The passing of Muhammad Ali had a profound impact on the combat sports community, especially to UFC fighter Kevin Casey.
The 34-year-old middleweight married Ali's daughter Hana in 2013, giving him a deeply personal connection to the boxing legend. Casey posted a picture on Instagram of himself with Ali on Friday:
The two first met at a Thanksgiving dinner, an encounter that Casey had no trouble recollecting.
"It was this unbelievable feeling," Casey told Thomas Gerbasi of UFC.com. "It was hard to even look directly at him. I literally felt the energy coming off of him."
As if seeing the greatest up-close-and-personal wasn't enough, the episode became more surreal when one of Ali's greatest rivals joined the dinner.
"About an hour into being there, my wife, Hana, her best friend is Kenisha Norton, daughter of Ken Norton, and then there's a knock at the door, and Ken Norton walks in," Casey said. "They moved to the card table, and there's Muhammad Ali and Ken Norton playing cards together. It was an unreal feeling."
Given his connection to Ali, it would have been understandable if Casey chose to pass on his scheduled bout with Elvis Mutapcic at UFC 199. However, Casey has given no indication that he plans to pull out so fans can likely look forward to an emotional performance on Saturday.
