How to increase your chances to become a more popular fighter in the MMA industry
In the era of “how to become successful at anything” I have decided to take advantage of the trend and to put my experience and knowledge to some use, with the hopes that someone out there might take my advices and accomplish something more.
I have been involved with martial arts for 22 years now, with a humble record of 25 pro MMA fights and a large number of grappling and BJJ ones. I even fought in Muay Thai and Kudo, and absolutely love freestyle wrestling and Judo. The more interesting part of my career however is in the field of events and sports management, and my experience there is vast. During the years I was involved in all imaginable levels of the combat sports industry, and my experience with fighters and instructors far surpasses my fighting career.
Like any other industry, the fighting world has its own characteristics and I think there is still emptiness when it comes to information on how to build successful MMA brand, how to position yourself as a fighter and how to increase your chances of becoming a fighter that promoters like to work with and are willing to invest in.
When we take out from the equation brands like the UFC, Bellator, One FC and a handful others, that have managed to create a real product over the decades of dedicated work and millions of dollars of investment, there are large number of other promotions around the world, that keep popping up and then disappear for unknown reasons. As a fighter, anyone living outside the US is motivated in becoming popular enough so that big brands can sign contract with him/her. This however, it’s obviously not as easy as it sounds. I am pointing my advices to the large MMA community from countries outside the US, where becoming popular is quite different than for the more fortunate ones living in countries that offer suitable opportunities.
So, what are the few things fighters should keep in mind if they live and breathe with one goal in mind — to make it to big stage and become known on a global scale? Without further ado, I present you the Do’s and Don’ts for the professional MMA fighter.
Do’s
1. As a first rule of thumb, if you are a fighter living in a country that doesn’t have its own popular MMA brand, the first thing you must do is learn some English. That’s right, you can’t expect to become famous around the world if you can’t communicate and pitch yourself to the right promoters and the media. Sure, you can use a fighter’s manager to find you fights and manage your purse and the logistics around the events, but what happens when you win and the popular magazine journalist wishes to take interview from you on your amazing fight? Leaving a trail means you have to be able to engage the audience, and that is any audience, not the one in your home country, so communication is key.
2. Create your profile or CV. Every promoter needs to know few vital details about, like who you are, where you come from, what’s your fighting style, how many fights you have and so on, so it is your responsibility to have that information organized and ready to be presented at any given point in a nice visual format. With platforms like Fiverr, something like that can done as easy and as inexpensive as $10, so don’t look for excuses. Remember all the suffering and pain you are going through daily, just to be able to step on the ring and take more of the same? Well then take the same dedication and discipline, sit down and make a CV that can give you that edge over others and see the difference it will make.
3. I can’t stress enough on this one, so please read it two or three times — make sure you have at least several professional high-resolution images of you, that can be used for the artwork that promoters need. Remember you are selling yourself, you want to be known, you want your coach to be proud with you and the people that helped you practice to use your name as reference for success. So how would you accomplish that if all you got is a shady picture taken with a smart phone? Have you seen how these look when placed on a poster? Seriously guys, ask a friend with a nice camera to visit you in your gym, put these gloves on, wear your best shorts, choose a single-colored background, turn all the lights on and make some pro shots. Get someone to edit them and remove the shadows, and take it to next level, position yourself as a professional, not amateur.
4. Next one off is — get ready to travel. Sure, everyone loves traveling, but as easy as it seems, the number of fighters that forget to check the expiry dates on their passports or forget crucial items that they need for fighting is absolutely mind blowing. Check your expiry date and put it as a reminder in your smart phone. If you wish to fight outside your country, be prepared for it. Always have a spare gum shield, shorts, gloves, groin protector and some hand wraps in a bag at home, ready only for trips. Keep those in your carry-on luggage, and never go through the embarrassment of not having one of these items when you arrive at your fighting destination. Anything else you can go without, I mean sure, airline companies often lose luggage, so there is no insurance against that, but if you have these in your handbag you are ready to fight anywhere, anytime.
5. Become international. We live in times in which we have all the information available at our fingertips, so before you take off to a new country, make sure you know little bit about it. Check if there are any particular cultural or legal norms that you have to be aware of. The last thing you want to experience is having trouble at the airport upon arrival, because you wore your running shorts and flipflops when you landed in a conservative country. Remember that chewing gum is banned in Singapore? Well guess what, many other countries have regulations too, and not knowing little bit about them can jeopardize your fight. Also, find out something about the city you are going to, how big is it, what currency they use, how expensive TAXI services are. Don’t look ignorant to the people who have invited you.
6. As basic as it may sound, have some cash with you please. You simply can’t land in another country without any local currency at hand. You can use ATM when you land, or simply have $50 for exchange at the airport, but never leave the airport without some pocket money that can save you in case the promoters fail to send a pick up.
7. Last but not least, act as a person with the promoters. Thank them for inviting you and try to leave a good impression so that even if you lose your fight, you might still be an option for future events simply because they had a good memory of a person that they work easy with.
Now that you know the basics of what you should DO, let’s check few of the things that you shouldn’t do if you wish to build a successful career as a fighter.
Don’ts
1. Don’t think you are special. I mean, sure you are special to the people that know you, but when you get contracted to fight in another country and you are still making a name for yourself, don’t act like you are something more than all other fighters that are part of the event. Be humble and even if the promoters have not provided the basics, keep decent behavior and be a warrior. Always anticipate that the promoters might simply forget to nurture every need, so make sure you have some simple pre-fight food with you for the night of the event, have some water and as I said earlier — bring all your gear. I know how frustrating it is to arrive at the venue 3–5 hours before your fight and find out the organizers have not considered arranging food, fruits or anything else for the fighters, but making a problem out of it doesn’t put you in your best light.
2. Don’t ask for unmatching purse. If you ever organized anything yourself, you must know that nobody is giving away money, so whoever the promoter, keep in mind what you are asking for should reflect your fighting record. Almost everyone in the industry knows how much is offered for a fighter with 5 fights and a fighter with 15 fights, so please stay in line and be realistic.
3. Try not to bother the organizers with every little thing. As a fighter, you are person who is enduring pain and physical challenges on a daily basis, heck, you even travel to another country so that you can step in the ring in front of people and be ready to inflict pain to someone you barely know or get hurt severely by him for absolutely no reason. So, if you are all that as an athlete, don’t be the little boy that constantly asks simple things like where to catch TAXI from, what’s the WIFI password in the lobby or some other childish questions. Organizers are very stressed before events and are usually taking care of important things, and the last thing you want them to remember you with is your constant requests for help with minor issues.
4. Don’t be disrespectful. I know that the American style of trash talking and arrogant performances after a victory is becoming the new normal, but please consider the audience and position yourself correctly. If you are a guest, then most likely there will be more fans in the arena that are against you, especially if you fight one of the local heroes. So, in case you win, act accordingly if you don’t want to shoot yourself in the foot. Be respectful to the opponent and to the audience and let them remember you as the humble guy who defeated their hero, so you will be welcome for future events.
With all this in mind, try to think of yourself as a businessman who is trying to build a brand, the brand is you and the tactics you use to position yourself on the market will determine your future. There are so many events around the world, and they all struggle with most of the issues I have addressed in here. Dealing with fighters must be one of the most challenging tasks for any promoter and you can increase your chances of becoming a fighter people wish to work with if you take these simple advices at heart. As noticed, this article only addresses topics outside of the actual fighting skills, simply because there is plenty of information on that available out there. My aim was to open the topics nobody is talking about publicly, and I hope I was able to help someone with my modest opinion.
