A few months back I posted an article from my friend Brendan about training for MMA and leading up to his charity event: a full scale, sanctioned fight night that happened in Boston. Today’s post is a followup to the original article, with a recap of training and the event, and what the future holds for Brendan and O2O
dat mustache
The dust has settled from what was the most exciting and stressful three-month period of my life.
Daily schedules in the weeks leading up to the fight night would require as many as three full screen shots on my IPhone to capture everything.
My close relationships suffered as did my own training, but everyone around me understood that this was something being done for the greater good and that for anything great sacrifice must be part of it.
The fighters who participated made all types of sacrifices, no booze, no weed, no hamburgers, no ice cream, everyone eliminated one of their guilty pleasures.
We all put our social lives on hold, at least the heavy partying, and went to work. We raised over $100K through ticket sales, donations, our fighter date auction, and apparel sales. Lost a combined 300+ pounds and redefined charity.
More than what was raised is what was found. Fighters stumbled upon parts of themselves that they didn’t know existed. It truly was a sink or swim scenario. But this all took place before anyone ever stepped into the cage. Over 50 individuals registered from the thousands who pursued the opportunity. Of the 50 only 16 competed.
The fight night itself was electric. It was like gladiators competing for glory. A broken hand and two separated shoulders later we had made history as being the first sanctioned amateur MMA fight in downtown Boston. Commissioners who have been attending fights for 20+ years said it was by far one of the best events they have ever been to. We brought a class and coolness to the sport that has yet to be seen. Our last fight, Bean VS. Mullin is up for Fight of the Year honors on Mass MMA.
More importantly we brought about awareness of the childhood obesity epidemic in our country. Which if we are not careful with be the downfall of our economy. So even if you aren’t passionate about obesity prevention, I am sure we can all agree on our passion for the well being of our country and maintaining our super power status.
a packed house watching the action
The immediate question after the event was, “When are you doing this again?!”. So today I am announcing that O2O 2 will take place in February of 2014. Contact me at brendan@officetooctagon.com if you or someone you know might be interested in competing.
In the end I lost my fight, but there is no doubt we all won that evening. Nearly three months after the fact I am ready to do it all over again. It is time that we start fighting for something we believe in. Choose your cause, register to fight, and change your life.
Brendan “Bonesaw” McKee is a CPT and CF-L1 trainer, and former NFL Europe athlete. He is currently the owner of OfficetoOctagon.com, MFD Training, and a OneResult.com contributor. His passion lies in helping underprivileged youths, and sculpting his extraordinary mustache.