Issue 140
April 2016
The leading East Coast promoter reveals why the UFC cameras came to the right place for prospects.
When I got the call saying Dana White, Matt Serra and Nick ‘The Tooth’ were coming to Ring of Combat 53 to shoot Lookin’ for a Fight, my card was already set up. It’s not like I set up a special card to impress them. Our events are always of a high standard.
If you want to fight on Ring of Combat you’re going to have a tough fight because tough fights make great fighters. I know – and the UFC knows – it’s who you’ve fought and how you’ve fought that matters. There are guys that are 10-0, but I have guys that are 7-5 that can beat them. The UFC will take my guys because they know they’ve not fought mismatches or easy fights.
All the fighters on my show have competitive fights and they all fight very hard. But they might have pushed a little bit that night with Dana being there. It would be silly not to. If your dream is to be in the UFC and the president is there, I’m sure you’ll push a little bit harder. It was a great opportunity. Every fighter’s dream is to be in the UFC. They give you the most exposure.
Dana told me it was one of the best cards he’s seen – he didn’t see a bad fight. Every promotion has some bad fights sometimes when fighters don’t rise to the occasion, but there were six knockouts, four submissions and every fight was competitive. He was very complimentary.
The shows usually all sell out, so I think that’s going to happen no matter what. But since Lookin’ for a Fight came out the Ring of Combat name recognition is definitely bigger and a lot of people have been trying to get on the card. People have seen it and noticed it and it’s helped my promotion. There’s no question about it.
I think the show can help other promotions too. Dana will make his statements about them and showcase them. Mainstream exposure is great for everybody. But the promotion would have to be good because Dana and his crew are not holding back their comments. I know they went to a show and they said it wasn’t good, or there wasn’t good fighters there.
At the start of Ring of Combat I started developing great fighters who went on to the UFC, so Dana knew I’d sent guys who were not only in the UFC, they were successful – like Chris Weidman, Matt Serra, Frankie Edgar… The list goes on and on.
Dana has always spoken very highly of my show. It’s like the American Idol of MMA: we find unknown, talented fighters. Nobody knew Chris Weidman before he fought for me. Every fight he had earlier on in his career was at my show and that’s how he got known and developed.
I have fighters from other countries that call me up and say they would fly in for free just to fight on Ring of Combat because they know it’s a breeding ground. Guys became instant successes. I’m very proud of our reputation, which has spread – not only in the United States, but also internationally.
I think Dana will be back at Ring of Combat again. He loved the fights and the type of competition here.
58 and counting
East Coast fighter factory
No fewer than 58 Ring of Combat fighters have gone on to fight in the UFC. Randy Brown was the latest, after Dana White and the Lookin’ for a Fight crew scouted him at ROC 53 in November.
