19-Year-Old with Down Syndrome to take on Nate Quarry

In ten days time young Jake “The Snake” Beckmann will get to fulfil a dream of his and that is to compete in an MMA fight. The 19-year-old will face UFC veteran Nate Quarry in an exhibition bout at ‘Rumble at the Roseland’ event on April 18th.

Beckman has been training in MMA the past four years and his coach, Greg Walker, said that he has been pestering him about fighting for some time now while commending his work-rate and dedication.

“As he would train with me he would ask me all the time, he would say ‘hey, when can I compete?’ or ‘when can I fight?’ And so over the years I would tell him to keep training,” said Walker. “Over the years he has worked his butt off. He is probably one of the hardest working students I’ve ever had.”

Despite having to take on a veteran like Quarry who fought for the UFC middleweight title a few years ago Beckmann isn’t scared of him and actually fancies his chances.

“I’m not afraid of him. I can take him,” Beckmann said to KPTV – FOX 12.

For the full story watch the video below.
KPTV – FOX 12

Alan’s Angle: A true feel-good story, proving that the sport is not limited to the stereotypical “cage fighter” type. MMA is open to anyone and this proves that. Props goes to Nate Quarry for accepting to do this and to Jacob Beckmann for actually training and wanting to compete, he is a true inspiration.

For anyone interested here is the Go Fund Me link mentioned in the video.

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