MMA Fighting - Inside the Highlight: Fighters Go Face-To-Face After Viral Arm-Break | Cage Titans 55

Episode Date: September 2, 2022

Cage Titans 55 produced a viral clip showing Kyle Pavao break the humerus of opponent Wayne Downer in a lightweight amateur bout that served as the MMA debut for both fighters. On the first installment of Inside the Highlight, MMA Fighting's Mike Heck sits down with both Pavao and Downer, along with Cage Titans president Michael Polvere to break down the submission, the aftermath of the moment, the effect it has had on both fighters, how you can help Downer with his long road to recovery, and more. You can donate to Wayne Downer’s GoFundMe to assist him in his long road to recovery here, or go to the main website and search for Wayne Downer Recovery Relief. Any amount will help towards the goal of $10,000. Follow Mike Heck: @MikeHeck_JR Subscribe: http://goo.gl/dYpsgH Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/u8VvLi Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/eFhsvM Like MMAF on Facebook: http://goo.gl/uhdg7Z Follow on Twitter: http://goo.gl/nOATUI Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. Warning. This podcast may contain graphic audio pertaining to an injury sustained in a mixed martial arts boat. Listener discretion is advised. Wow. America! Oh, right in front of my eyes. Wow.

Wow, wow, wow, wow. Tech people submission. Arm is snapped. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Kyle Beval, devastating submission skills. This place is right in front of me. This place is, I think every single person in this arena is...

That has made you shiver. Whoa, I haven't seen that happen live before. That was one of the nastiest things I've seen. That snap you may have heard came from the arm of Wayne Downer in his MMA debut against fellow debuting fighter, 18-year-old Kyle Pavau. In the fight, Pavau had an Americana locked in, and Downer tried to stand and power out of it. He wasn't physically.

able to tap out, and that sound echoed through Plymouth Memorial Hall in Massachusetts at Cage Titans 55. On this podcast, we'll look back on the moment with both fighters, Kyle Pavau and Wayne Donner, along with Cage Titans president Mike Polver, as we discuss the now viral submission from all different angles, from the thrill yet bittersweet taste of victory to the agony and painful ending in defeat. In addition, for the first time since the fight, Pavau and Downer will speak to one another. Fighter to fighter, man to man to discuss what happened in the cage, the aftermath, and the effect it's had on both of them. I'm Mike Heck from MMAfighting.com, and this is inside the highlight. Cage Titans is a New England regional promotion that has had fighters such

as Rob Font, Randy Costa, Jay Perrin, and others come through on the road to the UFC. While it's every promotion's goal to have a hold on the region, it's another to have a highlight from one of your fight cards cross into the mainstream. On August 27th at Plymouth Memorial Hall in Massachusetts, Caged Titans 55 took place in front of a capacity crowd. In an amateur lightweight bout between MMA debutants, Kyle Pavau, and Wayne Downer, that moment happened. But it was a moment that nobody hopes to go viral for. In that clip that had the entire MMA world talking, Pavau, who just graduated from high school a little over a month prior, locked in an Americana on Downer in a crucifix position.

Downer was physically unable to tap and tried to leverage out of the hold. It didn't work and his arms snapped. The moment Pavau had been envisioning for years of earning a victory in the cage had come, but it took an unfortunate backseat to a nasty injury to his opponent. I've been dreaming about that first win in the cage for a very long time before I even started training. Back when I was wrestling in high school, you know, this was the end goal. and obviously I didn't want to fight to end like that and also I wanted to kind of elaborate on the finish a little bit

explain it for people because I intended to finish that Americana on the mat I didn't want to stand up with him if you watch the video he actually wall walked up the cage to get to his knees as I had that Americana so I was bending his arm this way and he was standing up this way It's like if two cars were running at each other, I mean, the force was doubled. On my grad post, somebody said, God won't forgive me.

There's two comments like that. God will never forgive me on my graduation post. People are nuts, man. On the other side, all things considered, Downers in a pretty good place mentally, and told us at MMA fighting about the weight of being on the opposite end of such a memorable fight ending. Yeah, I'm doing pretty well. You know, obviously, I'm in a little bit of pain. I have a cast, I'm a little swollen, but, but, um, I'm doing pretty well, I'm doing pretty well,

All in that, I'm pretty good. Yeah, I'm in high spirits. And, yeah, yeah, I'm pretty good. Kind of like a blur right now. So, yeah, I didn't know how bad it was, honestly, the break into, you know, until I heard, you know, like an hour after that people passed out in the front of, you know, the crowd. I didn't know how bad it was, honestly. You know, at that point, I knew I was not going to be able to get out, and my opponent was very strong.

There was no possible where I could have tapped out. So, you know, it was just like a freak thing that happened, I think. So, yeah, I didn't really know the exact time that happened. It just all happened so quickly. Yeah, I was hoping to go viral doing something cool. You know, I come from a take window. You know, so I have a black button take one though. So I was hoping to go viral doing like a cool kick or something like that.

I wasn't hoping to go viral with that. Cage Titans owner and president Michael Pulver was in his back. back office as it all happened, preparing social media graphics for the event's upcoming championship bouts. Polver heard the crowd react and entered the arena floor and was told that a fighter may have suffered a broken arm, and not just your typical arm break, but one that will be etched in the minds of anyone who watches it. Polver got into the cage following the bout, where Pava was celebrating his win, until he realized the severity of the scene, where he responded to the moment and has since watched the reactions to the finish from all angles.

man, 18 years old. You know, he's been dreaming about this day for years to get that first victory. And, you know, that he, I'm sure maybe at the moment he didn't realize how severe the injury was. This guy's just celebrating a win that he's been dreaming about for years. And, you know, and he kind of got a lot of slack for it a little bit. And like you just mentioned, and it's just like, you know, I just want the fans to realize or people from the outside looking in that, you know, Kyle never meant to really, you know, no one else. wants to do that to an opponent. And I also want to make sure that what Kyle said earlier, it was echoed by the Wayne

Downer's team. There were some talk from the athletic commission and you might have seen the inside the cage when everything was going down. They were like talking that Kyle did it purposefully and they wanted to suspend them and all this. And it was actually Wayne Downer's team that ran over and was like, listen, our guy was standing up the power out of the submission, which is what broke his arm. You know, it wasn't anything Kyle did too aggressively or really try to hurt him.

He was like, listen, that kid deserves all the credit. Kyle did what he was supposed to do. It was just a perfect storm of our guy trying to stand up, which actually applied more torque than what had happened if he just stayed down in taps. So I want to make sure that, you know, people understand that because I hate to see a moment for Kyle get taken away. Donner was taken to a local medical facility following the fight, but he wasn't the only person after the gruesome finish. He's from Connecticut, so he had no family there.

So, you know, imagine this poor guy in his first fight. He's getting taken out in an ambulance. But I talked to him throughout the night. We got one of the coaches over there. His family drove up from Connecticut to get him. Yeah, broken humor, so the upper part of your arm, which is pretty gnarly. You hear about people, you know, we hear about people breaking a forearm

or, you know, the smaller bones. in your lower arm, but the humorous is a pretty gnarly break. And, but I got to, I got to give credit what credits do. The emergency staff on hand, both ringside physicians were amazing. You know, our, our medical paramedics and ambulance company was great. Plymouth Fire, Plymouth PD. They all responded. They were all there getting these guys out and get them there safely.

But it was, it was definitely a crazy scene, a frightening scene. With both ambulances transporting people to the hospital, the next fight was delayed 20 minutes until one could return to the venue. When Downer arrived to the hospital, one of the first questions he asked the doctors, even before receiving an official diagnosis of the injury, was when could he return to the gym to train. Of course, the looks he received were ones of confusion. They were probably thinking, this guy just broke his arm and all he wants to know is when he can get back to training? I want to get back as soon as possible, but I got to be smart. you know, because I did break an arm. So I got to take my time and just heal.

So, yeah, just go through the recovery. Hopefully I get a surgery pretty soon and I'll go from there. In Pavau's eyes, it was the first of, hopefully, many more wins on his resume. But it's also come at a price with his emotions and some of the negative feedback he's received from fans. Pavar was a high school wrestler that transitioned into grappling and now MMA. But if there's a silver lining in the situation, if Pavau is going to reach the heights he plans on reaching in a crazy sport like mixed martial arts,

he is now learning some of those hard lessons early on that fighters aren't necessarily taught inside the gym walls. It is bittersweet because obviously I got my win, but that's not how you want to get your first one, especially with somebody else making his first amateur debut. Is it kind of a blessing in a way? Like not the injury itself, but just no one gets to learn these lessons they're,

first amateur fight and you're learning them right now. That's the sweet part, honestly, because this is what I want to do for a living, like, and I want to make a career out of it. And obviously, all the publicity is going to help that a lot. But it's also kind of like one of my most controversial moments is everywhere. I knew I broke it, obviously, because it gave. But the snap didn't sound that crazy to me until I had rewatched the video after. And then I was like, holy shit.

It took a while to process because exactly like you said, it was my first fight. adrenaline was pumping. You know, I was excited for my first victory. I'd been waiting for that for a long time. I put my mouthpiece in the air and make that circle around the cage. And then I come back and I see him face down on the mat. And my heart just sank. Honestly, I don't want to see anybody like that, especially of my doing.

And it took a while to get that, like, that thought out of my head. Like, that picture of him face down on the mat did not leave my mind until it's, still really hasn't, honestly. For the first time since the fight took place, Pavow and Downer were able to speak with one another. Pavow did attempt to reach out to his opponent via social media after the fight, but completely understood why there was no response. So with everybody altogether,

I gave Pavow the floor to begin the dialogue, before Downer got a chance to respond and get some things off of his chest. Yeah, man, I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay, make sure you're making a full recovery. I definitely, you know, with everything, going on in the media right now. I definitely didn't expect that clip to go viral. I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay. I didn't want any bad blood to be there. I celebrated after the victory, but I didn't realize how bad it was. So I just wanted to see how you were doing, man.

Yeah, I appreciate that. Look, there's no bad blood because obviously I signed on the fight for M&A. You know what I'm saying? You know, I understand injuries are going to happen. I'm not going to lie, though, I did feel some type of way when I was in agonizing pain. Like, I understand you are an excellent grappler. And I'm off of celebrating. Obviously, if you win your debut, you know, you want to celebrate. But, you know, I came from a take one though type of background. So when I competed, we were hitting each other with spin hook kicks and knocking people out.

We'll get a hype for a sec. But at some point, we squared up and we took a knee and waited to our opponent, got up. So I would say like a few minutes of me being on the ground. I'm seeing out of the corner of my eye, you standing up and, you know, you're still celebrating talking to the crowd. In a way, I was kind of infuriated. I'm like, shit, I'm an agonizing pain. And this dude still, like, he's celebrating. Part of me, you know, because I'm an anime dude, I felt like being like a Rockley and just stand up with one arm.

And it was like, let's go. But, you know, but at the same time, you know, just out of respect. for my, you know, my coaches. I just had to take the L. I said, you know what? I'm just going to wait. Yeah, because at the time, my adrenaline was pumping, but at that point, I just said, I don't know, I'm just going to chill. Yeah, but I'm not mad or anything.

It's just the celebration I thought was over the top. But I understand it's your first time. It was my first time. So I have no bad blood or anything. So it's all good. Yeah, man, I definitely get that. You know, I feel like we felt the same in the sense where our, adrenaline was pumping, you know, I didn't really understand the gravity of the situation.

We had talked about it before you got on, but I didn't even hear the snap nearly as loud as the rest of the crowd heard it. You know, obviously, I knew it broke because it went limp and then I let it go. But, you know, my adrenaline was pumping, man, I got my first win. I had been waiting for that moment for a very long time, and I definitely got a little carried away, but, you know, now that the dust is settled, and I feel like we're both seeing things more clearly. Pulver, a former fighter in his own right, has learned many lessons himself over the many years he spent as Cage Titans promoter.

But he's never seen a moment in his organization that has garnered so much mainstream media attention. On top of witnessing, the emotional toll such a moment has on not just the man who was defeated in the cage, but the victor as well. You know, you don't want either one of these guys to go through it. Wayne's obviously going through so much stuff on his end. And, you know, then you hear Kyle talking about this stuff. And it's just like, wow, man, like, you know, he quickly became the enemy.

And it's like, man, he's going through his own shit with this too. You know, and you're right, Mike, though. Like, it is bittersweet because he's learning these lessons now. Like, don't listen to the haters and things like that. But as much as he might not listen to those comments and stuff, these are real emotions that he's dealing with as an 18-year-old guy. Now that the video has been seen by so many people, Pulver is hoping that the buzz that the moment generated can accomplish two things. Second on the list is that MMA fans around the world will recognize what the promotion has done for the New England MMA regional scene for the last decade.

But most importantly, Pulver hopes that the situation can lead to fans helping out a warrior in need. If something goes viral, whether it be good or bad, let it happen for a greater purpose. Dr. Warner has been in contact, Wayne. I've been in contact with Dr. Warner. He's the head of the Medical Advisory Board here in Massachusetts, and he's working, I should say, on trying to find some potential surgeons to help Wayne out. In addition, there's a boxer fund that every promotion pays into

with a percentage of all the sales from every show. So every show that has to pay a percentage to this, and this is for fighters that are in need. We're going to look to help Wayne access that to help with some of his recovery. as well as set up a GoFundMe to help raise, you know, for the aid and recovery. So we're doing some things along those lines. You know, we do have insurance on our fighters, but, you know, something of this magnitude is just, you know, well beyond what anybody envisioned and imagined.

And, you know, to be out as long as he's going to be out and out of work and things of that nature, you know, life still goes on. Those bills still pile up. So we're going to be, we're going to use our platforms to help him, you know, gain what he can. in terms of help funding some of this aid and recovery. And we, you know, that's my only ask, you know, as this goes viral, Wayne does not want to see that video go viral for many reasons, I'm sure. But if it's going to go, it's out there, you know, let's do our part as the media to help raise

some funds to help this kid and, you know, help an aid in his recovery. So anything we can do would be helpful. And I know we have a great MMA community. While Donner was on the wrong side of a devastating moment, in the MMA world, he has been able to find a shining light in an unfortunate situation. The overwhelming support he's received from family, friends, teammates, coaches, cage titans, and even fans in and out of New England. Before he wrapped up the conversation, Downer also left Pavow with one last request.

Man, the love they showed me over the last couple of days, I just started crying. You know, it's been a while since I had that. And, um... And, Kyle, I want you to know there's no hard, you know, there's no ill will or anything. congratulations on a fight man you were the better grappler i got to get my skills up on the ground so um congratulations to you i have no ill will you're um you're you're you're you're you're 18 right am i sure yeah so hey man yeah keep keep keep pushing hopefully hopefully in the future the two of us can run it back um yeah i got to make sure i heal and get everything bad but i love to run it back um

i got into the sport because i want to fight the best and you're awesome I promise if we, you know, if we ever go at it again, you know, I'm going to be a completely other type of grappler. So, yeah, I can't wait, man. It was fun. Hopefully two of us can run it back, man. Well, ladies and gentlemen, this story goes to show you that MMA is just a different sport, one where you can get showered with praise and support and defeat, but also one

that can be met with negativity and just outright jeers and victory. It's my hope that Wayne Donner can fully recover from this horrific injury and that us as an MMA community can assist in that effort. If you would like to donate in support of Wayne Downer in his recovery efforts, you can find the GoFundMe link in the description of this podcast on MMAfighting.com, or you can go to gofundme.com slash Wayne Downer. That's gofundme.com slash Wayne Downer. It's also my hope that Kyle Pavau can continue on his MMA journey without taking any

back steps due to the backlash of the submission. It's a fight, as we on. know anything can happen and while this is unfortunate pavow is not to blame and i'm excited to see what he can do moving forward i want to thank both fighters for hopping on and talking about this especially just days after it happened and i want to thank cage titans president and owner michael pulver for assisting in getting everybody together and thank you everybody very much for listening to the inaugural edition of inside the highlight on the m mhmating podcasting network i am i kak funny part was is that he was mostly concerned about his car. He asked me so many times throughout

the course of the night. He's like, is my car all right there? Can you like let somebody know it's gonna be overnight? I'm like, yeah, dude, it's quite all right. And all day, Sunday, he's like, we're getting the car soon. I'm like, you're fine, you're fine. Did you get your car back? Yep, yeah, I got my car back. Yeah, I'll just work. Yeah, because I lived in Los Angeles for two years and I'm not parking in a force of it is. So I'm kind of gun shy on trying to keep my car out in, you know, just any old places. But yeah, I got my car back. Everything is fine.

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