The mixed martial arts world on Tuesday was saddened by the sudden passing of Tuff-N-Uff president Barry Meyer.

Meyer reportedly was a long time sufferer of depression and on Tuesday lost the battle with his demons, taking his own life, according to his brother and Tuff-N-Uff vice president Jeff Meyer in comments to MMAJunkie.com.

Meyer was a practitioner of traditional martial arts, but was known in the MMA world for his commitment to providing up-and-coming fighters with a high quality promotion to cut their teeth.

Fighters as notable as Ronda Rousey, Jon Fitch, Ryan Couture and numerous others are among those that have graced the Tuff-N-Uff roster. It was something that Meyer was fiercely proud of, especially his promotion’s commitment to the women’s side of the sport.

“Whether someone says they want to try it to get it off their bucket list, or maybe they just have a strong wrestling background or a strong Muay Thai background and they want to transition, they’re done competing in kickboxing or wrestling tournaments, and they want to try to ply themselves in a fight. Everyone’s got their own reasons to do it, and we’re excited to give them an avenue to do it, especially the females,” Meyer told MMAWeekly.com in an August 2012 interview.

“It’s like seeing your baby grow up. You’re happy for them to see them successful especially Ronda (Rousey) and a lot of the females.”

It is too soon to know what will happen to Tuff-N-Uff with Meyer’s passing being so recent.

It is not too soon, however, to know that Barry Meyer leaves a lasting legacy in the MMA world.

(Photo courtesy of Tuff-N-Uff)

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