Issue 116
July 2014
Former FBI agent Bob Bennett will succeed Keith Kizer as the executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The 60-year-old boxing judge beat around 350 other applicants to the post, including competition from established commission heads.
The Nevada commission is regarded as the most influential in North America due to it being responsible for regulating all mixed martial arts and boxing contests in Las Vegas, the fight capital of the world.
Bennett’s predecessor, Keith Kizer, resigned in January after over seven years in the job.
“I’m elated to be selected,” Bennett said of his appointment in April. “It’s an honor and a privilege, and I look forward to serving the state, the commissioners, the athletes, promoters and the fans.
“I see myself as part of a team. I want to work with the promoters and the fighters, as well as the commissioners, and by working together we can maintain the gold standard that is the Nevada Athletic Commission.”
A two-year boxing judge, Bennett has never rendered a decision for a UFC contest and it’s thought he’s had little involvement with mixed martial arts.
He said: “I have my work cut out for me, but I welcome the challenge.”
Bennett will earn an annual salary of $94,000.
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Newly appointed Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Bob Bennett was one of four finalists interviewed for the position out of around 350 applicants.
Low-gravity fighting league fails to land $445k Kickstarter bid
A Kickstarter campaign for low-gravity MMA promotion Matrix Fights has failed to get the required funding. Four backers offered a total of $57 toward the $445,000 goal.
We first told you several issues ago about the funding campaign for Matrix Fights. The concept involved staging mixed martial arts bouts during an airplane journey that slips in and out of martian and lunar gravity – known as parabolic flight. However, after missing out on the required capital it appears the concept won’t get off the ground.
Industry jobs
Who: Ben Crook
Role: Lead nutritionist and founder, Blueberry Nutrition
Info: Blueberry Nutrition, a pioneering bespoke diet plan service, caters to pro fighters and the public
Why did you start Blueberry Nutrition?
“I’d worked in the pharmaceutical industry for a number of years as a biochemist with GlaxoSmithKline. I was made redundant from my previous role and from talking to a friend of mine who ran his own business, he said, ‘You’re a good nutritionist, try and do something you like doing.’ So I sat down and came up with Blueberry Nutrition. That was about three years ago but I’ve been doing it the past two.”
High-level British fighters such as Jimmy Wallhead and Colin Fletcher rave about your diets, and you cater to part-time MMA enthusiasts, as well as the public. Was MMA part of your business plan?
“There’s a small gym near me called Lion’s Den and literally everyone I started working with through this little gym, they all started winning, they all started feeling better, and it just grew from there. At the moment I’m working with the top band in the world and doing the nutrition for them, and athletes from all kinds of disciplines, such as England rugby player James Haskell, but still working with the fighters is brilliant. I started off in MMA and I really appreciate being accepted by the MMA community, it means a lot to me. We’re not totally specific to MMA but I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for it.”
Where do you want Blueberry Nutrition to be in two years?
“Well, I’d like it to still be going (laughs). In seriousness, when people want to lose weight the word on their lips is Weight Watchers, automatically. But, when people want to get healthy, I want them to think of Blueberry Nutrition.”
$204.90
UFC president Dana White recently ate $204.90 worth of food at a lunch with a Financial Times journalist in Mayfair, a high-end area of London.
Rallying/Crashed: The MMA business can be cruel and kind
Rallying: Roost of Fight
Going since 2011, the past three years have seen continued growth for higher-end casual wear combat brand Roots of Fight. The company’s fight heritage inspired designs, official hook-ups with the likes of Mike Tyson, Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and Bruce Lee, and being seen on the likes of Hollywood action star The Rock have established it as a go-to label.
Crashed: BodogFight
BodogFight, otherwise known as millionaire Calvin Ayre’s roll of the dice in the MMA promotion sphere, might have featured names such as Fedor Emelianenko and the pre-fame Chael Sonnen and Eddie Alvarez, but it ultimately only gave the UFC a very limp run for its money. It survived just over a year between 2006 and 2007.
