Kirik is the World MMA Awards’ 2022 Lifetime Achievement winner; UFC president Dana White did the introduction (watch here). Broadcast on ESPN, it’s the most prestigious award event in mixed martial arts. Coach is to date only the tenth recipient of the lifetime award, joining a select group that includes Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, John McCarthy, and Bruce Buffer. Significant accomplishments that led to the honor include:

• Opened the first MMA gym in Massachusetts;
• Wrote the first book on MMA (with NESF co-founder Dave Roy);
• Official records keeper for MMA, as called for by The Muhammad Ali Act, a US Federal law;
• Oversees rankings for the UFC, Bellator MMA, and BKFC;
• Runs mixedmartialarts.com.
• Co-wrote, with founder Kipp Kollar, the rules for NAGA, the world’s largest grappling organization;
• Officiated thousands of matches, and did the first MMA judge and referee officials training for Massachusetts and New Hampshire, when the sport was first legalized in New England;
• Expert television commentary for MMA events in 28 countries;
• Cornered hundreds of fights, from first-time amateurs to multiple times in the UFC; and …
• … even appeared on The Joe Rogan  Experience, #675!