Did the UFC just raise contest winner Joe Reeves up from ‘lunatic’ fan to official matchmaker? It sure looks like it.
Life is all about taking advantage of opportunities, and that’s exactly what Joe Reeves did when he won the UFC’s Matchmaker Sweepstakes contest.
Fans were told to submit a full card of fights to the UFC for a chance to win a day with Dana White and matchmakers Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard. Reeves did so well he didn’t just win the contest, he wowed everyone at UFC headquarters to the point where White offered him a full-time job with the promotion.
“You wanna know how f—ing good Joe is?” White gushed at Tuesday’s Contender Series finale post-fight press conference. “I just hired Joe. Joe works for us now. Yeah. This f—ing kid is awesome. I literally just back there, I did all the contracts and I came back in and I said, ‘I got one more. You want to work for the UFC?’ He freaked out.”
“He is a f—ing UFC lunatic,” White continued. “He went toe-to-toe with the boys today, he knew every — bring up a guy on the roster he don’t know. He knows everybody on the roster and he actually did make a fight today.”
The contest came with a chance to matchmake a UFC fight, and Reeves offered up a bout involving Cody Garbrandt that had White excited.
“So, apparently — Lenee [Breckenridge, Senior VP of Communications] came into my office today raving about the kid,” he said. “‘Oh, this kid’s awesome, we love him,’ and this and that. He met a bunch of fighters in the P.I. today and one of them was Cody Garbrandt. They were talking and I guess Garbrandt said, ‘Listen, if you’re the matchmaker for a day, I want a fight in December.’ So he came in and started pitching us on fights for Cody Garbrandt in December and he made a fight.”
It’s unclear whether Reeves will become a matchmaker on the level with Shelby and Maynard, who split duties across the UFC’s twelve weightclasses (R.I.P. women’s featherweight). But it’s clear White is hyped about his new hire, especially considering what Joe’s wife is a blackjack dealer in Detroit.
“It’s like this was meant to be,” White, a certified degenerate gambler, said. “Think she’s gonna find a job out here in Vegas? I think she will.”
We’ll have to wait and see what Reeves’ official job title ends up as, and what his opponent for Garbrandt will be. For now White is keeping that booking under wraps until he gets the fight signed.