By Joyce Lynda Valdes
Dylan Woods at Tuff-N-Uff in March 2010
A great leader, named Malcolm X said, “If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything.”
There are many battles MMA fighters face going into the cage, like that of a standup war or ground and pound, but every battle for these self-made warriors is by choice. There are others of us in the world who are faced with fights that are unwanted and unasked for and it is the truest test of our character when we meet those challenges with will and defiance. For most of us in our lifetime, we will know someone or be someone inflicted with cancer. In my life, I have been blessed to know very few people who have fought and lost to this disease. Last night, the most influential person I have ever met, a young 13 year-old warrior named Dylan Woods who had brain cancer passed away.
I met Dylan through a non-profit organization called It Aint Chemo run by a cancer survivor, Kevin Hoyt. Hoyt, who is a friend of Randy Couture and helped Couture set up a paintball charity event for his GI Foundation, decided to open his organization to help and support MMA fighters, with the request that the fighters give their time to train young warriors who battle cancer daily. Hoyt thought that by kids like Dylan meeting MMA fighters, it would influence them to keep fighting their disease. The surprise ended up being that these kids like Dylan were the ones who inspired the MMA fighters. Dylan Woods went on to support fighters like Ryan Couture, Jimmy Jones, and Gil Guardado. He went to their Tuff-N-Uff amateur fights, cheering in the crowd, and when he could no longer travel, he watched Ryan Couture make his pro-debut in Strikeforce: Challengers on Showtime. Dylan’s story touched even UFC Heavyweight, Frank Mir who volunteered to be auctioned off in a charity MMA Bachelor/Bachelorette event held by It Aint Chemo earlier this month.
Dylan Woods did not go gently. He rose to the challenge. When it seemed he wouldn’t make it through another day, Dylan showed us he was not one to be beat and in August, at 50 lbs and wheel-chair bound, he made it to see Jones and Guardado victorious in their final amateur fights in Las Vegas. Both Jimmy Jones and Gil Guardado will be making their pro-debuts this November 13th in King of the Cage, which can be seen on PPV. Ryan Couture will be going for his second win in Strikeforce: Challengers on November 19th. Dylan fought his fight admirably and now helps science continue the fight as he gave his brain to cancer research. Most notably, he gave men who chose to fight, a solid ground to stand on and something to fight for and believe in; that ground is called It Aint Chemo and throughout these fighters careers, you will learn a lot more of the organization. It is time for Dylan to rest, but for Couture, Jones, and Guardado, it is time to stand and engage.
If you would like to help It Aint Chemo, please visit their website here or vote here for a Pepsi Refresh grant.
The post-fight drug tests for last month’s 
Sometimes I feel like MMA fans, much like MMA judges, are afflicted with a disease that makes us place undue importance on whatever we saw last. 
(If a fighter’s going to strut like that, Dana wants them to at least have something to strut about.)