Wrestling

Fearless 6-year-old grappler with every obstacle has UFC champ in his corner

When UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman takes to the Octagon on Saturday night in Las Vegas to fight Lyoto Machida, he will have a good luck charm in the crowd.

Isaiah Bird, a 6-year-old wrestler from Weidman’s native Long Island, will be flown by the UFC halfway across the country to cheer on his idol.

The pair forged a friendship this spring after the young grappling enthusiast came into Weidman’s Power MMA gym — and it’s a partnership that has become very important to both the veteran fighter and the burgeoning athlete.

“He’s a normal kid,” Weidman says. “He’s happy-go-lucky and loves wrestling. And he has no excuses on why he can’t win a match.”

Except the soon-to-be-second grader isn’t “normal” by most standards.

Isaiah has been living with his mother, Bernadette Hopton, and 2-year-old brother in a homeless shelter since they were displaced after Hurricane Sandy.

As if an unstable living situation isn’t enough to shake the foundation of a young child, Isaiah has Caudal Regression Syndrome and was born without legs. He walks on his hands because his family couldn’t afford a wheelchair.

“He has zero idea that there is any reason for him to feel bad for himself,” Weidman says. He doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with him.”

For those who know the tenacious youngster, they say he isn’t defined by what he doesn’t have but by what he does.

Miguel Rodriguez, his wrestling coach at Long Beach Gladiators, says Isaiah has moxie, a joyful sense of humor and sheer athletic talent.

Rodriguez says he first laid eyes on Isaiah last year when he was zipping around his kindergarten classmates on the basketball court.

“He said, ‘Dude, you wanna play with me?’ ” recalls Rodriguez, who was instantly taken with Isaiah’s bubbly personality.

The coach was also taken with his speed, and thought wrestling would be a perfect sport for his new protege.

“I am teaching him that he can do whatever he wants,” Rodriguez says. “There are no excuses. He’ll do anything but realistically the one sport he can be very successful at is wrestling. You don’t need legs. You just need body coordination and have the heart. And he has it.”

Under Rodriguez’s tutelage both on and off the mat, Isaiah has been traveling to wrestling tournaments, placing third in his age group and weight class at the New York Kid Wrestling Championship in March. He then finished sixth in a national tournament in Wildwood.

Rodriguez says Isaiah moves like a cat and describes his style as “aggressive.”

“This kid came into our lives and he gets along with everyone,” Rodriguez says. “And they don’t treat him any different. The only way we can help this young man is treating him like a normal kid. Don’t make him feel any different or give him easy access to everything, but take care of him. Everyone treats him like their little brother. He is so loved in our community.”

UFC middleweight champion Chris WeidmanAP

So when Weidman and his brother-in-law Chris Encarnacion threw a fundraiser last month for the local fighter, it was no surprise that the turnout was enthusiastic.

Weidman tapped his 289,000 Twitter followers and his UFC connections to publicize the event, where he led a wrestling clinic and autograph session with some of his UFC colleagues. Rohan Murphy, a paralympian from East Islip who also was born without legs, gave a motivational speech.

After the wrestling mats were rolled and put away, they had raised $15,000 to be put in a trust for Isaiah. They are still working on finding the family a permanent home. But he now has permanent wheels — thanks to a local company that donated a custom wheelchair that lights up at night and is emblazoned with Spider-Man colors, in a nod to Isaiah’s favorite superhero.

Though Spider-Man might have some competition from Weidman.

“When I first saw him, he was very strong and smart and a really tough guy,” says Isaiah, whose favorite subject in school is reading and best move on the mat is the cradle.

Isaiah (far left) at a wrestling tournamentUFC

UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta will be flying Isaiah, his mother and Rodriguez to Vegas, a trip that makes Isaiah giddy.

“Yeah, I am so excited,” he says.

And when asked what not having legs means to him as a wrestler, he quickly responds, “It means I’m better.”

Weidman couldn’t agree more.

“He’s been so inspirational at the age of 6, when you can’t articulate what you want to say and you don’t have a grand scheme of what to do with your life. He’s already inspiring so many people,” adds Weidman, who will auction off his walkout attire for benefit Isaiah and his family.

Isaiah already is planning to follow in Rodriguez’s footsteps.

“I want to be a wrestling coach, so I can teach kids to wrestle,” he says.