Tim Tetrick boasts a resume unlike many in the harness racing industry which is why he was inducted into the U.S. Harness Racing Hall of Fame before the age of 40. Tetrick has the opportunity to add something to his resume that no other racing participant can claim: a victory over a UFC champion.
This coming Tuesday (July 13) at MGM Yonkers Raceway, Tetrick will face off against UFC Lightweight Champion Charles Oliveira in a special match race. Before his fight at UFC 262, Oliveira was featured in a video produced by UFC where the mixed martial artist waxed poetic over horses and harness racing in his native Brazil. That video, with more than 236,000 views since it was posted less than two months ago, is already one of the most popular harness racing videos ever posted to YouTube.
"I spoke with a gentleman that shoes horses for Rob Harmon. He's Brazilian as well, I helped him get his green card. And then this Charlie guy comes up, you know, MMA world champion, kind of a cool story. And he goes, '[Olivieira] is your biggest fan!' And I said 'come on, he doesn't know who I am!' and he said 'I'm telling you, this guy talks about you like you guys are gods.'"
Tetrick proposed the concept of a match race with Oliveira. The one-on-one battle was accepted, with Tetrick as the opponent. The new Hall of Famer realizes how rare of an opportunity this is for harness racing to receive some crossover exposure from an international audience and he's not the only one willing to participate. According to Tetrick, one of the horses for the match race is being offered from the stable of top Standardbred trainer, Ron Burke, with the other coming from trainer Scott DiDomenico.
The Tetricks — Ashley & Tim — and the U.S. Trotting Association are even having colours prepared for Oliviera ahead of his North American harness racing debut.
"I'm really hoping MGM (the owner and operator of Yonkers) appreciates it. It's a win-win for all of us in the sport."
For longtime fan Oliveira, the ability to participate with a Hall of Famer at a track known around the world makes this event a win for him as well.
"The blacksmith I talked to, he said Charles is more excited about this than his fights!" said Tetrick with a smile. "'He wants to race horses...at Yonkers Raceway. He said, 'I watch Yonkers, I'm a fan and I get to try to beat Tim Tetrick. I'm excited.'"
Tetrick doesn't follow UFC religiously but he has it on very good authority that Oliveira could poised for a long championship reign — even with a title defense against UFC 264 headliners Conor MacGregor and Dustin Poirier upcoming — and that continued publicity and exposure generated by a MMA mainstay with a fondness for racing could continue to help raise the industry's profile.
"I'm not an MMA guy, I don't know much about it but I do like watching it when I go to a bar or whatever. Dan Rawlings from The Meadows, he used to wrestle, like he practiced and did it, and I'm like 'Danny, what about this Oliveira?' And he said, 'that's one bad S.O.B. He's real, he's a legit titleholder and they're going to have a hard time beating him for the next 10 years.' And he's driving down just to watch the race himself."
The match race will take place on Tuesday (July 13) following third race (scheduled post time 7:55 p.m.). The U.S. Trotting Association’s Facebook page will have live pre- and post-race coverage, with the replay posted to YouTube later that night.