Anyone who watched Bellator this past Saturday night, saw Bryan Baker defeat Joe Riggs, and then propose to his girlfriend, witnessed a genuine feel good scene. Nowadays the media only wants to present the things fighters do wrong, I thought it was important to profile a fighter who has struggled, and succeeded.
If you haven’t seen Bryan Baker fight, you’re missing out on an exceptional up and coming fighter in the Middleweight division. He has very solid hands, and a formidable wrestling background. He’s trained by Thomas Denny and fights out of Team Wildman Vale Tudo, Denny’s school. He has had battles outside of the cage as well.
Bryan Baker was diagnosed with chronic leukemia back in April of 2010 while training for the Bellator Season 2 Middleweight tournament. He felt something was “off” and he was tiring more quickly than he had in the past. The diagnosis came on his mentor Denny’s birthday, which put an end to any plans for a fun evening out. However his debut with Bellator was just over a week away and he and his team needed to figure out what they’d do. He fought and reached the finals of the tournament.
Now, a year later, having just defeated Joe Riggs, and earning a spot in the next season’s Middleweight Tournament things are going grand for the 25 year old competitor. His cancer is in remission and after his victory Saturday; he asked his girlfriend to enter the cage, got on a knee and proposed. Fortunately she said “yes” and the two will be married.
Almost as inspirational as his fight against cancer, his engagement and blossoming MMA career is the love and respect shared between him and Thomas Denny. Denny became very emotional during a taping for Bellator discussing the disease and that kind of mentor in this sport is hard to find. For Bryan Baker, things couldn’t be better. He’s beaten cancer, earned a spot in next year’s tournament and the woman he loves, will become his bride.
Baker said in the cage during the proposal, “My heart is just doing back-flips right now. I can’t express how much this girl cares for me and how much I love her. I want to give the world to her. This cage is hers as much as it is mine. We’re going to conquer it together. There are a lot of good things in store for us.”
It certainly looks that way.
