Issue 024

April 2007

As MMA continues to gain mainstream awareness and understanding, there are more opportunities than ever before for fighters to earn a good wage and leave behind the second jobs that get in the way of their all-important preparations. 

However, for even the best athletes, making it big in one of the most competitive sports in the world is no simple task and over recent years it has become clear that having an experienced professional to help guide a fighter’s career can mean all the difference. Ken Pavia is one such professional, one of a new breed of MMA agents that are starting to have a huge impact on our sport.

Ken’s background as a sports agent stretches way back to 1991, when he graduated from law school and formed his own business, representing baseball and ice hockey players. Around two years ago former UFC heavyweight champion, Ricco Rodriguez, persuaded Ken to bring his talents into MMA and as a huge fan of the sport it was not long before he decided to represent fighters on a full time basis.

Now representing 33 fighters, Ken’s list of clients makes for very impressive reading and he speaks of them with a sense of genuine respect; “Joe Riggs, Chris Lytle, Ivan Salaverry, ‘Razor’ Rob McCullough, who just won the WEC belt… Tiki Ghosen, Mike Pyle, Martin Kampmann, who is experiencing success in the UFC as of late; Phil Baroni. We’ve got a pretty accomplished crew I believe.”

“I talk to them every few days, all 33 of them, I stay in contact as often as I possibly can, that incurs a lot of long hours. A lot of agents charge 20% for contract work and 20% for endorsements – I charge 10% for contract work.”

In terms of contract negotiations, Ken has a huge amount of experience of the process and feels well placed to broker his clients the best possible deal in a market where promoters are often accused of underpaying their fighters. “There’s a wide variety of personalities you encounter in Mixed Martial Arts because it’s so new – and you’ll see the extreme professionals to the guys that don’t know how to pronounce the names of the main events. From my vantage point, you can pick up on who the true professionals are and where the staying power is going to be.”

So why is it that MMA is attracting more and more genuinely mainstream contacts that help push the sport to the next level? Ken had no hesitation: “The sport is growing, first of all, because the UFC is doing a phenomenal job of marketing it, bringing the fans, but also because all the elements that a sports fan looks for can be found in an MMA match. It has finesse and style to go along with the brutality. I think people watch figure skating for its grace – a good jiu-jitsu fight has that element of grace in it. People watch hockey for its violence and it has the element of that as well. There’s a strategy – basically, anything you can see at a sporting event can be found in MMA to an extreme.”

“For years I watched boxing on network television, nowadays I can’t even watch a boxing match, it puts me to sleep. I can’t take it anymore. From a fan’s perspective it’s very boring – I never thought I’d say that but MMA has really redefined combat sports, redefined all elements of fighting.”

For the rise of MMA to continue, Ken was adamant about the need to form a regulatory body to look out for all aspects of fighter’s health and safety. “It would be good to make sure the fighters are in good condition neurologically and physically. They make sacrifices on a daily basis for us… I’d like to see fighters getting the kind of money that boxers have been enjoying for years and then take it to the next level.”

Finishing with a word on the lighter side of the fight game, Ken was careful not to say too much (“What goes on in Vegas, stays in Vegas”) but chuckled as he recalled some interesting nights out after fight shows. “Once a fighter really dedicates themselves for weeks and makes sacrifices in terms of diet and social life, usually you see some extreme behaviour right after the event. All the stories you hear about professional athletes and the crazy life are pretty much all true!”