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Congenital amputee Kyle Maynard (pictured) made his mixed martial arts debut on Saturday, April 25 at ‘Auburn Fight Night’ from the Auburn Covered Arena, dropping a unanimous decision (30-27) to Bryan Fry in an unsanctioned MMA bout held in Auburn, Alabama.
The bantamweight contest marked the end of Maynard’s nearly three year quest to compete in mixed martial arts. In 2007, the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission denied Maynard a license to fight in the belief that he would be unable to properly defend himself.
Maynard never gave up his dream and found his opportunity against Bryan Fry in the State of Alabama — specifically chosen for its lack of a sanctioning body that could have potentially denied him the chance to compete.
But fight he did, and in an unfortunate and ironic twist, Maynard was prohibited from striking because his gloves were unable to be secured prior to the bout, presumably from the heat and humidity.
It didn’t stop a game — but somewhat restrained Fry from lightly peppering Maynard en route to the decision victory. Fry, who improves to 1-2 with the win, was careful not to engage Maynard on the ground where the former 35-16 Varsity wrestler had a distinct advantage.
The pro-Maynard crowd repeatedly rained down boos for Fry’s play-it-safe routine, but the end result was probably the best case scenario. Maynard was able to achieve his goal of competing in mixed martial arts, and the sport avoids an unthinkable and perhaps catastrophic scenario.
Whether or not Maynard continues to pursue a career in mixed martial arts remains to be seen.
Beth Haller, Ph.D., is Co-Director of the Global Alliance for Disability in Media and Entertainment (www.gadim.org). A former print journalist, she is a member of the Advisory Board for the National Center on Disability and Journalism (https://ncdj.org/). Haller is Professor Emerita in the Department of Mass Communication at Towson University in Maryland, USA. Haller is co-editor of the 2020 "Routledge Companion to Disability and Media" (with Gerard Goggin of University of Sydney & Katie Ellis of Curtin University, Australia). She is author of "Representing Disability in an Ableist World: Essays on Mass Media" (Advocado Press, 2010) and the author/editor of Byline of Hope: Collected Newspaper and Magazine Writing of Helen Keller (Advocado Press, 2015). She has been researching disability representation in mass media for 30+ years. She is adjunct faculty in the Disability Studies programs at the City University of New York (CUNY) and the University of Texas-Arlington.
From MMAMania.com:
