When I woke up, I didn’t realize that I would soon be having my photo taken with Doomsday, a UFC fighter who broke the nose of future terrorist, Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
On Saturday, 13 August, 2013, John “Doomsday” Howard was ready to fight in Boston, Massachusetts, his hometown, for UFC Fight Night 26: Shogun vs. Sonnen. Doomsday faced a tough opponent in fellow middleweight, Uriah Hall. The fight went 3 rounds ending in a split decision with Doomsday emerging victorious over Uriah Hall.
But that’s not the whole story. Here’s something I didn’t know when I met Doomsday for the first time that day.
John “Doomsday” Howard
I hadn’t read John “Doomsday” Howard’s account of how he accidentally broke Tamerlan’s nose — back when Tamerlan trained as a boxer in Boston — and long before Tamerlan turned into one of the two Boston Marathon bombers.
I met Doomsday during an open media event where I watched UFC fighters do light work-outs in preparation for the UFC Fight Night event.
UFC Fighter Report
UFC.com “John Howard admits that he felt bad for Tamerlan Tsarnaev after their sparring session a few years ago, one that saw the UFC fighter break the amateur boxer’s nose and give him a crash course in mixed martial arts at the Wai Kru school Howard called home.
That was until Howard, a middleweight fighter in the upcoming UFC Fight Night at the TD Garden, heard Tsarnaev’s name earlier this year and recognized his face. He wasn’t just a random sparring partner from long ago anymore. He was one of the terrorists that planted a bomb at the Boston Marathon on April 15, killing three people and injuring over 260.”
Small world, isn’t it?
The Boston Marathon Bombing happened on April 15, 2013 at 2:49 PM EDT #BostonStrong
My memory of that moment is of me running up to a policeman manning the barricades as the runners passed through Coolidge Corner, next to the Green Line stop on Beacon Street.
Twitter alerts were blowing up our phones. But, I could see that the policeman hadn’t checked his phone yet. He looked at my device and instantly went into action, checking in with his team, closing the barricades and directing people off the road and into Trader Joe’s as a safe place to gather.
Terrible times, indeed. Breaking the nose of a terrorist has to be on the Top 5 Best Moments Ever for Mr. John “Doomsday” Howard, UFC fighter.
Ariel Helwani, MMA Analyst
Speaking of noses, Mr. Ariel Helwani is my (next) favorite MMA Analyst (after Kenny Florian). I read his tweets on a regular basis to keep myself up to date on news from the MMA world. Ariel and his nose are so popular, his Helwani “nose shirts” have already sold out. Definitely a collector’s item. (2010)
Pictured in the featured image for this post: Cheryl “Gwyneth” Ragsdale, John “Doomsday” Howard, Kurt’s cousin, and Kurt Florian.
