Born deaf, Hamill has overcome the challenge of competing in both wrestling and mixed martial arts without the use of his hearing. But on Saturday night, in his main-card bout with Keith Jardine (15-8-1 MMA, 6-7 UFC) at The Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale in Las Vegas, Hamill entered the fight with a staph infection, broke his hand in the first round and was poked in the eye in the second.

No problem, Hamill said following the win. None of that affected his heart.

“The gameplan was to use movement then attack with the takedown,” Hamill said. “But what happened in the first round was I broke my left hand, and I couldn’t get the takedown. I had the death hook. But I tried. I kept going.

“I had to go to plan B – to out-strike him. I fought all my heart out. Then he poked me in the eye, and I thought I could be blind and deaf. It was too many handicaps, but I’m not giving up. I go all out.”

“It was blurry,” Hamill admitted. “I don’t know. I thought I was going to knock him out in the second round. I had him, then he poked me in the eye, and I had to stop. It happened so fast.”

“I have a staph infection. I’ll get put on antibiotics tomorrow.”

“I don’t know. I can’t count. I can’t feel the pain.”

“I’ll probably have to go the hospital tomorrow, but right now, the good thing is that I came here to catch up with all the interviews.”

“When the fight was over, I didn’t know about the decision/ I just went all out the best I could. Whether my hand was raised or not, I knew I had fought my heart out.”

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