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MMA Fighter Johnny Haught Wants To Knock Out Hate in the Ohio Valley

photo by: Photo by Derek Redd

OV MMA owner Johnny Haught, third from left, recently volunteered the services of him and some of the fighters he trains to serve as security for a drag brunch that had been canceled due to threats. Pictured are, from left, Steven Carney of Wheeling, Dee Turner of Belmont, Haught, Ayden Cutlip of Wheeling, Richard Violet of Wheeling, Cory Toth of Wheeling and Gage Cuiksa of St. Clairsville.

WHEELING – Johnny Haught doesn’t stand for bullying. In fact, he stands up to bullies.

And at 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds, when the owner of Ohio Valley MMA stands, he casts a looming shadow.

That’s all he said he was doing last month when, after a drag brunch at Primanti Bros. at The Highlands was canceled due to threats, he offered to come to any rescheduled event with some of the fighters he trains to provide protection.

Since that offer, Haught’s story has gone global. He’s had news outlets from around the world asking him about it – and phone calls from anonymous voices threatening him over his stance.

Through it all, Haught remains resolute. He not only wants to make sure that members of the Ohio Valley’s LGBTQ community can celebrate unharmed, but he also wants to educate others and spread the message of inclusivity that he believes should be the guiding mission of this community.

photo by: Photo by Derek Redd

Johnny Haught, left, owner of OV MMA spars with Richard Violet during a training session Friday.

Hate Has No Place Here

Haught said he saw a Facebook message that a drag brunch scheduled for Feb. 26 at Primanti’s was canceled due to threats to the restaurant, performers and some patrons. Haught shared that post with an offer for him and some of his fighters to help as security if S&S Productions, the Pittsburgh-based company putting on the show, wanted to reschedule.

“I’m sure we can make sure the event stays safe,” he wrote.

Haught said he didn’t want bullies to win.

“At the end of the day, it looked like a bullying situation where a small group of people threatened enough to where they got something shut down,” he said.

photo by: Photo by Derek Redd

Johnny Haught, left, owner of OV MMA spars with Richard Violet during a training session Friday.

Bullying has long been a sore spot for him. Before he grew into a burly professional fighter, Haught said he was a bullying victim as a child.

“I got beat up, bullied, victimized, made to feel awful,” he said. “I have zero tolerance for it. I do not like to see it on TV. I do not like to see it in the real world. And, you know, I’m always looking at situations like that. And I’m like, I wish somebody would try that with me. And so I put myself out there to take some of the hate from this.

“And believe me,” he said, “I’ve got it.”

After he posted his offer on Facebook, and after several interviews, the phone calls started coming, often from private numbers and at all hours of the day. Some were local. Some came from as far as Arizona.

He said the voices on the other end would tell him that they could never respect him for his views. They said he would burn in hell for supporting the show.

One day, Haught was preparing to go on a show with local radio host Steve Novotney when his cell phone rang. It was another private number and another voice on the other end castigating him.

“I said, ‘Steve, that’s what we’re dealing with,'” Haught said.

Not long after the first call, he got another call while he and Novotney were on the air. Haught answered that call on the air, started talking to the person on the other side of the line and let them know they were live on the radio. That caller quickly hung up.

The phone calls and attacks got Haught thinking. He’s a straight, white man who had never experienced this amount of vitriol in his life. And what he’s dealing with is a small fraction of what members of the LGBTQ community deal with.

“By experiencing that, it kind of infuriates me,” Haught said.

Now Haught had a new mission to enlighten. He has posted on his Facebook page about coverage of the canceled event from other regional news outlets. He posted about professional strongman Rob Kearney, who Haught called one of his favorite athletes, marrying his boyfriend on the beach after winning a competition. He posted photos of drag storytimes at libraries to show what the events looked like in reality.

He also has been in contact with S&S Productions. Now that he had become part of the story, he wanted to talk with them about what their message to the public was. And he wanted to let them know that, if they wanted to reschedule the show, he would help them however he could.

“I assured them that I’m a mission kind of guy,” he said. “Some people said you can’t do this. Now, it’s my mission to make sure it happens. Now, it’s just a matter of finding the right group of people and the right venue to do it.”

Talking the Talk — and (Respectfully) Walking the Walk

Despite daily hate-filled calls, Haught is making it clear that he won’t back down. After one anonymous phone call, he posted on Facebook that he was holding “complaint hours” at his gym in downtown Wheeling if anyone wanted to drop by.

He then listed his entire weekly class schedule.

What would happen if someone did come by the gym and wanted to argue?

“I’ll talk to them with respect and ask that they talk to me the same,” he said. “You know, I bounced (at a bar) for over a decade. I’ve talked to a bunch of people that hated me. I’ve seen the look in somebody’s eye when I knew they wanted to hit me but they knew that was a bad idea. Generally, you can de-escalate everything as long as you remain respectful.”

Haught wants to continue promoting that message of respect whenever he discusses this matter. And his story has reached the pages of Outsports, The Guardian and NBC News. Pop star Demi Lovato posted their support on Instagram.

Haught wants others to understand that the LGBTQ community should be able to celebrate and come together just like any other group. And he wants his Ohio Valley community to help in spreading that message.

“I hope that this will reflect better on our state,” he said. “At the end of the day, we are being laughed at by the entire country. And until we start to get our heads out of the dark places, we’re just going to always be the laughingstock, and I’m tired of that.

“And if we start with the Northern Panhandle, when we start to change things, maybe we can start moving down the state and change everything,” he added. “If I’m going to be here, I want it to be a better place.”

Haught understands that some may think it strange that someone from the ultra-macho MMA community would stand up so vocally for a drag show. Haught wants to wreck that stereotype, along with so many others.

“Being (tough) does not change your compassion and your empathy,” he said.

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