Fighting For Autism, have been so incredibly fortunate to have some amazing ambassadors from around the world take time out of their schedules to take part in interviews with our Junior Ambassadors, whom a large percentage of are on the autistic spectrum themselves and are thriving through an activity, art or something they love taking part in. Having prominent professionals who share a common interest with the person conducting the interview, or them being from a sport, art, activity that the interviewer can relate to, not only helps to build confidence and develop social skills, they are also fantastic to read.
ONE Fighting Championship's Professional Welterweight Mixed Martial Artist Tyler McGuire has been phenomenal in helping to raise Autism Awareness throughout his career and we are honoured to have Tyler as an official Fighting For Autism- Fighter Ambassador.
Tyler who trained and taught as a special educational needs teacher before going on to a career in the United States Air Force where he is currently Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape Specialist as well as being a professional Mixed Martial Artist, with two physically demanding roles and a training regime that would make most people tired just reading them, the beautiful part is that Tyler throughout his fighting career Tyler worn a "Autistic Kids Rock" T Shirt that was given to him by the parents of one of his students during his career as a special educational needs teacher, and is often commented on by people on how much pride they have seeing Tyler wearing a positive T shirt that promotes Autism Awareness and Acceptance.
Tyler is due to be competing at ONE Fighting Championship's event on the 7th of April against Raimond Magomedaliev. Please wherever you are in the world give Tyler a massive roar of support.
April as some may be aware is Autism Awareness Month around the globe, and what better way for Fighting For Autism to start the month with an Interview with Tyler that has been conducted by one of Fighting For Autism's Junior Ambassadors a young gentleman named Nate "The Great" Wilmer.
Nate is 17 years old from Indiana, USA. Nate was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at the age of two. He began training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in 2017 and it became immediately evident that it was something he enjoyed. He later began to train in Muay Thai and also wrestles for the high school team. He has competed in many Gi and No Gi Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitions earning 13 Gold, 9 Silver and 3 Bronze medals. He has also competed in fund raising tournaments raising $1730 for cancer research and also fought in an exhibition matches to raise awareness for Autism. He plans to attend culinary school after graduation in 2022.
1. How long were you teaching before you decided to go out and start fighting? What made you decide to start teaching kids with special needs?
"I started training the first year I became a teacher. I got hired in the fall of 2009 and had my first fight in December! I had always wanted to try it as part of my "bucket list" and after winning my first fight in a minute I was hooked!
I decided I wanted to serve children with special needs after working with a pair of non-verbal children in college. By the end of my 8 weeks with them I could get them to make very faint noises to say Hi and Bye to me and knew that I had a connection with them. That feeling of trust and watching them grow really made me want to keep working in that field".
2. What words would you share to autistic kids to motivate them to work toward their Goals?
"There are so many people who are rooting for you and want to see you succeed. In the end it doesn't matter about a label, its putting in the work to succeed. Meeting those goals with Autism just means that sometimes the road presents unique challenges to get there. Find people with the same motivations and get after it".
3. What branch of the military are you in, and how long have you been serving?
"I serve in the United States Air Force and have been in 8.5 years"
4. Have you been on any deployments? If so, how many and where?
"No deployments yet, I was a SERE instructor prior to becoming an officer and where I worked the focus was training others, not deploying"
5. Tell us about your family. Are you married or single? Do you have any kids?
"I have a beautiful wife and a 5 year old daughter"
6. What would you say is your most memorable fight?
"My most memorable fight was against Luis Santos for my 1st fight with ONE. No-one on earth but my coach and I thought I could win. He was 65-10 with 38 knockouts. However, the fight ended with my hand raised and I had overcome huge odds to finally prove to myself I belonged at the highest levels of MMA.
7. Mind giving your gym a shout out?
"I currently train at APEX MMA in Tucson Arizona! However, I still also train and maintain a close relationship with SIKJITSU in Spokane, WA".
8. Here are some rapid fire questions:
A. Cat or dog person?
"Dog"
B. What's your Favorite soda?
"Xyience energy drink".
C. DC or Marvel?
"Marvel! Although I love Batman".
D. Star Wars or Star Trek?
"Star Wars all day".
E. Stand up game or ground game?
"Ground game, but I like throwing bombs to get it there".
F. Favourite movie quote?
"It's not fear that grips him, only restlessness. A heightened sense of things". - Movie ~300
G. Most important object you own?
"My 2020 Daytona scat pack charger!!
On behalf of everyone at Fighting For Autism we wanted to say a humongous Thank You to Tyler McGuire for taking time out of his busy schedule to take part in this interview Tyler we think "YOU ROCK", and we are sending you our very best for your bout on April the 7th, also a huge thank you to Tai and everyone at ONE Fighting Championship for their kindness too. Finally Thank You to Nate "The Great" Wilmer for conducting an awesome interview.
If you would like to follow Tyler on Social Media, he can be found on Twitter to send some support his way his twitter account is www.twitter.com/Onetylermcguire or on Instagram www.Instagram.com/tyler_mcguire_mma for details on ONE FC upcoming events, www.onefc.com
our website is www.fightingforautismeurope.org if you would like to find out more about autism awareness and acceptance, what we do and how you can help. Until next time #DareToBeDifferent and keep #ShiningThorughTheSpectrum
