Fighter who lost his leg after eating poisoned candy signs with Legacy FC
Fighter who lost his leg after eating poisoned candy signs with Legacy FC
Imagine being only six years old when you are poisoned by candy which leads to the amputation of one of your legs. That is what happened to Matt Betzold, who is now a professional mixed martial artist training at one of the best camps in all MMA, Team Alpha Male alongside UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw and top dogs Urijah Faber, Chad Mendes, Joseph Benavidez and others.
According to an article posted earlier this month at MMAJunkie.com, Betzold said the “candy was poisoned on purpose, by a man who thought he was committing an act of vengeance against Betzold’s father, who, it must be said, had become involved with some “bad people,” according to Betzold. His family was known to open its home to people off the streets in need of a place to stay, which provided all the opportunity this one particular person needed.
“My dad was basically wrapped up in something, accused of something, and whether he did it or not I don’t know,” Betzold said. “All I know is he was accused of something by some bad people, and this guy was friends with those people. He purposely came and stayed with us and did that to me as, I guess, revenge.”
The candy nearly killed Betzold, then left him in a coma with unclear prospects for recovery. By the time he emerged, it was into a radically different life that would never be the same again. His left leg had become gangrenous and had to be removed.
“The poison and the toxins were clogging up my arteries and the poison was eating through my skin. They gave me antibiotics to reject the poison from my body, and it just started seeping through my pores. Basically I lost my leg because of a blood clot, and by the time I got out of the hospital, I had been in a coma for six weeks.”
Betzold began training jiu-jitsu and entered into his first tournament and won first place on his first attemp. After that he was hooked, competing at NAGA, Grapplers Quest, FILA, etc.
Now at 31-years of age and 6-3 as a professional mixed martial artist, Betzold signed a multi-fight deal with Legacy FC and is expected to make his promotional debut on Feb. 27 in Houston.
Betzold posted to his Facebook page earlier today “I want to thank Collin Cantrell and Mick Maynard for believing in me enough to sign me to a three fight deal! My first fight will be in Houston Febuary 27, 2015! My first fight is suppose to be against Cryin Ryan Hollis, I know the fans want to see it, Legacy wants to see it, and I sure want to see it! Wheres Ryan??? Probably in hiding, getting private lessons with Waldo!!! bwahahaha! oh warriors….come out to plaaaaayyaaaa!”
Betzold is currently on a four-fight win streak with all four ending by way of submission and the total combined fight time less than 11 minutes.
Betzold may have only one leg to stand on, but he is standing tall. Best wishes to you Matt from everyone at MyMMANews.com
