You’ll be hard-pressed to find a sport that has the highest of highs and lowest of lows like mixed martial arts.
Every fighter’s UFC tenure has started with notice that their time had come – they’d be taking their talents to the pinnacle promotion in the sport.
Earlier this week, featherweight fighter Kamuela Kirk became the newest member of the UFC roster. After 15 professional fights and a preceding amateur career, Kirk (11-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) finally got the call he’d been anticipating for much of his life.
The call came in the form of a FaceTime from his manager, Brian Butler of SuckerPunch Entertainment. What began as a normal FaceTime call turned into a life-changing moment, all captured on film by Butler, who has become well-versed at filming himself FaceTime his fighters without them seeing his second phone.
Before he could even utter the letters U-F-C, Kirk was onto him. Overcome with joy, Kirk quickly scooted into the dining area in his home where he turned his phone so others could hear Butler say it for the first time.
“Hey, will you tell these guys?” Kirk said.
Butler replied, “Yeah. Welcome to the UFC.”
The reactions amongst those in the household were great. There was a hug and a high-five before Butler and Kirk reflected on the journey and what’s next.
Check out the video below:
Butler, as well as Cage Warriors president and CEO of Intensiti Fighter Management Graham Boylan, have done an excellent job of capturing the emotional moments they break the news that a dream is coming true. As long as managers and fighters are comfortable with the world eavesdropping on their conversations, I’d love to see more managers capture these moments.
The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.