The Future of the UFC: Andy Stumpf & UFC Matchmaker Mick Maynard

Change Agents with Andy Stumpf

IRONCLAD

Society & Culture

4.9 • 648 Ratings

🗓️ 16 April 2026

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Mick Maynard is UFC's Senior Vice President of Talent Relations and matchmaker. He is also the founder of Lions Youth Foundation, a group dedicated to bringing Jiu-Jitsu to schools and communities. In this episode of Change Agents, he and Andy talk about the state of the UFC, its growth, and why believes that training kids in BJJ could change the world. NOTE: This interview was recorded prior to UFC’s debut on Paramount+ Chapters (00:47) Becoming UFC’s Matchmaker (02:27) What Makes for a Good Fight (04:55) What People Get Wrong About UFC (10:06) Misconceptions about the Business of MMA (25:03) Why Schools Need to Teach BJJ (30:11) Learning to Lose (33:30) Working with Renzo Gracie Sponsors: Firecracker Farm Use code IRONCLAD to get 15% off your first order at https://firecracker.farm/ GHOSTBED: Go to https://www.GhostBed.com/IRONCLAD and use code IRONCLAD for an extra 15% off sitewide. Norwood Sawmills: Learn more about Norwood Sawmills and how you can start milling your own lumber at https://norwoodsawmills.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=ironclad&utm_campaign=ironclad Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:31.2	Kids learning jiu-jitsu in school could make overwhelming change, you know, in terms of,
0:36.9	God, so much, you know, in terms of, God, so much.
0:37.7	You know, we have the bullying aspect.
0:39.7	We have the staying focus aspect.
0:41.4	We have the mental health aspect.
0:42.8	We have the physical, you know, well-being.
0:45.6	I mean, there's just so many parts of Jiu-Jitsu and so much of Jiu-Jitsu that could solve so many of the world's problems.
1:03.7	Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to Change Agents in Iron Cloud Original,
1:06.5	presented by our friends at Firecracker Forum. How? How did you become like the main matchmaker for the UFC?
1:19.6	Explain this to me.
1:20.7	Are you just no Stradamus when you know like who's going to be a good?
1:24.8	You're like, I don't know.
1:26.2	That guy looks like he hates that dude
1:27.7	so let's let them fight each other and that'll be good for right exactly no no I mean it really
1:32.9	started I've been doing martial arts my whole life and and then eventually I opened a newspaper
1:38.8	I know it's going to this sounds like where are we headed with this but I opened a newspaper out
1:42.2	at a college station Texas and I was called Maroon weekly course you know A&M's out there and um uh started the
1:50.2	newspaper you know a lot of people when they do weekly newspapers they'll do musical festivals
1:54.4	or whatever to kind of promote the newspaper I don't know anything about that so I did fights
1:58.8	um so I promoted I had a five promotion called Lone Star Beatdown.
	...

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