Blurred vision, broken hand, staph infection not enough to stop Matt Hamill

By Brett Okamoto

Saturday, June 19, 2010 | 11:36 p.m.

Deaf since birth, UFC light heavyweight Matt Hamill has had plenty of experience fighting without the use of his hearing.

But competing without his sight — that was something new.

Following his majority decision win over Keith Jardine on Saturday at "The Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale," Hamill jokingly said he had been left "blind and deaf" after Jardine inadvertently poked him in the eye during the second round.

Not only did Hamill (10-2) say the incident affected his vision the rest of the fight, it came at a time when he believed he was on the verge of finishing his opponent.

"I thought I was going to knock him out in the second round, but then the thumb poked me in the eye," Hamill said. "I had to stop. It happened so fast."

The eye poke actually was just one of a long list of factors working against Hamill.

Hamill was forced to throw out his initial game plan in the first round after he broke his left hand throwing a punch that hit the top of Jardine's head.

Instead of relying on his wrestling, where he likely would have had a clear advantage, the injury forced Hamill to try to beat Jardine at his own game.

"The game plan was to use a lot of movement and look for the takedown," Hamill said. "But I broke my left hand in the first round and was not able to go for a takedown. I had to go to plan B — out-strike him."

But even a broken hand and blurry eye were not the full diagnosis of Hamill's medical problems.

During the fight, some media members and fans noticed a red spot on Hamill's back. In the post-fight press conference, the 33-year-old fighter admitted he had a staph infection.

So, how does a "blind and deaf" fighter suffering from staph infection end up walking away from a UFC fight a winner?

"It's all about heart," Hamill said. "I'm not a give-up person. I just want to go all out."

Hamill was urged to head for the hospital following the fight but still took the time to make it to the post-fight conference and stay for the entire time.

At one point, UFC officials signaled to Hamill he was free to leave if he was in pain. He waved them off.

It was a big night for a fighter who was returning from arguably the roughest night of his career.

Hamill was dominated by fellow light heavyweight Jon Jones in the same venue at "The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale" in December. He suffered a dislocated shoulder in the fight but ended up taking the win when Jones was disqualified for throwing illegal strikes.

Saturday's win improved Hamill's win streak to four and netted him an extra $25,000 for Fight of the Night.

And even though Jardine is in the midst of the worst slump of his career in terms of wins and losses, a win over him still carries a lot of weight in the division and should help Hamill achieve his goal of fighting big-name opponents.

"My goal is be one of the top 10 fighters in the world, even though I'm not in the top 20 now," Hamill said. "I would like to fight anyone in the top 10 in my next fight."

The result of the fight could mean the end of the road for Jardine's career in the UFC, at least temporarily. He's now lost four straight fights and five of his last six.

Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or [email protected].