LAS VEGAS – The UFC has added a new matchmaker to its team thanks to a fan contest.
For “Matchmaker Sweepstakes,” the UFC gave fans an opportunity to enter a competition that required them to build their dream fight card. The winner of the competition got to fly to Las Vegas, attend a matchmaker meeting and meet UFC CEO Dana White, among other things.
A man named Joe Reeves won the competition, but his duties ended up extending far more than just a day. White was so blown away by Reeves’ knowledge that he hired him as a matchmaker full time.
“You want to know how f*cking good Joe is? I just hired Joe,” White said at the DWCS 66 post-event news conference. “Joe works for us now. This f*cking kid is awesome. I did all the contracts and I came back in, and I said I got one more. ‘You want to work for the UFC?’ He freaked out. He is a f*cking UFC lunatic. He went toe to toe with the boys today. Bring up a guy on the roster that he don’t know. He knows everybody on the roster.”
According to White, Reeves got to work right away, booking former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt a fight.
“So, he did make a fight today,” White said. “Lenee (UFC public relations officer) came in my office this morning raving about the kid. ‘Oh,this kid is awesome. We love him.’ He met a bunch of fighters in the PI today, and one of them was Cody Garbrandt.
“They were talking and I guess Garbrandt said, ‘Listen, if you’re the matchmaker for a day, I want to fight in December.’ So he came in and started pitching us on fights for Cody Garbrandt in December, and he made a fight.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for DWCS 66.
