Taking from my experiences over the past 2 and a half years in MMA event promotion I have begun a blog specifically about the art of Fight Promotion. www.BeaFightPromoter.com is now live and I am always more than willing to take questions on the blog and will answer them promptly.

This will be a growing database of my day to day activities, Q&A and other interesting bits of information to help you learn more about the business side of promotion.

Check it out, bookmark and share the website with as many people as you feel would be interested.

I hope it helps!

Thanks.

www.BeaFightpromoter.com

Settle The Score: UFC Style! A New TV show starring Tito Ortiz is looking for people interested in settling a problem inside The Octagon.

Do you have a beef with someone and tried everything to solve it but can't? Did your best friend steal your girl? Did your old roommate shaft you on your rent? Did you have a falling out with your best friend and have no way to solve it? We're also looking for competitive friends or friends with a problem they need to solve and the only way to do it is to fight it out!

UFC Champion Tito Ortiz is going to train you to battle out your problems in The Octagon!! We are looking for ALL SHAPES AND SIZES to walk into the ring and settle it once and for all.

Click Hereto apply

By Ross Bonander
Entertainment Correspondent - Every Saturday

http://www.askmen.com/toys/special_feature_150/177_special_feature.html 

1- It was supposed to involve alligators

If nothing else, you can’t successfully accuse the original promoters of the UFC of failing to think big. Specifically, in addition to such outrageous ideas as putting electric fences around the ring, one of their many schemes was to include live alligators thrashing around in moats. Fortunately, UFC doctors were a bit more practical in their thinking, advising against such plans because of the potential harm these could do to the fighters.

2- It won over John McCain

The UFC’s early days were decidedly underground until 1996, when a tape of one fight reached the desk of Arizona Senator and boxing fan John McCain. The Senator was disgusted by what he saw, famously calling it “human cock fighting.” His campaign against the UFC was both devastating and, ultimately, invigorating to the sport. Among other tactics, McCain sent letters to the governors of all 50 states urging that they ban the sport, and it worked -- the UFC was practically shut down.  

Since then, and chiefly because of a change in ownership, the UFC has done an impressive job cleaning up its image. A transformation so drastic that Senator McCain has been widely quoted as saying: “The sport has grown up. The rules have been adopted to give its athletes better protections and to ensure fairer competition."

3- It originally had the same standing as the KKK

While early ideas like alligators and electric fences never came to fruition, promoters did hype fights as being “no holds barred,” ending only with “knockout, submission or death.”  When McCain began his anti-UFC campaign in 1996, he succeeded in accomplishing numerous state bans on the sport, and was able to push athletic commissions to refuse the sanctioning of a single bout. Perhaps the most telling example of the backlash came at the hands of a public TV station that refused to run a UFC sponsorship ad -- to that point, the only other organization the station had ever refused was the Ku Klux Klan.

4- Its owners have agreed to settle disputes with jujitsu

In one of entertainment’s most lucrative business deals, casino billionaire brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta bought the floundering UFC for $2 million in 2001. Three years later, they were $34 million in the red, despite having the sport sanctioned by athletic commissions in Nevada and New Jersey. Then, they got it onto Spike TV by offering to pay for the production of a reality show, Ultimate Fighter, and their financial numbers began to change. Near the end of 2006, Business 2.0 claimed the UFC brand to be worth in excess of $700 million, thanks in large part to pay-per-view events. In 2006, the UFC’s 10 PPV events are believed to have generated over $200 million in retail revenue. 

Currently, in the spirit of the UFC, the ownership contract features a unique dispute resolution clause: In the case of a deadlock between members of Zuffa, LLC., the Fertitta brothers, “... shall engage in a sport jujitsu match" of three five-minute rounds, which would be referred by the current UFC president (and 10% owner of Zuffa) Dana White.

5- Its president lured back a fighter by fighting him

Fittingly, the UFC’s top brass could probably take on the top brass at any organization in the world and come out on top. Not only are the Fertitto brothers themselves trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but Lorenzo has also sparred with a number of UFC fighters, and the brothers’ trainer is former kickboxing instructor, boxer and UFC President Dana White. As a testament to White’s toughness and commitment to the organization, when Tito Ortiz -- one of the UFC’s star fighters -- left the organization, White managed to lure him back to the UFC -- by agreeing to go three rounds against him.

May 10th, 2008 Belterra Casino, Hotel and Resort ,  UFC Veteran and Ultimate Fighter Season 3 Finalist Josh "The Hammer" Haynes will compete against the current MMA Big Show 185lb Champion Billy "Mojo" Horne.

Mojo Horne is known for having devestating Muai Thai kicks, knees and all around touch as nails form as well as a strong BJJ background under the guidance of UFC fighter Jorge Gurgel and Rich Franklin. Mojo is a hometown champion and a major up and comer in Mixed Martial Arts.

Josh Hayens, known for his incredibly emotional story in the Ultimate Fighter Season 3 in which he ended up fighting his way through to becoming a finalist and well known combatant in MMA. Josh is known for "Hammer" like power in his striking and is a very well rounded fighter. This fight will be the main event at the MMA Big Show: Martial Fury event at the Belterra Casino, Hotel and Resort in Belterra, IN.

Other fighters on the card include current 170lb Champion Roger Bowling, Dustin Winterhalt, Chad Hinton and many others in this Pro/Am event sure to excite and impress the crowd. More details on this event is coming soon and can be found at www.MMABigShow.com

Tonight’s EliteXC card features an intriguing mix of heavyweight matchmaking and an assortment of debuts on the main SHOWTIME portion of the card as well as the ProElite.com Internet portion (starts at 7:30 p.m. on ProElite.com) of the show.

Many people are focusing on the night’s main event between Kimbo Slice and Tank Abbott, and understandably so, but a heavyweight clash scheduled between Antonio Silva and Ricco Rodriguez is another match that I think is very intriguing.

For Rodriguez, it’s another shot at the big time as he looks to capitalize on the mainstream attention he’s garnering for his involvement in VH1’s “Celebrity Rehab with Doctor Drew.” It seems like Rodriguez is starting to get some headlines, but probably for all the wrong reasons.

To be honest, if I was a promoter, I wouldn’t touch the guy after hearing him re-tell the story about how the moved the body of his girlfriend, thinking she was dead when she was really alive, following an accident in which he was driving while intoxicated (hey, he revealed all of this on national television).

Rodriguez claimed he moved her into the driver’s seat because he had prior convictions on his record and was looking to beat the rap. Yes, instead of seeking medical attention for her his biggest concern was himself. Thankfully, she survived the accident but ended up taking the rap and served time because of it. But hey, if EliteXC has no remorse about promoting Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett, why should Ricco be a problem?

As far as the fight itself, tonight’s match will be Silva’s first official heavyweight bout. While he weighed in at 265 pounds against Jonathan Wiezorek at EliteXC: Renegade in November, Wiezorek weighed in over the heavyweight limit so the match was technically a super heavyweight bout.

A lot of people believe Silva is a top ten heavyweight and while I believe he has the ability, he needs to start beating top ten guys before he himself can earn a spot there. While Ricco isn’t top ten these days, he will pose the toughest test of Silva’s young career.

Debuting on tonight’s show will be James Thompson and Scott Smith while Brett Rogers and Yves Edwards will be appearing on SHOWTIME for the first-time.

On the Internet undercard, Eric Bradley and Rafael Feijao are two fighters that have the potential to be fighting on national television in the not too distant future while Mario Rinaldi and Dave Herman are worth watching as well.

In all, tonight’s card before what is expected to be a sellout card has the potential to be an entertaining show from beginning to end. Below is my full preview of the event with predicted outcomes.

CLICK HERE TO READ SAM CAPLAN’S FULL BREAKDOWN OF ALL TEN BOUTS ON HIS PROELITE.COM BLOG

If you are proud of what FighterAccess.com is doing and would like to help us grow, take this banner and link to us!

Thanks for the support! 

I've been in Mixed Martial arts now since mid 2006. Not a lifelong veteran like many. I remember the first UFC events over a decade ago thinking how it was the most wild thing I had ever seen. Starting out training as a fighter and learning how things work from that perspective, then getting into fight promotion and learning the opposite perspective, I've learned over $100,000 in lessons this past year.

#1 Fighters that signup and show up are a rare breed in the early stages unless they have at least 2 Pro fights with an amateur record.

#2 If your reputation as a promoter is outstanding, fighters will drive from all ends of the Earth for next to nothing for an opportunity to fight for you.

#3. Many fighters in this sport are smart, business minded and hungry with nobody to teach them.

Fighters want this sport to boom and they are willing to do just about anything to get an inch ahead in the game. With the sport being so new yet and noticing just how much more accessable most fighting stars are today, it makes the dream of being a UFC star that much easier to focus on. The problem is, everyones dream is to somehow be a part of the UFC. Or is it a problem?

I look at the UFC as the neccessary evil in the sport. For one, they founded the sport, so it's their rules. Well, it should be anyway, it just depends on which state you live in and how that states athletic commission decides how they want things to go down and they almost all want to be different if for no other reason than to appear like they are working on "something". They constantly tout the "safety of the fighters" yet in some states they make fighters weigh in the morning of the day of the fight. I understand its to limit weight gain between weighing in and fighting but it's really counterproductive. In any case many states abide by the UFC rules primarily for pros. I respect the UFC, but seeing guys in the UFC who are title holders only making $100,000 on a fight is truly crazy to me. 

Granted, in MMA, fights can be over in 30 seconds, unlike boxing. So, you need more fighters to fill a fight card up. In boxing you fill up a card by the number of rounds which is typically 3 fights. In MMA, you need about 8 fights on the pro level to carry into a 2 hour time period, if you're lucky. So, lets say the Main event of a boxing match made $10 million dollars times Two fighters. Thats 20 million bucks just for the main event to carry the PPV sales etc.. I dont even think the entire fight card in the last UFC event cost over a million bucks. Why? Because there aren't any Freeagents fighting in the UFC. They are all signed to multi fight, 85 page contracts that take away any other potential for revenue such as likeness fees and such for anything from video games or merchandise, at least thats what I've been told. It could be bogus info. But I'm doubting it. I'm sure the legal dept at Zuffa isn't much different than a major record labels legal groups. The problem is though, some guys are getting smarter.

If I were able to get into contact with all of the big names of the UFC that aren't under strict contract, Id offer them all a profit sharing agreement to fight on a well marketed PPV event and make us all millionaires. Guys like Randy Couture should be making 10 million a fight. Hes the biggest damn star there ever was. Chuck, Tito, they are up there as well. As other promotions invade the turf of the UFC and sign every guy whose contract dries up such as EliteXC, it's still not really helping the sport grow overall, though I do hear Gary over at EliteXC treats everyone like kings and pays really well.

But lets say this, if I were the UFC and I took all the risks and financial investments over the years to develop a new sport and gave all of these big names a break to make some money, wouldn't I deserve to reap the rewards of my risk and labor? Yes, to a point.

The way i see it, you dont get rich paying people what they are worth. But once you get rich off the backs of other people, you best be sure to take care of those folks from then on or it may be your own back that ends up broke.

I just dont see much changing in MMA until more guys are fighting around as Free Agents. One question I have to ask though is, if a guy isn't a big name being hyped by big budget UFC marketing, will the general MMA public care about guys no longer under strict contact? In other words, is it the power of the UFC marketing machine what makes and breaks the stars? If you say yes, you dont care about them once they are out of the UFC, then there is the answer to why the fighters are willing to stay for so much less money than they should be making.

As I've always said, everyone wants to be a part of something they see as being bigger than themselves. 

And please don't assume this latenight rambling as being something I'm trying to pass off as an article because it's honestly just a brain fart I thought Id share.

Thanks for reading. 

My experience is very short and somewhat simple since MMA Big Show Champions was my amateur debut. I've got the San Shou fights at the Arnold last but that is pretty much it. I'd like to think I train like a veteran champion though.

 
So how long have you been a Mixed Martial arts fighter? Technically 6 months. I've been wrestling and boxing since I was a kid. Picked up kick boxing in 2005 and other disciplines like Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu this year.

 
What is the best fight you have been in so far and what happened? MMA, not really a hard fight yet. I've had one MMA fight. I won by submission in about 39 seconds. I would say besides that the toughest fight I've had in competition would be in the finals at the 2006 Arnold Classic. It couldn't TKO the guy. He basically survived punishment for 3 rounds.
 
Who was the toughest guy you've come up against so far? The toughest guy(s) I've gone up against would be my sparring partners and trainers. As far as competition, I guess the guy that survived the fight at the Arnold last year. No disrespect intended. I just haven't had the opportunity to face the competition I've wanted. 
 
 
What are your plans for the future? My plans for the future as a fighter are to get as many quality wins as possible in some of the regional shows so that I may have the opportunity to perform at the next level in the near future.

 
What is your training schedule like? My training schedule consists of an equal balance of all facets necessary to be my best. I train 7 days a week unless my body tells me I need a day off. That rarely happens. Mon, Wed, Friday I start out with strength conditioning. This includes approximately 700 to 1000 reps of band work, free weights and plyometrics. After that I do 6 rounds of mitts incorporating punches, knees and kicks. I end up with one of two options. Either bike for 9 miles and climb 50 flights of stairs or run 3 miles and then hit the bike. Tuesday and Thursday I do some light sparring for about 10 or 12 rounds, hit all of our striking bags and grappling dummies for another 10 rounds or so and end up on the bike, stairs or roadwork after that. Saturdays I attend our Jiu Jitsu and MMA classes at our gym from about 10:00 am until 12:30 pm. Sundays is the hard sparring day. We work on anything from just boxing to submission grappling to wrestling to MMA. I like to get in around 20 rounds or so. I like to through some Cross Fit and the "300 Spartan" work out  in whenever I can also.

This is my typical week. When I'm training for a fight we kick up the intensity a few notches.

 
What do you eat day to day? I'm pretty strict with my diet on a daily basis. I try to get at least 350 grams (body weight x 2) of protein a day by way of protein shakes and bars, tuna, fish, or chicken. My carb intake is typically around 250 - 300 by way of rice, baked potato or pasta. I drink at least a gallon of water per day. This all changes when I'm cutting weight. Protein and water go up and the carbs go down.



How difficult was your transition from college wrestling to MMA? The transition from wrestling to MMA was easy. I was actually always a fighter at heart that became a wrestler. I learned early  in MMA training that I was surprisingly comfortable from my back and  where not to put my head IF I shot in for the take down. The Jiu Jitsu has really grown on me well.

 
How did you handle the stress of your first fight? I used it as fuel. That guy was there to steal what I worked for. The training, the pain, the dieting, the time away from my family. Yeah.....it was all his fault but he just didn't know it.

 
What do you listen to or do to prepare yourself right before a fight? All heavy metal and maybe some hardcore gangster rap.

 
Who in the UFC would you most like to fight and when? Roger Huerta.....yesterday. Wanna know why? I respect the guy a lot. I just think I can beat him. I'd kinda like to beat Clay Guida's hair off too though. 

Ben Goldstein from CagePotato.com sent along the following:

My broheem Kipp just interviewed the IFL's heavyweight champ

Roy Nelson, and without much prompting, got him to trash pretty much

every aspect of the IFL. It's some wild, incendiary shit...link is here:

CagedPotato

Here's an excerpt:

CP: The IFL announced a while back that their business plan

involved sharing profits with the fighters, as well as providing

salaries and health benefits to train and fight. Has this been the case?

RN: Yes and no. What I mean is, if you complained enough they would

help with the medical stuff but you'd have to be all over them.

CP: Are you on salary?

RN: The 2007 season, a lot of people were on salary. But now they're

trying to go backwards and just pay for fights.

CP: We assume since the IFL is not turning profits, there has not

been much by way of profit sharing, correct?

RN: Correct. I think they used that method how a pimp does with his girl.

Holding that carrot out at the end of the rainbow.