from the corner is something I will never be able to fully hear, but it’s something I can feel. I pick up on their body language and also use lip-reading techniques to work out what they are saying.

“People assume that it is hard for me to compete as a deaf fighter, but this is all I’ve ever known. I’ve learned to adapt to my environment. Whereas some fighters get weighed down by the advice of their cornermen during a fight, I am in a position where I can receive advice in between rounds and then relax and carry them out for the five-minute rounds. I don’t panic or worry if things are going wrong and I don’t hear the shouts and screams of my cornermen.”

Ultimately, you don’t need words, putdowns or rallying calls to motivate Hamill and connect with his fighting instincts. It can be done in simpler terms, through the raise of an eyebrow, the forming of a scowl or an upturned lip. Whatever the impetus, the 35-year-old will pick up on it, as was the case in December 2008, when he struggled through a bout with Reese Andy. 

“I was really struggling to find my groove in that fight,” recalls the light heavyweight. “I then got back to the corner after the first round and realized Duff Holmes, my coach, was going crazy at me and was disappointed with the way I was fighting. Even though I couldn’t hear what he was shouting at me, I could pick up on his mood and emotions. 

“I then ran out for the next round and stopped Andy. I just needed somebody to pull that inner animal out of me. Once it’s out there, nobody can stop me. I also remember getting poked in the eye against Keith Jardine, and feeling this monster take control of my whole body and grind out the win. It was a great win for me, as it showed my heart and my spirit to come from a losing position and turn it into a winning one.” 

Hamill currently boasts 10 pro victories to his name and just four defeats. He has turned losing positions into winning ones many times in the past and, in some ways, it is life itself that represents his biggest U-turn.

NEED TO KNOW

NAME: MATT HAMILL

AGE: 35

STARTED: 2005

TEAM: MOHAWK VALLEY MMA, UTICA, NY

DIVISION: LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

STYLE: WRESTLING

RECORD: 10-4