Moments after the two towers at the World Trade Center collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001 it seemed as if time were standing still, yet ten years later many look back and wonder where the time went.

It is hard to believe that ten years have passed since horrific day which changes the lives of so many within the flash of an eye.  More than 3,000 innocent lives were lost that sunny Tuesday in New York, Washington D.C., and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Thousands more have died in Iraq and Afghanistan because of the tragic events that unfolded that day and even more severely wounded.

The world stopped that day.  Sporting events on the homefront were postponed, flights were cancelled, and many Americans were afraid to leave their homes.

Athletes in mixed martial arts have seen many changes to their sport and lifestyle in the proceeding decade. But the actual event, like with most Americans, has never left them. In the month leading up to the tenth anniversary of the attacks, I approached several athletes known for their activism or military support since the attacks and asked them two questions:  Where were you on 9-11 when the news broke and how has that day changed your life?

Below are their responses:

Kenny Florian– I was working at a cubicle at the time [and] was the first one in the office to hear the news. I remember just being shocked & talking with my coworkers trying to figure out what happened. As the news unfolded and the towers collapsed I remember being angry, sad and just in shock. I had never been so close to joining the military at that time. I ended up fighting in a different way but I still think of that incident almost every day.

Tim Kennedy - At the time I was just finishing up my undergrad and working for Parable.com in California.  I had my PRO MMA debut two weeks prior to 9/11.  I was a pretty selfish/narcissistic/ethnocentric/ ass clown at the time.  Because I had to answer customer service calls, and questions on the east coast I would go into work around 5am.  So I was sitting at my desk with my browser open on CNN.com watching it live when the second plane slammed into the second tower.  I just sat there, for what seemed like hours.  I was shocked, mad, but most of all disappointed in myself.  I realized at that moment that I had wasted most of my God given talents selfishly.  That next day I walked into the recruiter’s office trying to figure out how to enlist.

Jorge Rivera – I was working at a power plant in Blackstone MA. I was like everyone else in shock and in fear for the moment we didn't know what to do. It's affected me and will continue to affect me in many different ways, too many to count...

Charlie Brenneman – I had just returned from a Chemistry class when my roommate called and told me to turn on the TV. I was blown away. I then spent the day at the cafe watching news footage [with] the rest of Lock Haven University. An unforgettable day.

Clayton McKinney – Crazy it's been almost 10 years since 9/11.  I will never my entire life forget that moment I heard about the first plane.  I was working construction at the time only 19 years old.  We were building a huge house in Winter Park, FL and I remember standing on a framed wall at the highest point on the third floor swinging a hammer when my boss yelled "hurry up and get down here".  We all crowded around the radio and listened to the horrific news.  We immediately went to a restaurant to get in front of a TV just in time to see the second plane crash. It was right then I knew a war had begun.  That was a day every American felt vulnerable, sad, and anger all at once.  That day as well as the military has been a great motivation being a fighter over the years.  I believe 9/11 has brought every American greater appreciation for our freedom, our homeland and our amazing military.

Dave “Pee Wee” Herman – I'm not real sure where I was. I didn't find out until two days after it happened.

            Then when I asked Pee Wee how it is possible he didn’t hear about the greatest tragedy of his lifetime until two days after it happened he said:

I'm not real sure I just didn't. Even now I don't have television or internet so the only way I hear about stuff is if someone tells me.

Nick “The Goat” Thompson - I was watching TV with my roommate, a teammate on the University of Wisconsin-Madison wrestling team, as the second jet flew into the tower. While it is the event, like the Kennedy assassination two generations before, where everyone my age knows where they were, I couldn't, or at least didn't, appreciate the significance of the moment. I went to my philosophy class, a class with many students from NY, and couldn't relate to their grief. It was very isolated from me and my world. I knew it was tragic but it wasn't personal to me anymore than the atrocities being committed in Sudan. As I have become older and have a family of my own, it is easier to appreciate the pain of the families of the people who were killed in those attacks. It is easier to appreciate the ugliness of killing people because they pray to a different god than you.

Jimy “The Kid” Hettes - The day for September 11th i was in high school in my Roman Mythology class. Out of the blue the teacher put the television on, which was extremely rare for this particular teacher. So right off the bat i knew something out of the ordinary was going on, but it still didn’t give warning to what i was about to see on the TV. As our whole class stood and watched the newscast for what seemed like hours, not a single word was spoken by any student. The more i learned about that event the more I wanted to know about this terrorist group named Al Qaeda. That gave rise to a great up rise of local support to all the government branches and what they stood for.

As we approach the ten year anniversary this Sunday it is now more than ever that we must continue to remain vigilant and forever remember that day as it is a day that has shaped the way of today’s America.