Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight Nate Quarry is anything but warm and friendly in the octagon. However, this past Saturday night, the bruising mixed martial arts combatant showed a softer side to him.
That's when Quarry stepped into the octagon as part of the Rumble at the Roseland card in Portland, Ore. to fight Jake Beckmann, who has always dreamed of having an MMA bout. Beckmann, 19, suffers from Down syndrome.
The bout helped raise $1,000 for Create the Connection, an organization that sparks job opportunities for special-needs people. In addition to bringing awareness to Down syndrome, Beckmann will likely never forget Saturday night for a whole other reason. That's because he made Quarry tap out via a leg lock in the second round.
"Throughout my life, over and over again, I've been given an opportunity to live my dreams," Quarry told MMAFighting.com after the match. "If I can make the slightest effort to help a young man, not only live his dream but also show his mother, what it could be like to see him follow in his dreams."
Quarry added: "If I can affect the entire community and let everyone know that special needs people are just a little different. They're just that: they're a little different. They have dreams. They have goals, just like the rest of us. Why should we try to tell them how they should live their lives? If we can break them out of the box I think that's the right thing to do."
Video of the charity MMA bout can be found here.
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