UFC vet light heavyweight Ryan Jimmo died in a hit and run accident in Edmonton, Canada, on June 26. Two men have been arrested and charged with murder and being an accessory after the murder.
Now in an interview with Nola Keeler for CBC News, Jimmo’s fiancee Roxie Reece detailed his final moments, and reveals that he had proposed to her just hours before the murder. The two had only known each other since April 30, when they met at a “hippie” coffee shop in Phoenix, Arizona, where they were living.
“We were both from different worlds. I was the sweet little Jesus Christian girl and Ryan was this MMA UFC fighter, incredibly smart, scientific ninja guy,” recalled Reece.
“He was a ball of energy. He lit up the room. He made friends wherever he went.”
“His family and Ryan and I both later joked that he was the female version of me, and I was the male version of him. Boy, did we fall in love.”
Jimmo hoped for a kiss on the first date, but Reece said she wanted to see an MMA move first.
“He shook my hand,” recounted Reece. “He said, ‘This is the No. 1 most important move you’ll ever learn in your life. And if you learn how to do this move, you’ll never have to fight in your life and you’ll make friends wherever you go.’
“I thought that was so impressive. That was Ryan Jimmo.”
She drove up to Edmonton with him, where Jimmo planned to resume his MMA career, post UFC.
On Saturday, June 25, they went to the movies together for the first time. In the middle of Independence Day: Resurgence, Jimmo turned to Reece, who recounted what happened next.
“He said: ‘Honey, you’re absolutely the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on in this entire world. I just love you so much. I just want to marry you and have children with you.’ To which, I was like, ‘OK honey, let’s do it, that would be awesome.’”
Later that night, the couple decided to go for a late drive, to watch a lightning storm, and see the town.
“Ryan and I weren’t out at the bar, we weren’t drinking, we weren’t partying,” said Reece. “His goal that night was to take his girlfriend and show her the city and go home.”
Jimmo noticed a truck tailgating them. He turned off the street to let the truck pass.
“So we took a left to let them go by,” said Reece. “They followed Ryan even more close. And so now he and I were both like ‘OK what’s going on?’ And then he took the first right into that parking lot … I had no clue where we were at.”
She said the truck followed them into the parking lot.
“So these guys pulled up real close right behind Ryan, almost as if they were going to hit us, and we both felt nervous. And Ryan felt the need to do something because we didn’t want them following us out of there.”
“It was kind of scary. There was something not right there and I didn’t know what was going on. So Ryan, you know, got out to talk to them and they were not nice guys and Ryan came to get back in the car. And they said something else and he went back to talk with them.”
Then Jimmo was struck, and the truck fled. Reece ran screaming for someone to call the 911, as she didn’t have her phone, and Jimmo’s was locked.
“In those moments, I felt the most scared I’ve ever felt,” said Reece. “I felt helpless. And I lay beside Ryan and I talked with him and told him, ‘Come on honey, you can do it, you can fight, I’m right here, I’m right here.’ And it’s important to me that people know that Ryan was not alone.”
“Ryan in the goodness of his heart just wanted to make sure we were safe. Ryan was so skilled at defusing things. Ryan had the best intentions…he did his very best to handle it in the right way.”
Reece has returned to Phoenix. She wants justice, but holds not hatred for the two men.
“To have hatred in your heart for somebody is a bitterness that only wells up in your own heart and it only hurts you in the long run,” she said.
“I think Ryan’s up there smiling down saying ‘What are you guys all crying for? Wipe your tears. There’s stuff to be done! We gotta go make a difference here.’
“I’m now taking everything that Ryan taught me to be strong the rest of my life and to finish out what he started. I want all of us to come together, not in hatred … and to be the best versions of ourselves that we can be because that’s what Ryan would have wanted.”
H/T Letibleu
