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MMA Hype is back from the Holidays, Brett and Jared are with James Listerman

 

Tonight on MMA Hype, Brett and Jared are back from their Holidays, and are inside our Amsterdam’s studio, along with MMA Hype’s owner, James Listerman.

 

-- -- --

 

Jared Asante: Hello to all MMA Hype fans! We are finally back after nearly 2 weeks of vacations. We would like to kick off the new year by saying Happy New Year to everyone who watches us or not, we’re not fussy, and wish you all a year full of happiness and great surprises.

 

Brett Clarke: We’ve only been around since late 2013, but the new year shall be the greatest of all, since we plan to keep doing what we’re already doing, and even more. We have MMA Hype’s owner here with us, how are you doing James?

 

James Listerman: I’m doing great Brett, thanks to you and Jared, MMA Hype is nominated as “Writer of the Year 2013”, so this is simply amazing to see. It’s an honor to be nominated along such great writers, and the only reason we are up there, is because our fans are just so great with us. We’ve been having really good feedback from fans all over the world, and this is greatly appreciated. Win or lose, we will still see ourselves as winners, since the nomination is a big accomplishment for us here.

 

Jared: For sure. I mean, all we’re looking for, is to please all the fans, and to give opportunities to all managers and fighters to make a name of themselves. We like to work with everyone, because we see any fighter or manager as the best.

 

James Listerman: Exactly Jared. 2014 should be a year full of excitement and surprises for us. Like Brett said earlier, we already have plans for a lot of things. We are sponsoring a few tournaments, like BEEF and Flocorps’ for example, and we are even thinking of expanding MMA Hype, by hiring a new employee. That’s something really big for us, and should be even bigger for the community.

 

Brett: There’s also the partnership with Ascension, and a few contests that we will be doing in a near future that we could discuss.

 

James Listerman: Of course. As you already know, we’ve been partnered with Ascension as their official press conferences hosts. It’s been really with them, even if we’ve been with them for only a month or two. Ascension is one of the best fight org around, and they helped us grow into a respected business. Thanks to all the staff there, everyone’s been really generous with their time.

 

Like Brett added, we will be doing a few contests here and there in our shows. We’ve done one before, which was a clothes giveaway, and it worked pretty well. We won’t give out any more information regarding contests at this time, but all I will say is, there will be clothing giveaway, and even bettings involved. So to all you, tycoon gamblers, stay alert ;)

 

Jared: It will be a great year for sure, I’m glad to be back at my post. Thanks for taking the time to be with us James.

James Listerman: My thanks are going back to you guys, for being so dedicated to MMA Hype. You guys are the reason we’re doing so well. Keep up the good work, and to all viewers, happy new year!

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Brett is in Rio with Barbarian FC’s owner, Pedro Fernandes

 

Tonight on MMA Hype, Brett Clarke made a quick trip to Brazil, to meet with Pedro Fernandes, owner of the fight org Barbarian Fight Club in Rio de Janeiro.

 

With over a hundred fighters signed, and 2 events in the books, they sure are looking sharp, and are welcoming all new fighters who are looking to start their pro careers.

 

Here is Brett with Pedro Fernandes.

 

-- -- --

 

Brett Clarke: Greetings ladies and gents, I have the pleasure to be here in Rio, with owner of Barbarian FC, how are you Pedro?

 

Pedro Fernandes: I’m great Brett, thanks. Hope you saved some energy for Barbarian Weekend, you’re our special guest for this weekend.

 

Brett: I’m all set at the hotel, I’m ready for the fights for sure!

Rio sounds like a really nice place to have a fight org, was it your first choice when you started?

 

Pedro: You know… I’m from Rio, and when you work in this area, you eventually get to know lots of fighters from the circuit. When I started I put my fighters in Notorious Fights in the very capable hands of Rory Daly and Butch Harris, but I didn’t agree with Brazilian fighters having to do their debut in other countries because of the lack of interest of our own organizations, so I took the decision to do something about this, that’s how Barbarian Fight Club was born.

 

Brett: Since you are located in Brazil, the country who brought BJJ to the sport, do you find yourself with more BJJ practitioner in the organization, or is it well mixed? Also, do you concentrate on signing local fighters, or outsiders are not an issue at all?

 

Pedro: It is well mixed, but I need to be honest, the BJJ is doing better in the first events. We have the TWGC Champion #1 Jared Gracie in 170lbs, #1 in 205lbs Aderbal Maia with 5 wins by submission in the first 2 minutes and other BJJ raising stars. About the local fighters, they all have open doors to the event, that’s the goal of Barbarian Fighter, keep them active and show to new managers how you can enjoy MMA Tycoon when you interact with other managers. We are looking to other cities which may have this lack of opportunity too, in fact our first act will be to buy a Jet to the org, so we will be able to offer 1st class flight for free to these fighters 1 or 2 days before the event.

 

Brett: The org seems to be off to a good start. Barbarian FC 2 was sold out and had a really nice rating for a new org, you must have been really happy about that?

 

Pedro: Couldn’t be happier. We have contracts with over 115 fighters and only for this weekend we will have 2 events and other 4 events booked. We have partnership with Mango Nutrition, the #1 nutrition company in Brazil and recently made contact with the famous Luan Dovik who is the best poster designer that I have ever seen, he will be designing a few Barbarian Fight Club posters.

 

Brett: As we speak, like you just said, you have 115 fighters signed on your roster. What is your main goal, is it to have a big roster, or will you be looking for quality over quantity?

 

Pedro: To be honest, I’m not looking for quality or quantity. We want to give the managers the opportunity to see how the game works, to make them enjoy MMA Tycoon. I’m doing my best with the help of guys like you with MMA Hype, Tony Rossi who can give a spectacular writing to make the managers feel like they are really in a professional event and can live it. We don’t want to have the bigger roster or the best fighters; we want to have the happiest managers, this is our goal.

 

Brett: You hired Tony Rossi as the writer for the org. Is he helping with work around the org, or is he just focused on the writing? Have you guys known each other before?

 

Pedro: He is focused on the writing, doing all our news, previews and possible fight interviews in the future, but I can’t say he is just our writer, he is much more than this, I could say he is the head of Barbarian Fight Club, the one who can make it look really professional. My friend Aderbal Maciel who was the one who got Barbarian made the first contact after be amazed by his work in Warrior Fight League from Helsinki. I’ve heard he is also doing free lances: if anyone is looking for a writer, Tony Rossi is the guy.

 

Brett: You seem to be working real hard to please all the fighters and make them like it at Barbarian FC. I see it as a great org with a lot of potential, I’m sure I’m not the only one to think so. Do you have any specials plans or specials events that you plan on throwing out there for the fighters?

 

Pedro: I’m really trying my best. For the next week we will be starting our Smack Talk thread and probably making a 4 man tournament to get our first champion. We are looking to get a Jet to close this distance that makes some of the new managers scared to join Barbarian Fight Club.

 

Brett: What’s great about an organization for new fighters like yours is that, you may have, in your roster, the next big thing in MMA Tycoon. Some of the fighters will outgrow the others and move on elsewhere, but that’s part of the business.

 

Pedro: In real, I’m very excited to see one of our fighters getting to the next level. It will be great to announce in the future that a fighter who made his debut in Barbarian Fight Club is the new #1 p4p. It would sound great, right?

 

Brett: Well, it’s been really great to be here, that’s all the time I will take from you, and thanks for having me. Is there anything you’d like to add, or anything you’d like to tell the fighters and managers from all around the world?

 

Pedro: Thank you for the opportunity Brett, it was a great pleasure. I would like to thank Tony Rossi, Luan Dovik and all the great managers who are part of Barbarian Fight Club and do their best for the show. We have our door open to any manager who has 230K+ fighter and want to join us. Happy new year to you Brett and to all managers.

 

Brett: Happy new year to you too, and I'm looking forward to the Barbarian Weekend!

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Jared receives Xtreme K1 Combat owner, Aaron ThaiGuy

 

Tonight on MMA Hype, Jared Asante receives Aaron ThaiGuy, owner of Xtreme K1 Combat, inside our Amsterdam’s studio.

 

Xtreme K1 Combat, like it’s name states, is a K-1 fight organization based in London. They are 220k+ ID restricted, except for the 145lbs division, which is open ID.

 

Here is Jared with Aaron ThaiGuy.

 

-- -- --

 

Jared Asante: Hello to all MMA Hype fans. We are live inside our Amsterdam’s studio, with owner of Xtreme K1 Combat in London, Aaron ThaiGuy! Hi Aaron, hope the trip wasn’t too bad, how are you doing?

 

Aaron ThaiGuy: The trip was great thanks Jared, I’m glad to be here with MMA Hype!

 

Jared: I want to start off the interview with something different than a question. It takes a lot of guts nowadays to start a K-1 fight org, and you showed everyone that it was indeed, possible and doable, because you did it, and I want to congratulate you about that, you’re doing one heck of a good job with it, it’s been amazing since day 1, and I keep hearing great things about the org, well done.

 

Aaron: Thank you very much, at first I’ve got to admit it wasn’t easy and there were times when I felt like throwing in the towel but I just stuck at it and kept going and things have really been going well! I never expected the success we’ve had in such a short time and the buzz Xtreme K1 Combat has built is satisfying to see.

 

Jared: When you first started the org a few months ago, did you only have K-1 in your mind, or were you leaning towards MMA a little bit?

 

Aaron: No, K1 was always my plan from the offset! Although I have had times when I’ve thought F*** it I’ll just do MMA it will be so much easier but in the end I stuck out and I feel things are starting to pay off.

 

Jared: I think London is the perfect location, but did you study the market before establishing the org there, or did you have a few more locations in mind?

 

Aaron: London was the place I always wanted to start my org in so I got lucky really that things did turn out so well in London.

 

Jared: You hired Mr knowledge as a Recruiter for your org, what is the relationship between you guys? Did you know each other before, and how is he helping around the org?

 

Aaron: I have actually recently had to fire Mr Knowledge from his role within the org. He just wasn’t up to the work which cuts it around here and I will actively be seeking a recruiter over the next few weeks. If anyone is interested in this role then they can message me through my profile account.

 

Jared: You recently did a 8-man tournament, which was a huge success. You then decided you take it one step further, by announcing a Xtreme K1 World Tour, that is currently open for signups, and should start at the beginning of April 2014. I personally think that it’s the greatest way to make a name of yourself by participating in such a big event, did you receive good feedback and interest?

 

Aaron: The 8 man tournament was fantastic, the fighters and managers loved it, I loved it and the people around the tournament loved it but after it I just didn’t feel satisfied, I guess I always just want to do bigger and better which is where the Xtreme K1 World Tour came to mind, the tournament originally was going to host 96 fighters with fights taking place in all 12 of the cities but due to the slow sign ups and the possibility of the tournament not filling as quickly as I would have liked I have decided to cut it down to 48 men. A lot of people have been very supportive of the tournament although I have had a few remark from managers regarding the K1 rules as to why they won’t sign there fighters up but with over 2 million in prizes and much much more then to me they are the ones missing out for sure!

 

Jared: I have a question for you, not as the owner of Xtreme K1 Combat, but as Aaron ThaiGuy the manager. One of your fighter, Thomas Dijkman, recently fought one of Listerman’s fighter, Frank Damozzi, down in Helsinki. Damozzi is a good friend of mine, and he was devastated by that loss, but I saw you chatting with Listerman before the show. Will we see a rematch between those two in the near future?

 

Aaron: I am hoping that they can have a rematch soon yes, Thomas has a fight in 4 days and I know that Frank has a fight coming up also. They both had some kind words to say to each other before the fight and they put on a great show for us all to watch! Especially me as my fighter won his first submission of the night reward! I did speak to Listerman about having a rematch and we mentioned in a month’s time as after his next fight Thomas will go to a training camp in Las Vegas.

 

Jared: Well Aaron, thanks a lot for coming here in Amsterdam to see us, it was a pleasure to meet you, and I wish you the best of luck with Xtreme K-1 Combat, it looks promising, so keep it up!

Is there anything you’d like to add, to all the fans, fighters, or managers watching the show right now?

 

Aaron: I would just like to say thank you to everyone who has supported Xtreme K1 Combat in our growth in the game and all the fighters who have battled it out on our show and gave the fans what they’ve been to see! I’d also like to thank MMA Hype for giving us the chance to have a chat with you!

Everyone should be ready to expect big things from Xtreme K1 Combat in 2014!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi guys not sure if you forgot about me or not? Things have changed a bit since we spoke anyway so would it be possible to do the interview in a few weeks(if you still want to do it that is?) as I have decided to withdraw my org from the Steel Penn ICON project and will be undergoing a rebranding and would like to be able to give you all the info regarding new name etc. Cheers

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Brett and Jared discuss the Burning Bush season debut

 

Tonight on MMA Hype, Brett and Jared are in the studio to talk about the popular new show from the fight organization BEEF, the Burning Bush.

 

What is the Burning Bush? It’s a reality show, season tournament, where the selected participants enter a house, where they are not allowed to leave until the show is fully completed. The 12 fighters who are participating to the show have already been selected from a pool of 20. The weightclass of choice for the first season is Openweight, so there’s a lot of different shapes in there!

 

Here is Brett and Jared.

 

-- -- --

 

Jared Asante: Hello ladies and gentlemen! It’s been a while since we sat down in this studio. We’ve been quite busy lately, but we should be able to start providing you guys with a lot of quality stuff from now on.

Tonight’s subject will be the Burning Bush season one. All 12 participants are now set inside the house and they all have their first opponent assigned.

 

Brett Clarke: It’s going to be a really good show to watch. There’s already stuff going on inside the house, and the viewers can already get a quick glimpse of some of the stuff that is happening in there.

Here is the list of fighters who are currently inside the house:

 

-- -- --

 

Brews

Keyser Soze

Gerard Mookjai

Rocky Austin

Bammy Davis

Alex DeLarge

Leandro Ataides

 

Egyptians

Derek Lynch

Jim Duggan

Orlando Maltravers

Rhan Awhem

Dave Demonic

Brutus Buffcake

 

-- -- --

 

Brett: As you may have noted, the 12 fighters are divided into two groups; Brews and Egyptians.

Before the fighters even got inside the house, it has been announced that there would be plenty of mini-games and fighter interviews popping up at random times throughout the show.

 

Jared: It sounds like it’s going to be really entertaining, no doubt about it. We already saw a few pranks that fighters did to each other, like someone put Saran Wrap on the toilet, someone slipped on pee, and a guy even wiped his ass on a pillow, it’s pretty crazy in there!

 

Brett: We also saw the first “mini-game” of the season, which was a 10k prize that went to the fighter Gerard Mookjai. The mini-game happened at a campfire while they were roasting marshmallows and talking about fighters they looked up to.

 

Jared: The first episode of the season will be live on TV February 5th, at 6:00 Montreal time. In that episode, we will see all 12 fighters fight, is that correct?

 

Brett: Correct. The way it works, the fighters will have fights against each fighter in their group, and after those 5 fights, they will be ranked within that group. Here is the 6 matchups for Episode 1:

 

-- -- --

 

Gerard Mookjai vs Alex DeLarge

Leandro Ataides vs Keyser Soze

Rocky Austin vs Bammy Davis

Derek Lynch vs Brutus Buffcake

Dave Demonic vs Jim Duggan

Orlando Maltravers vs Rhan Awhem

 

-- -- --

 

Jared: Looking forward to those fights and to the full season. I don’t think I will miss a single second of action that we will see on TV, it’s already very exciting and funny as hell.

Brett: Don’t miss out on that show guys. February 5th is where the season officially kicks off with Episode 1.

 

 

-- -- --

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Brett travels to Las Vegas to meet with owner of new org, Honor FC

 

Tonight on MMA Hype, Brett Clarke travelled to Las Vegas, where he had quite a rough time at the casino, but he’s now with the owner of Honor FC, to speak of the recent changes and the new direction of the organization.

 

Here is Brett Clarke with Dan Monk.

 

-- -- --

 

Brett Clarke: Hi there Dan. I’ve lost quite a big amount of cash earlier at the casino, I guess it takes a lot of control when you live here in Vegas. How is the city treating you so far?

 

Dan Monk: Hi Brett, Thanks for taking the time to fly out here. As for Vegas, I love it here man! Best city on earth in my opinion but I found out pretty soon after I got here to stay clear of the casinos. Haha those places will leave you broke and shirtless if you let them Brett!

 

Brett: You recently re-branding the organization, you went from the ICON brand to an independent organization, that you called Honor FC. My question is, why the sudden name change, and why “Honor” FC exactly?

 

Dan Monk: Well, the name change and becoming an independent organization was something that was always the long term plan anyway when we began under the ICON banner, but fortunately as things turned out with the success of the first few events we held, it was something we were able to do much sooner than originally planned. Also I felt the organization needed to be independent to achieve it's full potential as the ICON project, like all big successful projects, has it's detractors and I wanted Honor FC to appeal to all. I would just like to quickly take this time to give thanks to everyone associated with the ICON project if you don't mind Brett?. We have gone our separate ways but we still maintain a solid relationship and none of this would have been possible this soon without their input and advice. And you asked why the name Honor? Honor is exactly what I intend to make this organization all about from top to bottom. It all starts with the fighters themselves and how we want them to carry and conduct themselves, inside and outside the cage, when they represent Honor FC. It really doesn't end there though, Honor is something I want to run right through the heart of the company, from fair deals and awards for fighters whether they are up-and-comers or seasoned veterans to fair, competitive, exciting fights that the fans really want to see. As the Honor FC slogan says Brett, Honor FC - Its not just a name! It is who we are!

 

Brett: While under the ICON banner, you’ve had 5 successful events. Starting February 1st, you will be officially on with the Honor FC events. It looks like the organization is going to be a success, since you already have over 100 fighters signed on your roster. Was it a hard process to sign that much fighters in such a short time?

 

Dan Monk: I am not going to lie to you Brett, it wasn't easy! I like to run all aspects of the business myself so when it came to signing fighters for the organization, I had spent hundreds of thousands dollars in flight tickets, hotel rooms, phone calls and expensive restaurant bills before I had even thought about signing fees. Something I learned during the process was that most fighters would be happy to meet and sign a deal in a bar or a gym but when you start involving managers and agents, then every meeting is in an expensive restaurant and they eat as much as they can too when it's not them paying Haha. In all seriousness though, after just 5 events, we are now lucky enough to be in the position where managers and agents are contacting me and saying their guy wants to fight for Honor FC, so things have got a lot easier in that respect and we must be doing something right.

 

Brett: Honor FC currently holds all divisions, except for Heavyweight and Super Heavyweights. Are you planning to eventually start signing fighters in those divisions, or will you be focusing more on the current divisions of the organization?

 

Dan Monk: We will be just be focusing on the divisions we have for now, all of which are getting deeper every day and I would say now Lightweight is the only division where could still do with signing a few more fighters - not that we won't still be signing fighters in the rest of the divisions. As regards to Heavyweight and Super Heavyweight divisions, they are not something we have planned at the moment but its definitely not something I would rule out totally for the future. The thing you have to remember Brett, as everybody interested in MMA knows, there is a very successful organization in Las Vegas called Heavyweight Prizefighting which runs with just a Heavyweight division, and a big one at that. It was purely from a business standpoint that I decided to make Light Heavyweight the top division in Honor FC as I didn't want to have a Heavyweight division that was nothing more than a glorified feeder division for Heavyweight Prizefighting as they would have been able to cherry pick the best fighters and we wouldn't have been able to compete financially with the deals they would be able to offer. Maybe further down the line when we are in more of a position to compete with HWP financially and reputation wise then who knows? Thats a long way off in the future yet but as I said I wouldn't totally rule it out.

 

Brett: I heard you hired writer of the year nominee, Tony Rossi as the “Event Press Reporter”. That’s a great addition to the team, no doubt about it. Are you looking to expand the staff more in the near future?

 

Dan Monk: You know something Brett? When I first struck a deal to bring Tony in I had read his work and knew that he was the guy I wanted to be the voice of Honor FC, so obviously I was very pleased when he agreed to become our 'Event Press Reporter'. But as each day passes he impresses me more and more with his dedication and commitment to the cause. He brings so much more than his impressive writing skills to Honor FC as his ideas and help have been invaluable to me and he has been a big part in the re-branding going as smoothly as it has. To answer your question though, to be honest with you I don't think we will be adding to the staff at the moment as I am a pretty hands on owner who likes to deal with all the matchmaking myself as well as the financial side of things. I have however been lucky enough to bring poster designer of the year nominee J.C. Raven on board to design all the artwork and event posters for Honor FC too so I am the only one of the three of us who wasn't nominated for an award last year Haha! I would also like to take this opportunity to thank AaronThaiGuy who designed all the posters for the first five events under the ICON banner and also designed all the new logos and banners for Honor FC and also Mr Cropper who designed the new Honor Fighting Championship belts.

 

Brett: You also have a partnership with a promising clothing company, Meet the Future, who are providing sponsorships to the Honor FC fighters, and also taking care of the merchandise at your events. Are they planning to create and sell Honor FC branded clothing too?

 

Dan Monk: Haha, you don't miss anything do you Brett? Well it's not something I should really be talking about just yet as nothing has been confirmed at the moment but I guess being as you have flown all this way and lost all of your money at the casinos I can give you an as yet unconfirmed exclusive - if thats even possible? Haha! I was in Helsinki this week to have a meeting with Jacob What and his people at Meet the Future to put the finishing touches on our Event Merchandise partnership contract extension and it was definitely something we talked about. I mean I already get e-mails and tweets every day from fans who want to know when we be bringing an official line of Honor FC gear out and it is something that is in the pipeline but as I said, nothing confirmed as yet. Im just glad we have extended our deal with them as they are clearly a company that is going places. Just look at the booths at one of our shows and they literally sell out of everything they bring, and it's no surprise when you see the quality of the designs they sell at competitive prices.

 

Brett: Las Vegas is known to be a great place to do business, but there’s a lot of companies already established out there. Was it your first and definite location when you founded the organization, or did you have somewhere else in mind?

 

Dan Monk: I really did my homework when it came to looking for the best location to open a new organization and spent a week or two thoroughly studying all the viable options. While on the surface it may seem pretty obvious that there is plenty of competition in Las Vegas, its also the city with the most fighters, and the best fighters. There was so much unsigned, impressive talent in Las Vegas that it seemed stupid not to put our roots down here. Lets be honest here - Las Vegas is the home of fighting. Kids grow up with dreams of fighting in Las Vegas and most fighters you talk to want to fight in Las Vegas. It came down to deciding whether we wanted a smaller slice of a massive pie here in Sin City, or a massive slice of a smaller pie somewhere else. To get in the conversation with the best mixed martial arts organizations in the world we are going to have to go head to head with them eventually so why not sooner rather than later? Thats not to say when we are more established we will be limiting ourselves to Las Vegas as you can rest assured that we have a long term plan that includes events in other major cities in the United States as well as international events in markets further afield such as Tokyo, Sydney and Europe.

 

Brett: Well Dan, you have a great looking fight organization. It looks promising and I hope you will keep up the good work with it. If there’s anything you would like to add for the fighters, manager, or viewers at home, here is your time, you have the spotlight.

 

Dan Monk: Thanks Brett, I will do my best Dana White now and go into the hard sell Haha. What I will say is that if you are a fight fan in Las Vegas then you would be doing yourself an injustice if you didn't come to at least one of our shows to see what all the fuss is about because I guarantee you will leave the arena glad you did. Exciting, hungry fighters in competitive matchups going all out for the finish to try and bag the $5k of the night awards on offer. As for the fighters - well if you guys want to make a name for yourself in front of full crowds in the Mecca of fighting, Las Vegas then get your manager to get in touch with me at Honor FC and we will see if we can accommodate you, all weights up to Light Heavyweight will be considered. We kick things off this Saturday night February 1st at the Underground with Renaissance, an event where we will crown our first Honor champion. Then on Wednesday February 5th we will back at the Underground for our first Wednesday Warfare event where we will crown a further two champions and then it just keeps rolling from there with 2 shows every single week - one at the weekend and one on a Wednesday. So if fighting is your thing then come and check us out and you won't be sorry!

 

Brett: Thanks for taking the time to have me here Dan. I have just enough money left to take a cab at the airport and fly back to Amsterdam, so I better leave now before I bet my clothes at the casino. Good luck with Honor FC!

Dan Monk: Thank you very much for coming over here Brett and taking the time out of your busy schedule to speak to me. Good Luck with the show I am a big fan of both you and Jared and you guys do a great job on MMA Hype so keep it up! Have a safe flight mate, and Thanks again.

 

-- -- --

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Dominance buys Crucible Fights: St Petes

 

Tonight on MMA Hype, Brett Clarke is in New York, where he meets with owner of Dominance, Sami Assasi, to discuss the buyout of Crucible Fights: St Petes. The merge process is coming to an end, and the staff has been working really late in the past few days.

 

Here is Brett with Sami Assasi.

 

-- -- --

 

Brett Clarke: Good evening ladies and gentlemen, glad to be here in New York to meet with Sami Assasi. I’m currently walking towards his main office where he should be waiting for me, but I’m exactly 12 minutes in advance, so I hope I don’t catch him at a bad time, I know he’s real busy with contracts and stuff.

 

-- Brett opens Sami’s door and catches him sleeping on his desk. --

 

Brett: Uh, Sami? You ready for the interview?

 

Sami Assasi: Ahm.. Yeah sorry man, been a busy day. I'm ready.

 

Brett: Big news for the org, you just bought Crucible Fights in St. Petersburg. With that, Dominance will become an even better org, as it was already considered a rising organization by many. Are you satisfied about the way it’s going?

 

Sami Assasi: Yeah it's going way better than expected, there were some problems of course with some managers not wanting to sign their fighters outside of Europe, but we still managed to sign a lot of fighters. We also managed to sign all the champions from the four divisions, so overall I would say it's been a big success.

 

Brett: The merge process between the rosters is coming to an end, you’ve had the chance to work with Jonah King, who’s been helping with signing the fighters over at Dominance. How did the merge go, and how did Jonah help exactly?

 

Sami Assasi: The merge went well and Jonah was a big reason for that. Jonah helped me with a lot of paperwork about the contracts and also releasing the fighters from Crucible.

 

Brett: Do you plan on keeping Jonah as a staff at Dominance, or did you guys just agree on the merge process? And what about Ville Coleman, is he sticking around?

 

Sami Assasi: Well currently Jonah's plans aren't quite sure yet, before the merge he was working for Syn so he might go back and work there, if he's not needed there I'm hoping he'll come and work for Dominance. Ville Coleman will not be staying with Dominance, one of the reasons he sold the org was to get to work with Sisu Fights in Helsinki which has been making big waves lately.

 

Brett: I was looking through your roster, and I noticed that the Heavyweight division is starting to be stacked with good skilled fighters. Do you think the title will move around a lot in that division?

 

Sami Assasi: Man I know, that division is starting to look crazy. I think it will be incredibly hard to defend the title in that division, so the chances of the title moving around a lot is high. You got guys like Bo Juggernaut coming in and it will be extremely interesting to see how he holds up. Then we have Bronko Strunz who is just a beast and he just might be the best heavyweight prospect around.

 

Brett: I see that Dyllz Tahere, current Heavyweight champ at Crucible, signed as a Light Heavyweight with Dominance. Is there a reason behind that? He’s not a big HW for sure, but that’s going to be a big adjustment for him.

 

Sami Assasi: Yeah it's a big adjustment for him and I talked to Tahere about it, he told me that he's always felt small as a heavyweight and he also wants to give his teammate Bronko Struntz the opportunity to compete for the heavyweight title. Tahere was close to getting a title shot in his first fight, but we'd thought it would be better for himself to test himself at 205 and see if he can make weight and how he holds up.

 

Brett: Looking back at Dominance’s last few events, the ratings are looking pretty good. With the merge, do you think it will improve both the ratings and hype of the organization at a fast pace?

 

Sami Assasi: We have already ran some of the best events recently in New York and I think the ratings and the hype will get bigger and more people will come to watch our shows. There's some huge fights coming and some major popular fighters are making their debuts soon, who doesn't want to see guys like Johnny Justice fight, and just wait for Lee Murray to defend his title against Joe Ruden, and many other huge fights coming too.

 

Brett: I’m sure that, even with the merge and the stacked roster you’re getting, you will still be looking to improve the organization by adding more and more fighters eager to climb Dominance’s ladder. Will you focus on improving the Lightweight division, since this is without a doubt, the weaker part of the org, or do you have different plans?

 

Sami Assasi: It's still a very new division so understandably it's a bit worse then other divisions. The division has still constantly been getting better and we've added some great prospects in there and the plan is to sign more and more fighters in the division and get the division running properly.

 

Brett: What’s next for Dominance?

 

Sami Assasi: Titties Brett, titties... but in all seriousness, the plan is to become one of the major forces in New York and eventually run our first PPV which should be a huge step for us.

 

Brett: Well Sami, thanks for having me here and taking the time to answer all my questions. Looking forward to all future events with Dominance, I think you have the best rising prospects in your organization. I’ll let you go back to sleep, have a good night man.

 

Sami Assasi: Thanks Brett, thanks for the interview!

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http://i1349.photobucket.com/albums/p742/kevinfurlotte/MMA%20Tycoon/MMA%20Hype/MMA-Hype_zps77ee8eb1.jpg http://www.mmatycoon.com/images/company/logo/1389175824sisulogo.jpg

Sisu Fights looking to make a big impact in 2014

 

Tonight on MMA Hype, Jared Asante is in our Amsterdam studio, where he receives owner of Sisu Fights, Agent Dee, along with one of his staff, better known over there as the “Person in charge of the Sauna” (which apparently, is an important part of finnish culture), Ville Coleman.

 

Sisu Fights started under the name of “Murderers’ Row, which was a fight organization reserved for all the new talent around the world. The company took a turn and they decided to re-brand the whole thing to make it a new and promising org, that the people in Helsinki like to call, “The next big thing”. At least that’s what we heard.

 

Here is Jared, along with Agent Dee and Ville Coleman.

 

-- -- --

 

Jared Asante: Hello, fellow MMA Hype fans, and welcome to another edition of MMA Hype. Tonight, I have the pleasure to have with me, the owner of Sisu Fights in Helsinki, Agent Dee, with his Sauna guy, Ville Coleman.

First of all, Dee, welcome to our studio, glad you guys are here. How are you doing?

 

Agent Dee: Thanks for having us! Nice place you got here. And I'm doing very well thanks for asking.

 

Jared: When you first founded the org, it was under the name “Murderers’ Row”, and was mainly for new fighters looking to make their pro MMA debut. Why the sudden change within the organization, and why the re-brand? Were you alone back then?

 

Agent Dee: Yeah I've created and run multiple ID restricted orgs before and Murderers' Row was just another project of mine. My alliance buddies were concerned about the fact that FinnFighters didn't have a top notch non-ID restricted org anymore since NFC was disbanded. We agreed that since MR was only couple events in we could still transform it pretty smoothly and so we did.

The name change was thrown in to imply the Finn and Scandinavian connection that the org has. We operate from Helsinki so it's only suitable to attach some Northern flavor to it. =)

 

Jared: What is the meaning behind the word “Sisu”, and what does it represent to the organization?

 

Agent Dee: Sisu is a Finnish thing and quite hard to explain. It would be better if people googled it but I think it's best translated as a mix of strength of will and sort of resoluteness in the face of adversity combined. For example when we (The Finns) fought for our independence against the russians we had only tenth of the amount of soldiers or tanks etc and still we kicked their asses out of our lands. That kind of never back down -mentality translates well into the MMA fight cage of course and I think every fighter MUST have at least a little bit of Sisu in them to be successful.

 

Jared: The organization is already past 6 events under the new Sisu brand, and you guys are targeting a PPV event already, for event #7 on February 15th. Do expect this to be the biggest accomplishment Sisu will go through in it’s first year?

 

Agent Dee: In a way yes. It will be a huge step towards better things. Of Course we want our events get a whole lot bigger from there on out. =)

 

Jared: You recently added a big piece to the organization”s staff by hiring Ville Coleman as the jack of all trades of Sisu. Do you think it will have a big impact on the org?

 

Agent Dee: I hired Ville just because I'm a lazy bastard. Im gonna make him work his ass off here and only pay him pennies mwahahaaa... No really, Ville's knowledge of running successful orgs combined with his contacts and superb activity makes the whole orgs better for sure.

 

Jared: And you Coleman, do you think you can make a big impact on Sisu Fights, with all your experience as an org owner, like Crucible Fights: St. Petes that you recently sold?

 

Ville Coleman: I certainly hope so! CF: St.Petersburg was a great learning experience for me. It was my first try in the org business and I had a lot of fun running it. I learned a ton about the org business and made a lot of friends in the progress. I’m sure that the experience I gained and contacts I made will be a tremendous help now when we are aiming to make Sisu Fights one of the top orgs in the game.

 

Jared: What is your current functions with the organization at the moment? I know we laugh about the title you have “In charge of the Sauna”, but what do you do exactly, besides taking care of that special Sauna?

 

Ville Coleman: Being in charge of the Sauna is a huge honor and no laughing matter! Saunas have a very special place in the Finnish culture. Women used to give birth in Saunas for centuries and Saunas are in a way very spiritual places for us Finns. In Sauna you don’t just wash your body, you can also cleanse your mind and soul. So while taking care of the sauna is my most important task in the org, I also take care of the everyday functions of the org like recruiting fighters. I also just bought a 10 seater jet for the org so we can fly our fighters to Helsinki. Mostly I just want to be there for Dee to help him out in any way I can because I know that running an org is a very demanding job. While it can be very rewarding it can also take a lot out from you so it’s good that there is someone that you can share the pressure and workload with.

 

Jared: You had your own org in St. Petes not too long ago, which you sold and came to work for Sisu Fights. Was it hard to let go the org to go work in Helsinki, or were you actually glad that Dee decided to try to make something great out of Sisu Fights, so you could help out?

 

Ville Coleman: To be honest I had really mixed feelings about it. It was definitely hard to let go of my org that I had built from the ground up and ran for almost a year. In the other hand I knew it from the very beginning that I wanted to be involved with Sisu. I’m always looking for new challenges and with Sisu I feel that I can be a part of something “bigger” if you will. So when Widing approached me about buying my org and merging it with Dominance everything just kind of fell in place so it was easy for me to accept his offer.

 

Jared: Back to you Dee, can you tell us what is the relation between you, Veikko and Ville? Have you guys known each other before doing business together?

 

Agent Dee: We've known each other for quite some time through MMATycoon since we are all in the same alliance. Actually we used to duke it out me and Ville before as rival org owners when I ran Crucible Fights: Amsterdam and he ran the St.Pete's branch. Both orgs were ID restricted to 190k and we wanted to see who could do better in terms of event ratings, satisfaction rating etc. Obviously Ville lasted way longer than I and most of the time he kicked my ass in those categories too. :( You know what they say: if you can't beat them, join them...

 

Jared: With the PPV planned, do you have anything else in mind, of what could be next for the organization?

 

Agent Dee: Best new org of 2014 is definitely on the bucket list but for now we want the PPVs to start running smoothly. Hopefully with that we can start generating enough money so we can compete with the big boys and start signing some of the top talent to fight for us. In Future who knows... Maybe we will take over all of MMATycoon? :D

 

Jared: Haha, never know!

Well, that’s all the time we had guys, thanks for dropping by our studio, I’m glad I got to meet you and talk about Sisu Fights. To all MMA Hype fans, it was Jared Asante live from our Amsterdam’s studio, have a good night!

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