Matt Hamill started the new year with a special moment.
Hamill, the first deaf athlete to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, revealed on social media that he was able to hear his family for the first time with the help of a special digital hearing aid.
“We have the most powerful digital hearing aid ever made,” Hamill recently wrote on Instagram. “For the first time in 41 years, I can finally hear children’s voices and people walking and laughing. When I finally heard my mother’s voice, she cried. I could also hear my brother Pat’s voice. I’m looking forward to it. I just hope he doesn’t have a foghorn voice. That’s great, but I know it will take some time to adjust to all of this.”
Hamill, 48, has a record of 13 wins and eight losses in his professional MMA career, which began in 2005. He appeared on Season 3 of “The Ultimate Fighter” and competed in 15 matches thereafter. Promotion based in Las Vegas. He’s perhaps best known for his controversial disqualification victory over Jon Jones in the TUF 10 finals, but he also won in the Octagon against Tim Betsch, Mark Munoz, Keith Jardine, Tito Ortiz, and more. has also won.
After leaving the UFC in 2013, “The Hammer” competed in organizations such as the World Series of Fighting, Venator FC, and Combat Americas, earning a record of 2 wins and 3 losses. Hamill last competed in April 2018 when he took a split decision to Chris Birchler at Maverick MMA 6. Hamill was also the subject of a 2010 biopic titled The Hammer.
