Former UFC fighter rescues young child

MANILA, Philippines – Matt Hamill, who once competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) as a middleweight and light heavyweight fighter, found himself in a heroic situation as he helped defuse a potential calamity at a busy New York interstate.

The 38-year-old Hamill was on his way to visit his relatives in Ohio when he noticed a car driving sporadically down I-90, southeast of Rochester, New York as the woman driver named Nicole Lamendola appeared unaware of the dangerous situation being created and tried to avoid the contraflow.

“Everyone was going like 70 miles per hour. She was driving the wrong way, just kind of swerving around. She was going slower, but she was going on the wrong side of the street, and you could see her face. She was kind of drooling. There was obviously something going on with her that just wasn’t right,” he said in an interview with MMAFighting.com.

Hamill made a brave decision to turn his truck around on the highway and pursued the vehicle before the lady drove her car off the road into a grassy area.

As he got out of his own vehicle and approached the car, Hamill saw a six-year-old boy in the backseat weeping and clearly frightened from the entire incident.

“He had a seatbelt on and he was in his car seat, but I’m sure it was a scary situation and he was worried what was going on,” he shared.

Hamill punched through the window of the car and manually turned the vehicle off.

When authorities arrived at the scene, the mother was given a field sobriety test, but she failed it and was later charged with DWI and a second-degree reckless endangerment.

In addition, Lamendola was placed under arrest and was sent to Monroe County Jail, with a bail set at $12,000.

Meanwhile, her child was safely turned over to a family member.

“He was fine and everything, just a little bit upset, but if she hadn’t been stopped, I definitely feel like someone would’ve ran into something. The mother was on drugs and had been drinking apparently,” Hamill assumed.

Hamill (11-5), a hearing-impaired mixed martial artist, was supposed to face Thiago Silva in a rematch on March 28 (March 29 in PH) as part of his World Series of Fighting debut, but a sinus infection forced him to withdraw the day before the event.

The 6-foot 2 “Hammer” has not tasted a single victory since he outpointed Roger Hollett in September 2012 and has dropped three of his last four outings, yielding to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Alexander Gustafsson and Silva.

Although he is undoubtedly on the downside of his ten-year professional career, Hamill owns notable triumphs over the likes Mark Muñoz, Jon Jones, Keith Jardine and Tito Ortiz. – Rappler.com