Issue 022

February 2007

Once upon a time people referred to boxing as the sport of gentleman. I am not sure if MMA can be referenced in exactly the same way, however our next leading man could be referred to as a gentleman of the sport; a consummate professional who prefers to stay in the background of the success he has achieved, not only in business but in the dedicated approach he has made to promote mixed martial arts in the UK.

We are honored to tribute Ian Allan in this first set of Leading Men articles. Ian and his dedicated combat sports company Clear Vision (under their MMA DVD label FightDVD) have brought leading MMA action to the masses since 2002. Initially inspired by a trip to a WWE event in America in 1989, Ian was blown away by the action and drama of the staged fighting. Attending an event with such an electric atmosphere and being overwhelmed by the reaction of the crowd, he saw an opportunity to help bring the US phenomenon to UK shores by establishing the sole license to sell and promote WWE DVDs. His commitment to his work helped gain distribution of the products to major UK retail outlets, as well as giving availability to purchase DVDs through their dedicated mail order operation.

When mixed martial arts broke onto the combat sports scene with the Ultimate Fighting Championship it was a forward-thinking man that saw something quite special even then at the earliest stages of the sport. With a firm belief in the potential of the sport as well as a secret for success in the promotion and distribution of this type of subject matter it was a natural progression for Clear Vision via Ian to secure and promote the exclusive license for UFC DVDs and merchandise. It could be argued that no matter what contribution websites, fight night promotions and magazines have made to the growth of the sport in this country, no one has created more interest via mainstream methods since the earliest conception of MMA than Ian Allan and the FightDVD label.

The exposure created in the high street shops and through their FightDVD website has all helped to increase the awareness of MMA. Through him we were all introduced to the sport. We would gasp in awe of scenes such as 30-stone sumo wrestlers being knocked out by a 14st Tae Kwon Do experts. Things have now evolved and instead of the shock factor of earlier events we now gasp in awe at the technicality and athleticism of the worlds most conditioned fighters showcased with production values that do testament to the entertainment they provide.

Under Ian’s guidance the company has since gone on to secure and promote other major organizations such as PRIDE, Cage Rage and IFC. MMA is now much more widely accepted within our everyday lives, so the ability to achieve national distribution through major outlets such as HMV, Virgin and Woolworths when the sport was the closest thing to organized street fighting took not only hard work but a genuine passion and belief in the sport, something which still drives Ian on today.

From taking an interest in UFC in the early 90’s (well before Zuffa acquired the UFC), Ian has seen changes that have made MMA a legitimate sport, which must have been very satisfying. Having witnessed the change and growth of the industry firsthand, Ian believes that 2007 will be a huge year for the sport and for everyone in it. There have been people trying to jump on the ‘MMA bandwagon’ in all areas of the industry, but few will achieve the satisfaction in being able to look back and reflect on not only their own success, but also on the impact they have had in accomplishing success for others to follow.