Why The UFC Supports The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund

UFC Fight Night 23: Fight for the Troops 2 will raise money for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and research on Traumatic Brain Injuries

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has strong ties with the armed forces and a history of support for U.S. soldiers, home and abroad. “UFC Fight Night 23: Fight for the Troops 2” will be the second UFC event that’s raised money for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

When UFC president Dana White saw first hand what Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher started in San Antonio, Texas, he felt obligated to assist.

White was recently asked why the UFC supports the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, and he answered with the following.

“What happened was we got invited down there and I went down. It was the first time I’d every seen anything like that — when I visited the hospital and what these guys, you know, the Fisher famil who started this thing, what they’ve done for the troops hee fighting in the United States, it’s — I can’t even — I can’t put it into words for you,” said White. “When these kids gets injured, you know, you’ve got these eighteen, nineteen, twenty-year old kids that are getting injured over there. They come back. It’s sad to say, but the government doesn’t take care of them, which is mind-boggling.

“So this family has put together this thing were, and if you’re a parent of one of these kids, I mean anybody who’s on this call who has kids can understand. Your kid gets his arms, legs blown off, his face is melted — the horrible things that happens to these guys — and you’re laying in a hospital bed out in the middle of Nowhere, Virginia, what do you do? You know what you do? You quit your job, you lose everything you have and you drive out there and you live in your car and you sit in a chain in the bed next to them.

“The Fisher family has built this place down in Texas where the families all live together in houses. They’ve build these research centers and these rehabilitation centers for the troops,” added the UFC president. “It’s beyond words what I experienced when I went down there and we became a part of it immediately. That’s why.”

The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund was established in 2000 to provide financial support for the dependents of United States military personnel lost in combat and to assist soldiers who have been disabled or severely injured during their duty.

The not-for-profit organization also spearheads the research on Traumatic Brain Injuries and leads the field in TBI rehabilitation. For more information on the fund or to make a donation, visit the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund official website (www.fallenheroesfund.org).

For more UFC and MMA news, follow HeavyMMA on Twitter @HeavyMMA.