The MMA Community Comes Together For Ryan Bennett
Published by on November 27th, 2007 in Memorabilia

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To demonstrate that there is plenty of “community” in the MMA community, Randy Harris has taken up the task of raising money for the family of Ryan Bennett, the founder of MMA Weekly who suffered a fatal accident in May of 2006.
 
Harris has gone about posting memorabilia items on eBay, which have been scooped up by mixed martial arts fans worldwide raising over $170,000 for the family. He could not do this without the help of a lot of generous MMA fighters. Recently, Randy Couture, the five-time UFC champion, donated the gloves he used when he beat Gabriel Gonzaga in UFC 74, after affixing his autograph to them. This was a very valuable and cherished item for those interested in collecting MMA memorabilia, and will no doubt increase a great deal in value as time progresses and memorabilia from the mixed martial arts becomes more and more of an established part of the industry.
 
The proceeds from sale of the item will go to help Bennett’s family, who were left without insurance after Bennett’s accident.
 
Matt Serra donated his under-armour from his fight with Georges St. Pierre, in which he won the UFC’s welterweight title in April of 2007. Items like this may seem trivial to the neophyte, but in truth anything worn by a prominent UFC competitor in an actual fight, much less a title fight, has tremendous collector and investor value because of the fact that it is one of kind – vene better than a limited edition item.

But speaking of limited editions, one of the things Harris put together was a series of works of art involving former UFC chapion Chuck Liddell. What it amounted to was that four different top MMA artists – Mattew Kaplowitz, Justin McAllister, Scott Blair and Evan Shoman, offered their respective interpretation – through their own particular artistic sub-specialty – of the same Liddell pose. It is a limited set of 20 – very ingenious and completely unique. Each and every one of the pieces is signed by all four of the artists and also be Liddell himself.

One of the more amazing items was put up for auction last year. As the UFC got ready for its New Year’s show, and one of the biggest in history, which featured Chuck Liddell versus Tito Ortiz in the main event, Harris posted a tremendous travel/show package for the UFC fan. It came courtesy of Joe Rogan who offered two air tickets to Las Vegas (where the show was being held), along with first-class hotel accommodations (at either the Mandalay Bay or the MGM Grand), tickets for the actual UFC card (from Rogan’s personal allotment) and tickets to Rogan’s comedy show that evening, which took place at the House of Blues in the Mandalay Bay (yes, Rogan pulled double duty that might). The fortunate fan also had the opportunity to meet both Ortiz and Liddell, get some autographed items from them, and more.  In this case they made special arraignments and sold the same experience to the runners up.
 
That was unquestionably a once in a lifetime experience for any UFC fan; in fact, it really was priceless. You couldn’t put a tangible value on something like this, because it would have never been available had it not been for the fact that it was to benefit the Ryan Bennett Memorial Fund. And it is an indication of the type of spirit and support that the MMA community has when it comes to contributing to a worthy cause.
 
The generosity of MMA fighters certainly knows no bounds. Cole Escovedo, the former bantamweight champion of World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC – a subsidiary of the UFC), donated his bantamweight title belt for auction to benefit the Ryan Bennett Memorial Fund. Escovedo, of course, fell victim to a staph infection that left him paralyzed from the waist down in early 2007. Luke Cummo, the Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu artist who defeated Josh Haynes at UFC 69, signed and donated the gloves he used in that fight.
 
In August of 2006, Chuck Liddell defended his UFC light heavyweight title with a first-round technical knockout over Renato “Babalu” Sobral at UFC 62. Liddell, who has done plenty for the family of Ryan Bennett, signed the gloves he used in that title defense and donated them for the auction. He also donated the shorts he wore for the historic win over Tito Ortiz on December 30, 2006 – to date one of the most widely-seen UFC pay-per-view events ever. Tito Ortiz offered the beanie he wore on the way to the octagon when he fought legendary Ken Shamrock for the third time. Tim Sylvia, who lost the heavyweight title to Randy Couture in UFC 68, donated the warm-up pants that he wore for that event. And Brandon Vera’s T-shirt that he wore into the octagon for his UFC 65 victory over Frank Mir was also generously donated.
 
Fighters get credentials for their fights as well, and of course are given credentials when they go as a spectator as well. Harris has been able to secure fight credentials from a number of leading MMA fighters, including Mike Swick, Pat Miletich and Stephen Bonnar.
 
He’s also gone outside the sport of MMA for some items. For example, CC Deville, the lead guitarist for legendary rock band Poison, had an autographed guitar auctioned. There was also a pair of boxing gloves worn in the ring by Eric “Butterbean” Esch. No doubt there will be more non-MMA items from concerned people who are MMA fans.
 
The auctions that are being held online for the Ryan Bennett Memorial Fund actually have a benefit that extends far beyond the immediate benefit to the family of the late MMA writer, publisher and commentator.
 
For people who are looking at these auctions as a fan, it is a tremendous opportunity to acquire one-of-a-kind items that might otherwise never have been put on the market. After all, how else could you have gotten a used pair of gloves or other equipment from Chuck Liddell, much less an item that had been used in one of the most famous UFC fights of all-time? That makes a truly unique opportunity and a good reason to support the Ryan Bennett Memorial Fund by bidding on these items as they come along on eBay.
 
Let’s look at this from another perspective as well – people who are interested in the MMA aspect of the industry. There is probably no other aspect of the business that has promise for more potential growth. Call it the “next frontier” if you will. The auction of the MMA items – and the interest they have drawn – demonstrate that there is very definitely a market for MMA memorabilia, and that the items can draw appreciable prices. True, there may be some price-setting going on there; maybe even something that has the effect of test marketing, especially with the limited editions, and that will be good for the business, since there are going to more items of this type coming before us as time progresses.
 
But these auctions circulate items into the collectors’ community that, as we have mentioned, would not likely have been there otherwise. Some of the people who purchase these items are going to one day turn around and look to sell them. That’s not necessarily mercenary, in that the initial money went to the Ryan Bennett Memorial Fund, which was, and is, a worthy cause. But it is a fact of life that things are bought and sold, and the activity that results can be nothing but a boon for the industry.
 
Incidentally, if you are an MMA follower or participant, the Ryan Bennett Memorial Fund can certainly use your help and your input. If you have an item that you would like to have auctioned, by all means send it to the following address:
 
Ryan Bennett Charity Auction
P.O. Box 1363
Pinellas Park, FL 33780