- FRIENDS PAY TRIBUTE TO RYAN BENNETT
by Scott Petersen and The Friends of Ryan Bennett
In a world where becoming rich is attained in many different ways, if status and riches were defined by your family and friends, Ryan Bennett has to be one of the richest guys the world has ever seen. I've known Ryan for many years from back in our college days and he was one of the coolest guys I have ever known. Always the ringleader and stirring up fun. He had this infectious enthusiasm that transferred to others just from being around him, people gravitated towards Ryan.
He just enjoyed life and if you were around him, you would soon enjoy life more too. You see, Ryan didn't have so many friends and a great relationship with his family just because he was charismatic, but because he gave something to you. He was very unselfish and just liked people. He loved to do many things like the radio show as a labor of love, as I watched him bounce from a guest on the show to checking out what the "whack pack" in the Live Fighter Chat was saying - everyone was important to Ryan.
It's going to be hard to say good-bye to such a good friend. Many of us have a void left by Ryan's absence. But, for me, I will miss that twinkle in his eye and that joy from just being around him. Here's to you Ryan and maybe when I look up to the sky on a clear night and see a star sparkle, maybe that will be you smiling down on us. My friend. Our friend.
Scott Petersen
Co-founder MMAWeekly.com
"I met Ryan a year ago in LA, when Fight Network was just getting ready to launch the channel up in Canada, the moment I began to talk with him I could sense right away I was meeting someone special, not just from the way he talked about his love for the fight game, but the way he carried himself, how he could make anyone feel like you had known him for years, that is how he made me feel and over the last year we got to know one another on more than just a business level, we talked about family which was so important to him, goals, dreams, plans, I like to think we became friends and I will truly miss Ryan but I will always cherish the time we spent together and the memories we created."
Mike Garrow President, The Fight Network.
"Our prayers and thoughts go out to the entire Bennett family. Ryan had only been with us a short time, but the impression he left with the many people he touched in our organization I can honestly say will last a lifetime, his memory with never be forgotten here."
Sandy Winick Chairman of The Fight Network
"It's hard. I miss him. I talked to him all the time. He was a regular at The Pit. His daughters worked out at The Pit before they moved. I used to watch him on channel six, or KSBY. He was a great commentator, a great interviewer, a great personality, a great family man. It's hard. I'm sure he's going to be missed immensely. He is probably the most high profile people in Mixed Martial Arts today. It's just a tragedy. It can't be more a tragedy than that. You know? A great family guy with four kids, a great wife, still in his mid thirties. I mean he dies so tragically. It makes everything else look insignificant, unimportant. He was a friend of The Pit definitely. He was a good friend of mine, a good friend of Chuck's, a good friend of Scott's. He came into our gym all the time. It's just not going to be the same. You know? I thought it was a tragedy when he left KSBY because I loved to watch him on action news, you know, "The Sport." I thought that was a tragedy and then to hear he died is, I can't put it into words. He'll be sorely missed by The Pit."
John Hackleman
The Pitmaster
"Scott Adams and I started World Extreme Cagefighting about the same time Zuffa bought UFC in about 2001. It was an exciting time in the MMA industry, as none of us really knew what the next few years would bring.
I never forget the day Scott told me there was a sportscaster on the local NBC affiliate in San Luis Obispo who was actually doing stories about MMA and in particular, Chuck Liddell. What was unusual is that back in 2001 there was pretty much nobody in the mainstream media that would dare to do anything on what most thought was the "barbaric" sport of Mixed Martial Arts.
I remember meeting Ryan while he was at SLO Kickboxing doing a feature on this up and coming fighter known as the "Ice Man". When first meeting Ryan, for some reason I thought his interest in fighting was based on the fact that he was a fighter as well. I remember asking him his style and he told me with a huge smile ‘keeping out of the way of guys like Chuck"… I mean, I liked him the minute I met him.
As the sport grew and Scott and I began doing shows, Ryan was always interested and loved talking to us about our cards and the different fighters and seemed to really have a pretty good handle on the industry. When talking to Dana White one time, I remember we talked about Ryan as UFC was looking for someone to do interviews and when I told Ryan they were looking and to send a tape, he was really excited. I know we all have those moments where you maybe help someone, and you do it just because, with nothing expected in return. With Ryan, it was that kind of thing. He was the kind of person who truly appreciated it when anyone would lend him a hand. And of course, he always made you proud, as his work was always top notch.
Scott and I eventually got a television deal with the High Definition network HDNet. HDNet asked that we use ex-UFC announcer and former Olympic Gold Medalist Jeff Blatnick to work the announce team, but left it up to us to add the other two members of the crew. You know, I don't think we ever even discussed Ryan as he was a given. He was as good as they come, and more than that, had become a close friend and associate of Scott and I. The third member of the team we selected was Steven Quadros, "The Fight Professor" and we launched into what turned into a very successful relationship with HDNet.
The energy that Ryan brought to our events and our broadcast is hard to describe. I always said Ryan's biggest strength was not his vast knowledge of the sport (which don't get me wrong, he had) but the ability to make people feel good about watching our show. It's hard to describe. Our show would open with what I would call (lovingly) "The Three Musketeers" standing in front of the cage, all with smiles from ear to ear and you just couldn't help but feel the WEC was a fun event. Ryan was our anchor, Blatnick would talk about the fighters and techniques and Quadros would add his uncanny observations and takes on the fighters and it just worked. I never screened our events later and ever thought anything but satisfied… ohh, that is except when I called Ryan after a show that I watched about a week later. One of our fighters had been kicked in the groin and ended up vomiting… which Ryan and Quadros described in great detail and went on for like 5 minutes describing every last detail of the incident. I cornered Ryan and within minutes, we were both laughing hysterically as I imitated his play-by-play description of the fighter heaving outside the cage. Needless to say, I would have preferred a little less detail and he said… with his big smile, "got it, next time we'll act like its not even happening".
What a lot of fans don't really understand is just how much work goes into putting on an event like ours. There are literally thousands of decisions that have to be made, and it can be a very stressful situation. The easy part is really when the show starts. It's the days and weeks leading up to the event that will do you in. Ryan was always there. We would bounce ideas and fights off him and we always valued his input. I also have to say that one of the best parts about doing events for as long as we have is that when we would all meet for the production meeting, it was like a reunion of old friends. Ryan would always walk in, do his famous finger point at me and Scott and sit down and the jokes would start to fly. We had such a good time; I will miss that more then anything, the closeness that we all shared. Ryan, Stephan Quadros, Jeff Blatnick, Christian Printup (Event Manager for The Palace), Doug Gunzelman our wrangler, Ron Kruck, David Butler, Scott and I… we were like family.
Ryan would sometimes even bring his wife; park her in the restaurant while our production meeting went on. I used to ask him if she was his agent, as they were so, so close. He would smile and tell me that if I didn't stop, I would have to negotiate his salary with her. He loved her so much, I was always so proud of him and his family. I would often call the house and I could hear the kids running and screaming in the background and tell Ryan, "would you please take care of those kids" and he would laugh and tell me everything was under control.
Today, I went down to the room where I store all the shows and pulled up a couple off the hard drive to try to help me write this for MMAWeekly. I watched about five minutes and in listening to Ryan I thought about his life, his family and the person I knew, a person who really lived the kind of life that we all strive for, honesty, integrity, love of friends and an absolute love of his family and faith… and I started to cry… I will miss him more then words can describe.
Goodbye my dear friend Ryan, we are all better people for having known you and we loved you and will miss you so, so much."
Reed Harris
Vice President, World Extreme Cagefighting
"Ryan was not only a fantastic person who had a way of making everyone around him feel great, but he was a one of a kind broadcaster as well. He could anchor, report, host and do play by play at a very high level. Clearly he could have worked on network television doing a variety of sports but he chose to follow his passion for MMA. As the face and voice of our channel he is irreplaceable."
Brian Sobie, VP Programming & Production, TheFightNetwork
"Ryan was a great guy and he truly loved mixed martial arts. I listened to his show regularly and it was always fun when I was a guest. We spoke on the phone quite often or through e-mail. We would get into heated debates all of the time but they always ended with us laughing and on good terms. Ryan was a friend and I will miss him terribly and my condolences go out to his family."
Joe Silva
UFC Vice President of Talent Relations
"I really don't know what to say. I was in shock when I found out as I am now, really. He was a great guy. I've known him for a long time. I hope his kids and wife are doing better. I'm not sure what happened. We're doing some things in town. And some other guys are putting some things together to try and help out the family that way. People are trying to support them. He was a great guy. I just don't know what to say."
Chuck Liddell
UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
"Ryan was more than a great journalist. He was a great motivator and friend. He always looked at the positive things that people did instead of dealing on their mistakes. I can't tell you the number of times I hung up the phone and I was excited to go to the gym and train hard. Ryan had an impact in my life, as I'm sure he did in many people's lives. I wish his family the best. I pray to God to be with them in their time of need right now. Heaven has just acquired a good man. He will be missed, loved, and remembered always."
Wes Sims
Heavyweight Fighter
It is often said that everything happens for a reason.
But in times like this, it is a difficult statement for the friends and family of Ryan Bennett to believe.
I spent a lot of late nights talking with Ryan about MMA, sports in general and family. We shared the same passion for MMA and sports in general, but our conversation always turned to family and how we tried to balance our time between our loved ones and our sport. He got excited when I told him my son was doing well in basketball or wrestling.
Ryan was a devoted family man and a truly good person. He didn't waste time on negative issues... he always had a positive attitude and believed that MMA was going to make it huge. He was passionate about things and wanted to help the sport... and he did.
My sincerest sympathies go out to his wife, Tonya, and their four children. They should know that there is a big support team of Ryan fans out here who are praying for the them and wish them the best.