Sean Wheelock reflects on Art Davie HoF induction
Sean Wheelock: “After my immediate family which is my girls, my wife, and my mom, Art Davie is the closest person in my life.”
Commentator and regulator Sean Wheelock has been at this since UFC 1, when he was in Colorado, to watch the birth of the sport, live. He has very close relationship with UFC co-founder Art Davie, and was delighted when he became the lastest announced inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame.
The UFC had contacted us not that long ago, but a little while ago to let us know that Art was in, and they would like to make an official announcement, and asked us to keep it quiet which Art and I were happy to do, said Wheelock to MyMMANews founder Eric Kowal.
Wheelock and Davie co-wrote Is This Legal?: The Inside Story of The First UFC from the Man Who Created It, the story of Davie creating the UFC. It’s a great, great read – buy it!
I always like to tell people that the book came out of our friendship,” he said. “Our friendship definitely deepened from the book but we knew each other for a few years before the book.
After my immediate family which is my girls, my wife, and my mom, Art Davie is the closest person in my life. I have some really deep friendships. I have a couple of people I went to high school with, John McCarthy is one of my best friends, but I’ve never had a friendship like the one I’ve had with Art Davie.
Wheelock will be commentating at Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, the first Legal and regulated bare knuckle event in the United States since 1889.
I was approached by a guy named David Feldman, who has become a really close friend of mine, about commentating over a year and a half ago,” said Wheelock. He said, ‘what I really want is to make this completely legal, completely regulated, completely sanctioned, fighter safety. I want every protection that a professional boxer, kickboxer, and MMA fighter is getting in this country, with the blood work, with the exams.’ He said, ‘I want to do this first class. I’m not trying to do a one-off pay-per-view.’ He actually cited Art Davie. He said, ‘I want to do what Art Davie did. I want to create a new combat sport and launch a franchise.’
And thus the influence of Art Davie on combat sports continues.