Incredibly Heartwarming Fight That Took Place in Billings

"I'm feeling so good right now...and I beat him!" You should have heard the crowd roar as Terrill Bracken conducted the post fight interview with Billings, Montana's own Bryan Chapel.

His story was featured on USA Today's "MMA Junkie" page after the Fusion Fights in Billings earlier in September. Chapel had a dream come true when he got to fight an official UFC fighter named Justin Jaynes.

As Nolan King reports, Justin Jaynes is not only a ringside commentator for the Fusion Fight League events in Montana, he's also a professional MMA fighter who has fought in the UFC. "Chapel is a 46-year-old man with an intellectual disability who has become a pillar of his local Montana community. He works as a bagger at an Albertsons grocery store," King writes. "Chapel’s dream has long been to compete against a UFC athlete, so when the two met at an afterparty for an event Jaynes was commentating, the wheels were put in motion."

This was a note I got from Kim who was at the Fusion Fights in Billings on the Monday after the fights. UFC 306 was the Saturday after.

"Aaron now that the weekend is over.  The fusion fights and ufc fights have come to a close.  I would love to say I have never seen an audience erupt as much as they did for Bryan from the Grindhouse and the former ufc fighter/ commentator.  I feel that this was a notable moment and something that should be recognized especially how divided our country is.  I am not sure if this is something that could be released by Terrill or Fusion but I feel that this event showed the public how Americans should act.  Thanks for sharing your thoughts at the fights on Friday night, I believe that Montanans are ready to take back their country and state. Thanks for all you do! Kim"

I'm glad MMA Junkie wrote about this story. The crowd loved to see how happy Bryan was after being declared the winner of the fight. I remember seeing Bryan walk into 9Round kickboxing in Billings while I was working out one day. You could tell how excited the staff was to see him in there training.

By the way, for any of you 9Round fans or folks who want to try kickboxing- Corey Willis has now transformed his 9Round crew into "Knockout Fitness," which is located a couple doors down from the Grindhouse in Billings. You should definitely go in and check it out.