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Sunday, January 24th, 2010True Devotion
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010I love reading these Hit+Run letters. They inspire not only as an athlete training in MMA and boxing, but as a student as well at NAU. You are without a doubt my favorite fighter in the UFC and in MMA. Your amazing and true devotion to God and Jesus also inspires me to standout among my peers and some of more irreputable people that can be involved in this sport. Your work ethic inspires me and I hope to emmulate it and inspire the people around me. I enjoy all of your fights and I look forward to seeing you in the octagon again. God bless you and your family and keep running this race with all your might.
Your fan,
Henry Ebarb
Don’t Stop Witnessing
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010Rich,
Thank you for your witness. Don’t ever stop witnessing for the LORD. You are a mighty Man of God, divinely placed in the MMA arena for such a time as this. The only GOD some people may encounter is the witness of people such as yourself and this may turn more lives than you could ever be aware. You have blessed my life with your testimony many times. Just think how many more lives are out there that may only be reached by these expressions so keep on fighting the Good Fight of Faith. You are greatly appreciated.
IN HIM,
Jeff Caldwell
Way to go
Monday, January 18th, 2010Rich,
Well put. God has a place (omnipresence allows for that) everywhere. I personally like it when I see a fighter give God credit for ability and relative safety regardless of who had their hand raised at the end of the fight. The world of MMA is exploding in popularity and provides a de facto platform for sharing faith. Way to go.
God bless,
david deibel
Fun competition
Monday, January 18th, 2010I can completely agree with thanking God that no one was seriously hurt.
I am Christian, and I train to fight. However, I don’t believe God wants us to beat each other up. If you have the attitude of it being fun and competition, rather than wanting to hurt another person, then it’s okay.
Only God can judge. Pray that you know what you should do and where you stand before him.
Giving credit to God
Monday, January 18th, 2010Good morning Rich, I appreciated your thoughts on God in MMA. The fact is that God is everywhere and He wants to be a part of our life in all aspects. So in short God does belong in MMA. However having said that, I believe that what might be hard from some Christian’s and non-Christian’s alike to understand is when a person who enters the cage to fight displays a less than Christian-like character during his performance. It is sometimes difficult for me to watch a fighter taunt, belittle, and try to intimidate their opponent with various body gestures and then after their fight give credit to God.
Now I realize that for the most part Christian’s can be hard on each other, sometimes more so than non-Christians and far be it for me to claim that I am perfect, because I am not. I am a sinner. However the realization is that fighters are in the public
eye and a persons actions within the cage can cause a person to wonder whether or not they really are a follower of Christ when they continue to show disrespect for their opponent.
Rich, I would say that you are by far my favorite fighter and there are a few reasons for that. Everytime I have seen you during a fight, or in any MMA related documentary or news article you continue to remain solid in your Christian foundation. I have never heard you say anything disrespectful to anyone. You always consistently respectful to everyone. I am sure that is why you are such a great embassador for the sport and one of the many reason why the UFC has you represent the sport so much. While its easy for most fighters to give in to their temptation to disrespect another fighter, before, during and sometimes after a fight claiming that they were in the “moment” of a heated battle you have never accepted such an excuse.
Whether or not your fights or hit and run articles have effected anyone else I will never know. But what I can say is that your consistency with keeping your faith has had an huge effect on my life. Being a new Christian, having never really been in a Church prior to last year, I have at times struggled with my life and how much I have been consumed with anxiety and depression. Sometimes finding it hard to even get out of bed. Always constantly feeling like I am alone.
It might sound weird, or whatever but your constant reminder to never accept defeat has in some of my darkest moments been the only friend I had.
Thank you very much for continuing to be you and for believing in Christ so much that you want to share your belief with others.
Regards,
Jamie Teeple
As a Christian….
Monday, January 18th, 2010God belongs everywhere – period. It really amazes me that people - who in their heart of hearts think that they know God - can foul this up so badly. It is not up to me “a member of the created” to tell my “Creator” where he does or does not belong.
As a Christian I believe that I am here to do 3 main things with my life:
- Love the Lord my God with all my heart and all my strength and all my soul.
- Love my neighbor as myself, and
- Encourage others to do the same.
Particularly in the world of sports - and MMA is no exception - where so many people are inspired by the actual participants (we could have a whole other conversation on role models and who they should be) we need to have fighters who are willing to tell others about their belief and give glory to the only one that glory truly belongs to.
Thanks for your communications; I always look forward to them.
Glenn Crist
Amen!
Sunday, January 17th, 2010Amen to that Rich! Brothers and sisters must use every opportunity the Lord gives us to spread His Good News. The darkness is working overtime these days to silence us. I thank God for strong and bold men like you and Tim Tebow. May God continue to bless you and your beautiful wife and may you continue to embrace future platforms He will lay before you.
Your Friends in Christ,
Dan and Dawn
Albuquerque, NM
Stand firm for Christ
Saturday, January 16th, 2010Rich,
I am a pastor and a huge fan of the UFC and MMA in general, and I see absolutely no conflict with my faith what so ever. MMA is a sport and those who choose to compete train for years to prepare for their matches, and they do this by choice. They are athletes like any other athletes and it really bothers me when holier than thou Christians cast their judgement against a sport they don’t understand while sitting every Sunday afternoon in their recliners watching football, as if God has somehow given them the ability to decide just how much violence is acceptable. Sadly this kind of judgement is far to common from Christians today.
I have watched you fight ever since you first came to the UFC and admire you for your huge heart, your abilities, the honorable way you represent the sport, and for your willingness to stand firm on your faith in God. To follow Christ is to be criticized, Jesus was, so I expect we will be too. Stand firm my friend and know there are many Christians, and a bunch of pastors too, that love the sport and love you!
In fact there is usually 5-10 Christians in my house for every PPV UFC event, and I mean every single one. My Birthday, Valentines, Christmas, Anniversary, and everything else present from my wife, is PPV UFC all year long. She thinks its crazy, I think its the greatest present ever. She has actually become somewhat of a fan. I haven’t missed a UFC in 5 or 6 years and I’m sure not going to let petty judgemental Christians guilt me out of the joy I get watching the greatest sport on the planet. Being on the leadership team of a church of 7000 is a seriously stressful and tough job, UFC is one of the best things that takes me away from it all because it brings me such joy. One day I will be at one live. Seems like Texas is on the radar and they’re getting closer all the time 
Stand firm for Christ my friend and know there are many Christians standing with you!
Pastor John Atkinson
God is everywhere
Saturday, January 16th, 2010Totally agree and would like to thank Rich and other Christian fighters as they inspire us fellow fighters and fans to believe that God is everywhere, also would like to say that is the reason i’ve always been a huge fan of Rich.
Thanks
Randall…
