This is really inspirational. Here’s a man, a martial artist all his life, really showing the way when it comes to debunking myths about old age.
He got into a professional mixed martial arts bout at age 70. Against someone 21 years younger than him.
Mixed martial arts, full contact fighting, will not be what everyone is looking for in a martial art. But even if MMA is not your cup of tea, this story is definitely worth taking a look at.
The first thing John Williams wants you to know about his record-breaking MMA fight this past weekend is, it wasn’t a gimmick. It wasn’t a novelty act, some cheap ploy to sell tickets or attract headlines.
Well, maybe attracting the headlines was important, but for a good reason.
The 70-year-old from New Brunswick, Canada became the oldest person to ever compete in a professional MMA bout when he took on 49-year-old former pro wrestler Larry Brubaker on July 24 in Moncton. On paper it sounds like a carnival act, but the fight was serious business, Williams said, done to prove a serious point.
“I was trying to bring attention to the fact that when a person becomes a senior, society kind of pushes them out of the loop. The attitude toward them is that they’re dumb, they can’t do anything, physically they’re just vegetables, and they’re sort of shunned by society,” Williams told MMA Fighting. “I wanted to find a way to show that life isn’t over at 55 or 60 years old.
The full article can be found at mmafighting.com
