Hamill highly motivated by Ortiz’s pre-fight comments
A mini-controversy arose when Ortiz, a former UFC light-heavyweight champion, appeared on HDNet’s “Inside MMA” program and claimed that Hamill…
A mini-controversy arose when Ortiz, a former UFC light-heavyweight champion, appeared on HDNet’s “Inside MMA” program and claimed that Hamill had a “soft head” as a result of being deaf.
Holmes said the usually even-tempered Hamill was bothered when a deaf fan sent him an email asking if Ortiz’s comments were true.
“The minute [Ortiz] talked about the deaf community, that’s really personal to Matt, and Matt really looks out for the deaf community as a protector,” Holmes said.
On Thursday Hamill downplayed his response to the comment following an open workout for Saturday’s event. He said he didn’t take it to heart and Ortiz was just hyping the fight.
“A lot of people made fun of me when I was a kid,” he told MMAjunkie.com. “‘Who’s that deaf kid?’ He can talk any trash that he wants to say. That’s [just] business. I was hoping that it was more trash about me than the deaf community.”