BILLINGS — All heroes don’t wear capes. Truth is, sometimes they charge straight at you ready to throw punches.
It's a Thursday afternoon and Bryan Chapel is walking into work at a Billings (Mont.) Albertson’s — the company to which he has dedicated more than 18 years of his life, many of them bagging groceries before earning a promotion a few years ago.
“Bryan is one of our great cashiers. He’s just a solid rock in this store,” Albertson's store director Ben Irion told MTN Sports.
For Chapel, the environment seems as comfortable as hanging out at home.
“You know, I really like the people I work with here,” he said.
Whether scanning groceries, running the register or stocking shelves, Bryan excels at customer service. At 46 years old, he’s overcome an intellectual disability to work about half the week, nearly every week.
He’s also a big fan of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, known as UFC. The sport involves a variety of mixed martial arts. Winners are determined inside a chain-link cage known as the Octagon.
“I was wanting to try it in the Octagon for the first time ... never really even had a chance to do it,” Bryan explained on another afternoon during a light workout at the Grindhouse in Billings.
Bryan’s dream has long been to fight a UFC athlete. For weeks, he hounded local promoter Terrill Bracken.
Then the magical moment: Bracken connected Bryan with Justin Jaynes who was in Billings commentating a Fusion Fight League event. Jaynes, who lives in Las Vegas, is credited with almost 80 professional fights — including five UFC – and Bryan worked up the nerve to challenge him.
“We pretty much shaked hands, then the fight was on,” Bryan said of their initial encounter.
But Jaynes demanded one condition in no uncertain terms before opting into the challenge.
“That was the biggest thing. We weren’t just going to go in there and not put the work in," Jaynes told MTN Sports via a Zoom call. "And that was the one condition I had with Bryan; I said he had to join a gym and he had to train for this fight, and if he didn’t do it I wasn’t going to take it.
“This isn’t a game that we’re doing. Essentially, without the referee, we’re simulating life and death. And I wanted him to know the gravity of the situation.”
Bryan was all in.
“He told me, 'I’m not going to take this lightly, I’m not going to take it easy.' And I said, alright, I’m not either,” Bryan recalled.
The challenger wasted no time. Bryan bought a membership at 9Round Fitness in Billings to learn MMA skills, and continued workouts at the Grindhouse where he was already a member.
“He’d come in early (and) leave asking questions always just trying to get better and better,” said Grindhouse trainer Zaylen Crannell.
Meantime, Jaynes was keeping tabs.
“He took it really serious. He was sparring and wrestling and grappling, so I had to follow through with my end as well,” he said.
Training for about half a year, Bryan managed to keep the fight a secret from his mother, not wanting her to worry.
“I didn’t find out until the night before the fight,” said mother Teri Noland.
Nor did she attend the event at MetraPark, instead watching on an app at home with Bryan’s 86-year-old grandmother.
“(We) cheered him on, cried, hollered, laughed,” Teri recalled.
Then it turned real inside the Octagon.
“When the referee said ‘fight’, then it was on," Bryan said while simulating punches. "I went off on him in like the first five minutes."
“Man, Bryan came out like a bat out of hell. We touched gloves, gave a hug and the next thing I know, he has me on my heels backing me up," Jaynes said. “Second round, he comes out, hit me with a good clean left hook, wobbled me, jumped on and man, he was able to finish the fight.”
Afterward, Jaynes posted a video of the outcome to his social media, and the response was overwhelmingly heartwarming.
Bryan watched the social media post for the first time during our interview.
“I feel so good right now … I beat him … I beat him fair and square,” Bryan said, simulating his post-fight interview inside the Octagon.
Both say they still message each other almost daily, though it’s hard telling who is more inspired.
“It couldn’t happen to a better human being, man," Jaynes said with a smile. "I’ll never forget, he was just like, ‘I’m so sorry I had to beat you up so bad, but this is the best day of my life."
One Bryan will cherish forever.
"I was so happy," he simply said.
