SHE DID IT!

Saturday September 30th, 2023 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Stamp Fairtex defeated Ham Seo Hee for the MMA world title.

We had a long talk the day before the fight. I said, “Stamp, you are going to win the title and your life is going to change again. You haven’t changed, but the people around you are all going to change. All of the people who ignored you or wouldn’t have given you the time of day 5 years ago are going to want to be in your life. Ask yourself, ‘would this person want to be close to the Stamp 5 years ago?’ If the answer is no, then they are just noise. Drown out that noise and focus on those who supported you when you had nothing to offer them.”

If you don’t know Stamp’s story, you can watch it in the popular documentary Buffalo Girls.

She came to Fairtex in 2017 and immediately I started giving her private BJJ lessons from day 1. Now she’s a world champion in MMA.

A coach-student relationship is different than any other. It’s not the same as father/daughter. It’s not the same as a friend. It’s not the same as a teacher. It’s hard to put into words. But as a coach, you become the relationship mentor, financial coach, family counselor, and you get good at supporting your students in all of life’s challenges.

She’s one of a kind. She’s every coaches dream. She always listens, does exactly what you ask of her, and never complains. I’ve never seen anything like it. Even with her success, she’s still as humble in learning as she was on day 1.

After my accident, being included in this important moment hit differently. I have a new appreciation for life’s special moments and I will never take this for granted.

Honored, humbled, and proud are the words that come to my mind, but they don’t even come close to describing how amazing this feels to watch this wonderful young woman transform into a legend of sport.