Jake Hadley knew exactly what he wanted to be when he was just a little boy.
Hadley (8-0), who punched his ticket to the UFC on Dana White’s Contender Series 43 this past Tuesday with a second-round submission of Mitch Raposo, had a premonition when he was 11.
The UFC shared a video of a young Hadley blowing out the candles on his birthday cake, and he said one of his life’s goals was to be a UFC fighter – and that dream ended up becoming a reality.
14 years ago, @JakeHadleyMMA’s birthday wish was to become a UFC fighter. This week, odds stacked against him, Hadley’s arm was raised on #DWCS. Devastated thinking he missed his chance at the lifelong goal, Dana White surprised Hadley with a UFC contract pic.twitter.com/fFaedfdBK2
— UFC (@ufc) October 15, 2021
But that dream almost didn’t come true for Hadley, who despite his great performance ruffled some feathers during his fight week in Las Vegas. Not only did the former Cage Warriors champion come in a pound over the flyweight limit, he reportedly had run-ins with some of the UFC staff, which had the matchmakers hesitant to sign him. But White saw something special in Hadley and decided to go with his gut instinct by signing him.
A confused Hadley wasn’t quite sure what he said to upset the UFC staff, but was apologetic for the incident and chalked it up to a misunderstanding due to cultural differences.
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‘I want to be a UFC fighter’: Watch 11-year-old Jake Hadley fulfill childhood dream