Maynard PPV Numbers Cold

Kyle Maynard drew international attention for his mixed martial arts pursuits, but his amateur debut proved a pay-per-view bust.

According to David Oblas -- the man who promoted the Auburn Fight Night show in which Maynard competed on Saturday at the Auburn Covered Arena in Auburn, Ala. -- the congenital amputee’s main event bout with Bryan Fry drew roughly 100 buys at $14.95 apiece at www.KyleMaynardFight.com.

“It wasn’t many,” Oblas said. “The pay-per-view was more about people wanting to see it than actually making money. Because we didn’t have Internet access, I had to bring in a satellite truck. It was kind of a pain to do it all. We expected a couple thousand [buys]; we were shocked it only drew about 100.”

Oblas plans to use the minimal revenue generated by the PPV to recoup expenses he incurred putting the show on the Internet. An estimated crowd of 1,200 gathered at the outdoor venue, which was located a few miles from the Auburn University campus.

Maynard dropped a unanimous decision to Fry, who kept the Georgian on the end of his punches and often out of range for takedowns. The 23-year-old Maynard, a former ESPY Award winner, pressed the attack from start to finish but never moved close enough to Fry to change the direction of the fight. Those in attendance greeted his entrance and exit with standing ovations.

“I think we knew the crowd was going to applaud Kyle,” Oblas said. “We were more scared of how the crowd was going to react to Bryan.”

In fact, Fry requested that a car be made available immediately following the fight in case the crowd turned hostile. It did not, and the Wisconsin native stuck around for the post-fight press conference.

“He was a hero for taking the fight,” Oblas said. “He thought he might be lynched if he had won, but he was portrayed in a positive light when all was said and done.”

Oblas confirmed Maynard’s intention to pursue another amateur fight. The promoter -- who also puts on shows in Georgia under the Wild Bill’s Fight Night banner -- thinks the Collins Hill High School graduate will again petition the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission for an amateur license. Commissioners unanimously denied Maynard’s request in 2007.

“If it’s denied again, Alabama’s going to be a possible site for a second Kyle Maynard fight,” Oblas said. “He wants to do it. If he wants me to promote it, yes, I’ll be a part of it. There’s no reason why he shouldn’t be able to fight. I think it’s the right thing to do.”

Paul Creighton -- a Renzo Gracie-trained Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who now trains Maynard out of his Duluth, Ga., academy -- intends to sit down with his protégé to discuss his plans to pursue additional fights as an amateur.

“Kyle’s only been with me a few weeks,” Creighton said. “It’s something I’m going to talk to Kyle about. He’s been told his whole life he can’t do anything. People were saying he was going to get knocked out in five seconds. Anything can happen in MMA. Kyle had a disadvantage, and he made it through three rounds.”

The target of relentless taunts and hostility on Internet forums, Maynard persevered during a two-year-long journey to the cage. Creighton, who fought B.J. Penn at UFC 37, had some choice words for those who spit their venom in Maynard’s direction.

“People writing all that stuff are cowards,” he said. “They’re people with two arms and two legs that hide behind computer screens and would never have the courage to step into the cage. Anyone who ever meets Kyle … it’s impossible not to get behind him. He’s an inspiration to all of us.”