Don McGuire – The Biggest Fraud in Combat Sports History (Part 2)
By David Potter
The Pattern: Incidents, Allegations, and the People Who Spoke Up
In Part One, we examined the mythology.
The awards.
The résumé.
The Hall of Fame claims.
The decades-long lies and deception in the fight business.
None of it true, none of it valid. Just someone that used sympathy from a sympathetic community to get access to events, using that access to make bold claims that he worked on behalf of those that gave him sympathy to exploit others, and when others wouldnt give him what he wanted, then the personal attacks would start flying.
It’s happened for over 10 years.
Now we examine something far more important:
The people.
Because fraud in combat sports doesn’t live in press releases.
It lives in unpaid invoices.
In altered credits.
In contracts that somehow never materialize.
In threats sent.
In “partnerships” that collapse the second paperwork is requested.
This isn’t about personality conflicts.
This isn’t about creative differences.
This is about repeated allegations from individuals across multiple promotions, gyms, media outlets, and independent contractors — all telling eerily similar stories.
Please note that some stories that cannot be validated, whether true or untrue, i could not legally write about. Some incidents are old enough that messages and records no longer exist as he also has a history of creating multiple Facebook profiles. Some screenshots could not be posted as well, as people would like to remain anonymous. While the goal is to expose a known fraud with showing as much proof as possible, their peace of mind is more important.
Bare in mind, there were over 80+ people that came forward whether by phone or email. Validating all would be a daunting task. So i omly included the ones i could validate.
Lets get into it. Shall we.
Incident #1 – Sexual Harassment of Women
Women have made several claims that from facebook that he would send pictures of his exposed penis. There was one public review found that Women were sent the inappropriate pictures, then when it angered them, they would be blocked and removed. Multiple women confirmed it. Only one sent pictures of what they were sent.
One person even said he had a weird infatuation of talking about his penis
Incident #1A – Personally and professionally attacking “Fighting for Autism”
Don McGuire tried to get involved with this organization working on their behalf. Multiple sources said Don would ask people for money on their behalf. Don would also recruit ambassadors to help his efforts without the organizations approval. Their relationship quickly dissolved when they could not validate his credentials. He would personally attack the charity.
Incident #2 – Purchasing his award
A notable gym said Don asked for $500 Dollars to buy his award for MMAM.
BONUS ROUND – The same woman who runs the MMAM hall of fame event also tried to get a black belt from a notable black belt, this is his experience with don and that same woman, and claims that the MMAM isnt a real organization.
Incident #3 – Incident in St Louis
Incident #4 – Fundraising
Don has a history of medical issues (Part 3 will elaborate further). Multiple sources said that he made a post that he had cancer and seeking funds for care. But the picture that he took infront of the center than called him out on it and validated that he did not have cancer. He was blocked and fundraisers and references to cancer were taken down. He has multiple gofundmes running for his health care. Please note: the cancer fundraiser has been taken down. However his other fundraisers are still up.
Incident #5 – UFC Card Collecting Scams
Numerous sources say he would go into card collecting groups, people would send him money, or merch and would not send them merchandise or return money
Incident #6 – Attacking persons wife and kids. Harassment.
Incident #7 – Stealing the podcast name of a former colleague.
The name “Fighters Voice” belongs to someone else, he would then disban their relationship and call his podcast “The Original Fighters Voice” stealing the name of his former friends show. Fighters Voice started first, making “Original Fighters Voice” not original at all.
Incidemt #8 – Shady podcast practices
Incident #9 – Promises to get fighters into organzations like UFC
UFC confirmed he was never an employee or associated with them
Incident #10 – False Promises
Assorted Public Comments and Posts about Don –
My Experience — and Why It Matters
I was first contacted by Don McGuire in 2013 when I was starting a clothing company in the combat sports space.
Within two months of launching, he messaged me to introduce himself. The message wasn’t casual. It was filled with claims about his accolades, achievements, and résumé. At the time, the only thing I knew him from was his BlogTalkRadio channel. That was it.
Without me asking, he arranged for me to appear on another person’s podcast — MMA Lockup, which he described as an affiliate of Fox Sports FM The Fan. I appreciated the opportunity. It wasn’t requested, but I took it as a kind gesture.
Looking back, I believe it was about building trust.
At the time, I assumed he was someone dealing with serious mental and physical health issues. I didn’t take him too seriously. I gave him grace. I took him with a grain of salt.
2016: The Pattern Becomes Clear
In 2016, Don and Dustin Hill began asking for free shirts from my company.
When I didn’t send them immediately, Don became extremely confrontational. To avoid unnecessary conflict, I sent two shirts — one to Don, one to Dustin.
That didn’t end it.
He began asking me to:
- Host their podcast on my platform and website.
- Co-host his show.
- Promote their projects consistently.
Whenever I delayed or pushed back, he became hostile. So again, I helped. Not because I had to — but because I didn’t see the harm.
Then he asked me to sell his friend’s merchandise in my store. I agreed. No one purchased any of it.
Shortly after, he blocked me.
No discussion. No explanation. Just gone.
2022: The Same Cycle
In 2022, he resurfaced.
At the time, I was running a “Best Podcast” poll. The structure was simple and consistent: the winner in June would be featured in August. The polls always ran one month behind.
He won.
When July was announced (for September placement), he began attacking me publicly. Personal attacks. Outrageous posts. Playing victim.
I explained the system clearly — the polls were always one month behind. It had been that way from the start.
He didn’t understand — or didn’t want to.
He shifted from victim, to attacker, to victim again.
Then he blocked me. Again.
I had a new Facebook account by then and couldn’t retrieve our old messages. I laughed it off. How could I possibly be angry? I still viewed him as a harmless older man with issues — someone not worth escalating over.
I let it slide.
Again.
The Turning Point
That changed when I saw his background check.
That changed when I saw posts involving Mike Vazquez in 2026.
That changed when people began coming forward with their own stories — stories that mirrored the same cycles I experienced.
And that’s when I realized something important:
It wasn’t harmless.
It was a pattern.
For years, people — including myself — enabled the behavior by ignoring it, excusing it, or minimizing it.
We told ourselves:
- “He’s just delusional.”
- “He has health problems.”
- “He’s not a threat.”
That tolerance allowed the behavior to continue.
Why I’m Including My Story
Originally, I wasn’t going to include my experience in this series.
It was brief. It wasn’t deeply personal. I don’t hate the man. He owes me nothing.
But people with narcissistic tendencies often use a predictable defense:
- “He’s only saying this because he’s bitter.”
- “He’s angry.”
- “He’s jealous.”
As predicted, he used the podcast appearance from 2013 — the one he arranged — to spin a narrative about me instead of addressing the people raising concerns.
That’s the tactic: deflect, personalize, avoid accountability.
This isn’t personal.
It’s overdue.
The Point
This isn’t about free shirts.
It isn’t about podcast polls.
It isn’t about social media blocks.
It’s about a repeated cycle:
- Introduce yourself with inflated credentials.
- Create leverage through proximity or opportunity.
- Demand more access or validation.
- Become hostile when challenged.
- Reframe yourself as the victim.
- Block, attack, repeat.
For over a decade.
He doesn’t owe me an apology.
But he owes this community accountability.
Combat sports is a community I have defended my entire adult life. It is a community he has, in my opinion, misrepresented himself within for more than ten years.
People — including me — allowed it to continue by refusing to check it.
That ends now.
Part 3 will go deeper into his personal background outside the internet and the broader story behind the persona.
Because this isn’t about bitterness.
It’s about pattern recognition.
And patterns don’t lie.