MMA Profile: Matt "The Hammer" Hamill

Matt Hamill was born on October 5, 1976, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Hamill began wrestling at a young age after his stepfather, who was a wrestling coach in Cincinnati, introduced him to the sport.

Born deaf, Hamill had to fight and work harder to get people's attention. He knows how hard it can be for other people. Hamill also helps kids that were born deaf, showing them that they too can live their dreams. He often visits middle and high schools to show support.

Before making it to the UFC, Hamill had many accomplishments. He is a three-time NCAA Division III National champion in wrestling, has a silver medal in greco-roman wrestling, and holds a gold medal in freestyle wrestling from the deaf Olympics games in 2001.

Matt had his big break on season three of The Ultimate Fighter where he competed for the first time in an actual MMA fight. He was the first fighter chosen in his weight class and his coach was former UFC light-heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz.

There was a huge bond between both men early in the season. It was clear Tito wanted to take Hamill and make him a star. Several of Hamil's partners on the show didn't like that Tito had preference for Matt, but nobody was more displeased than Michael Bisping.

Bisping and Hamill became rivals on the show and were destined to meet in the finals, until an injury forced Matt to drop out of the competition and see his dream of winning the show crushed.

The UFC was still impressed by Matt and gave him a shot at the season finale where he defeated Jesse Forbes in the first round. After dominant wins over Seth Petruzelli and Rex Holman, the UFC decided to match up Matt Hamill and his rival from The Ultimate Fighter, Michael Bisping, who had won the show at UFC 75 in England.

Both men had a great fight and both men had something to prove. Neither was able to finish the other and after three rounds of action, everybody knew that the judges would have a hard time to score the contest.

A lot of people had the fight scored in favor of the Hamill, but Bisping won a split decision. The fight remains one of the most controversial fights in UFC history.

Bisping said himself that he thought Matt had won two of the three rounds and Dana White also thought Matt had done enough to win the decision.

Due to the controversial ending of the fight, a rematch was scheduled between the two at UFC 78, but Hamill needed surgery on a knee and was forced to pull out of the fight. Hamill's next opponent was a relative newcomer that made an impressive debut with a brutal TKO of David Heath at UFC 81. 

At UFC Fight Night 13, Hamill fought Tim Boetsch and showed everybody that Boetsch wasn't in the same league as him.

Hamill then had to fight a very good friend and former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin at UFC 88. Rich showed he was too much for Hamill at this point in his career and gave Matt his first decisive loss in his career.

Hamill improved his striking techniques and dominated Reese Andy and head kicked Mark Munoz at UFC 96 where he received KO of the night honors.

Now, he's set to face Brandon "The Truth" Vera at UFC 101 in Philadelphia. Vera hasn't been impressive in his first fights at 205 pounds and this could be a great fight for Hamill to beat a big name and establish himself as a top-10 fighter in the UFC light-heavyweight division.

The is a rumor that Hamill could be the subject of an upcoming movie named "Hamill." It would be a story about his early wrestling days and realizing his dreams while being deaf. It should be a great movie about a great man.

I hope Hamill does well against Vera at UFC 101 and goes on to be one of the top fighters at 205 in the UFC. Maybe someday, he can become a champion and that day, everybody will see that dreams do come true through hard work.