Amanda served 12 years in the Army in communications security and intelligence. By 21, she had been hand-selected to work on the Joint Staff of the National Guard Bureau at the Pentagon.

After the Army, she spent five years running Armed Forces Entertainment tours (more than 10 of them), bringing fighters to our troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Qatar and beyond.

I was one of those fighters. Yes, those tours gave me a paycheck and a chance to serve my country as an athlete, but what they really gave me was the troops. We didn't just shake hands and take pictures. We got on the mats with them, trained with them, sweat with them and learned from each other. They were so grateful just to meet us, and we were even more grateful to know them. It was the single most rewarding thing I did in my entire UFC career, and it's the thing I'm most proud of. Amanda made that possible, for me and for so many other athletes.

Today Amanda is a 100% disabled veteran and a single mom, and she's in a hard financial stretch. Her mortgage and utilities have piled up faster than she can catch up, and every month has become a choice between which bills to pay and which to push back. Because of her disability rating, she doesn't qualify for most assistance programs. Family and friends have helped where they can, but the bills keep coming.

Through all of it, her son is her whole world, and everything she has goes to taking care of him. She has always been the one showing up for others, and she would never ask for herself. So we're asking for her.

Our goal of $10,000 will cover about three months of her mortgage and utilities and give her family a Christmas without worry. If you can't give, sharing this means just as much. Thank you for honoring her service.