Professional MMA fighters come in all shapes and sizes, but one of the most unique surely has to be Tyler ‘Hulk Hands’ Freeland.
Standing just 4ft 11 tall, Freeland suffers from Achondroplasia, the same form of Dwarfism that well known stars like ‘Game Of Thrones’ actor Peter Dinklage and Jackass cast-member Jason ‘Wee Man’ Acuna have been diagnosed with.
The condition is caused by a mutation that affects bone growth, leading to severely shortened bones, but that’s not stopped Freeland from pursuing his dream of becoming a fighter.
The thickly-built Freeland fought the majority of his amateur MMA career at lightweight (155lbs), but has actually competed as high as middleweight (185bs) after being offered a short-notice fight by a promoter.
Despite his major height disadvantage, Freeland actually proved to be a force to be reckoned with in the amateur ranks, recording a 15-6 record, while living up to his ‘Hulk Hands’ nickname by finishing nine of his opponents by way of strikes.
At the time this video with MMA reporter Aaron Tru was filmed in 2010, Freeland was just about to turn pro as a featherweight (145lbs).
Tru actually has one amateur fight on his own record, but in their sparring session he proved to be no match for Freeland, who was easily able to take him down several times and also dropped him with a left hand.
Freeland would go on to make his pro-debut in Tachi Palace Fights 8 in early 2011 against another newcomer, Diego Melendez, and emerged with a unanimous decision victory.
He suffered a knee injury after that and it would be four years before he finally returned to action, but Freeland quickly made up for lost time by racking up another two wins in the Gladiator Challenge promotion.
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Freeland was then given a dream opportunity to fight for Bellator in May of 2016, and though he suffered a first-round submission loss to undefeated fighter Joe Hamilton, it’s hard not to be impressed by just how well he has come in the sport so far.
I’m out on this road doing what nobody thought I could do because I was little, but I’m proving everybody wrong, Freeland proudly stated on the Brutally Honest podcast.
