Flyweight Matt Betzold trains out of Urijah Faber’s Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, CA, the greatest gym in America for lighter weight fighters. At 5′ 6″ his fighting weight of 125 is a little low, but that is because doctors had to amputate his leg below the knee, following a poisoning attempt when he was just six years old.
My dad was basically wrapped up in something, accused of something, and whether he did it or not I don’t know, said Betzold to Ben Fowlkes for MMAjunkie. All I know is he was accused of something by some bad people, and this guy was friends with those people. He purposely came and stayed with us and did that to me as, I guess, revenge.
My pops still hasn’t really recovered from it. But I feel like, I got over it, and if I can get over it I think he should be able to. I don’t dwell on it. I refuse to let people feel sorry for me or treat me different than they’d treat anyone else.
Betzold began using a prosthetic leg as a child, which in turn led to him being picked on, which in turn led to him fighting back.
Everyone at home, my family, and they’d never treat me different, said Betzold. So then when people did treat me different, I would act out and stand up against that. I wasn’t treated different at home, so I didn’t see why I should be treated different at school. Because of that, I fought a lot. I wouldn’t let people pick on me or treat me different than anyone else, and I still live by that every day of my life.
When he became aware of mixed martial arts, he began taking lessons in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
I was just winning right off the bat, he said. For some reason I just really took to it, and I was tapping people out who had a lot more experience. I realized I had a talent for the ground game, and the better I did in competition, the more I wanted to fight.
The Arizona commission was unwilling to grant him a license to fight, so he competed ferociously in grappling tournaments.
The way I tried to prove it to them was by doing as many grappling events as I could, said Betzold. Every time there was a grappling tournament that had open entry, I would pay the fee and compete. I got to the point where I had over 100 matches, with about a 90 percent win rate, and I was beating guys that were fighting professionally.
After he competed in and won an unregulated event, he was granted an amateur license. However, amateur rules in Arizona prohibit striking to the face on the ground, so when he wanted to turn pro, there was another battle.
I was a qualified fighter asking for a license, and they were denying it, Betzold said. It was pretty clear discrimination.
Betzold got an attorney, and was granted a license to fight professionally. He is currently a solid pro, with a 6-6 record.
Inspiringly, Betzold says that the missing leg is in advantage in many ways.
He has developed a style that you can’t really train for. But more importantly, the struggle developed his character, the central point in martial arts training.
Having one leg made me fight a lot more, said Betzold. “But it also forced me to try a lot harder than everyone else in everything I did.”
To book betzold for grappling seminars or motivational speaking engagement, please email uselitecombat@gmail.com.
