Matt Hamill At MMA Expo 2009 In Toronto, Canada

Here is one of a series of short articles on my experiences at the MMA Expo in Toronto.

Setting out bright and early at 6:30am we headed out to Toronto. Joe a co-worker and fellow MMA fan came to pick me up which was just fine by me because I was content to snooze in the back for the 5 hour trip to Toronto while another friend sitting in the front was the acting navigator.

As we were doing the tour of the show we can across a familiar face; Matt Hamill. We were fortunate because he had just arrived and we were third in line. To see these guys on TV is one thing. To stand next to them, is another. I’m about 200lbs and like to stay physically active; at work I am considered a big guy. Next to Matt, my forearms looked like tooth picks. This is one dude you don’t want slamming you into the side of a cage.

Just ahead of us was a father, his wife and his 2 year old girl. The father though it would be a good idea to hand his daughter to Matt for the picture. She turned, took one look him and started bawling. Everyone got a good laugh, but you could tell Matt felt bad and handed the girl back to her father.

While the father was consoling his daughter Matt motioned to the mother to come and get her photo with him. During this process Matt kept looking and smiling at the girl when ever she was brave enough to take a peak. With Matt and the father, they managed to calm her down. After all that the girl started to smile, they got the picture and she gave Matt a little hug when it was over.

While this was all going on I managed to snap a few quick photos. Matt could see that I was waiting patiently and apologized to me. I was pretty impressed because he accomplished all this just by using simple hand jesters and when he spoke it was very clear. This is one guy you don’t think of as having a handicap. I have to say I was impressed with all the MMA fighters at the Expo but Matt’s conduct really stood out.

Did anyone make it to an MMA Expo this year? Meet any fighters? Have a similar story?