Congenital amputee Maynard venturing into mixed martial arts

Kyle Maynard has delivered a couple of hundred speeches for the Washington Speakers Bureau and shared a stage with President Obama. AP

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- Kyle Maynard has won dozens of high school wrestling matches, competed in seven jiujitsu tournaments and bench pressed nearly 400 pounds, all despite being born with no elbows or knees, hands or feet.

On Saturday, the congenital amputee is venturing into a new athletic arena -- mixed martial arts. He is hoping to silence critics who wonder if can defend himself against the kicks, knees and punches of a full-bodied opponent.

"There are a lot of people that doubt I'll be able to last 30 seconds," the 23-year-old Maynard said. "One of my goals is to go in there and prove I'm capable of it, thereby proving them wrong."

It wouldn't be the first time.

Maynard, from suburban Atlanta, went 35-16 in wrestling matches as a senior at Collins High School, advancing to the national meet in the 103-pound weight class. He spent a year on a club team at the University of Georgia.

Now Maynard is making his MMA debut in Alabama after the Georgia Athletic Entertainment Commission denied him a license to fight in 2007, fearing he wouldn't be able to adequately defend himself or tap out to end the bout if he was in danger.

Alabama has no regulatory commission for boxing or MMA, freeing Maynard and promoter David Oblas to set up the match at Auburn Covered Arena.

The problem has been convincing opponents to fight him. Oblas, in an interview Wednesday, declined to identify Maynard's opponent, saying only that he is from Wisconsin and has had two MMA fights.

"We've had five or six guys back out of the fight, not because they wanted to back out, but more because of pressure from family and friends: 'What are you doing fighting a guy with no arms or legs?"' Oblas said. "It's kind of a no-win situation for the other guy."

And for Maynard? He admits the media attention -- and the criticism on MMA fan message boards -- puts a little more pressure on his muscular, 135-pound frame.

He acknowledges that some people think he craves attention, but said publicity isn't his goal.

"If I were doing this in a back alley somewhere with my trainer, a referee and my opponent, then I'd be satisfied," Maynard said. "It's just a personal quest to figure out what I'm made of."

He hardly needs more publicity. He has already delivered a couple of hundred speeches for the Washington Speakers Bureau, shared a stage with President Barack Obama and met such luminaries of business and sports as Bill Gates and Bo Jackson.

Then again, Saturday night's fight is supposed to provide the climactic scene of a documentary on Maynard entitled "A Fighting Chance."

MMA fans on chat boards have worried that Maynard might get hurt and wondered what he's doing in the event.

Oblas says he understands the skepticism, but points out few fighters around the same weight pack the power in their frames that Maynard has. With broad shoulders and a wrestler's thick neck, Maynard pounds out push-ups by easily propelling the lower part of his body into the air and uses cross-training methods in the suburban Atlanta gym he opened in December, aptly named No Excuses Athletics.

"I think if I read in a newspaper that someone with no arms and no legs is fighting in a different state that I'd never met, I'd say it was ridiculous," Oblas said. "But once you meet Kyle and you see how thick he is, how strong he is, how much he works out, how good of an athlete he is, you'd know that he's not your average individual. He knows what he's doing out there, and he can defend himself.

"And he can inflict pain as well."

Punching, kneeing, kicking, choke holds? Maynard is determined to enjoy the experience.

"There's some pressure," he said. "I'm not going to make any excuses about it. I'm going to go out there and have a good time. Instead of being consumed about what could happen, I'm just going to go out and have fun. I can't imagine approaching the cage with anything but a huge smile on my face."

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