# MMA Promotions UK?



## christoblur (Jan 11, 2010)

Hi,

Firstly, just wanted to say that this is my first post on the forum and I've had a look around and I can't seem to find any UK based promotions - I'm doing research into the UFC as part of a business studies project and was supprised that there doesn't seem to be any here in England.

So my question is, are there any MMA promotions in the UK and If so, where are they and who are they?

Thanks,

Chris


----------



## marc (Jul 16, 2007)

There are loads mate you've not been looking hard enough...can i ask a bit more about your project, ie: what your going to discuss cover/what aspect of ufc? will it be MMA in general or just ufc? Sorry for all the questions, im just curious...

A few uk mma promotions of the top of my head

Ultimate challenge uk

Bamma

OMMAC

cagewarriors

There are about 20 more that escape me at the moment


----------



## Romeo (Dec 2, 2009)

Maybe you could write about the story of Cage Rage as well. It used to be great until it faulted, no offense to anyone affiliated with Cage Rage but maybe you can evaluate on what they did right and what they did wrong.


----------



## rsp84 (Dec 9, 2008)

Cage Rage was sold to eliteXC and they declared bankrupcy so Cage Rage went down the pan.


----------



## christoblur (Jan 11, 2010)

marc said:


> There are loads mate you've not been looking hard enough...can i ask a bit more about your project, ie: what your going to discuss cover/what aspect of ufc? will it be MMA in general or just ufc? Sorry for all the questions, im just curious...
> 
> A few uk mma promotions of the top of my head
> 
> ...


I have to do a presentation on how the UK has been influenced by the United States and as I'm a fan of MMA I'm writing about how the UFC has taken a sport and transformed it into a multi million dollar industry in a very short space of time. Which has in turn been picked up here in the UK and seems to be growing at quite a rate...

Thanks for the list, it really helps. I'm still interested in how the UK hasn't yet produced anything near the quality of the UFC (no offence to any of the promotions listed). But when you look at it, America has the UFC, Japan used to have Pride FC but the UK doesn't have an equivalent. Do you think its because there isn't a market for it?

...Sorry, just trying to get as much help with my essay thats all


----------



## Kunoichi (Sep 30, 2007)

I would't say UK promotions don't have the quality of the UFC, but rather that the UFC has Vegas money backing it up, not to mention an extemely savvy promoter and businessman called Dana White, but I wouldn't neessarily say the UFC has more quality, it's larger, it's more... american


----------



## DanMMA (Apr 7, 2009)

Hello mate, very interested to hear more about your essay. For me i'm also very interested in the UK market size of MMA (how much money it makes)... you may find this website interesting: Mixed Martial Arts it goes on about the US market of MMA.

In my opinion money is the key factor.... you must remember the UFC was bought by Zuffa and already well establish and financial strong company back in the day when MMA was banned in most countries, so they have always been at the forefront and why they are themarket leader (essential everyone else has tried to copy) in the UK I'm not sure if any promotion have that kind of money to put of a show as spectular as the UFC. Cage Rage was probably the first, put they too ran out of money having been sold to EliteXC.

"Knuckle Up" seems to be doing ok...


----------



## marc (Jul 16, 2007)

Its a shame cage rage/ultimate challenge is our uk equivalent of the ufc, its just plain chav, you get the feeling Dana would be laughing his balls off if he saw one and listened to the commentary.

Im looking forward to the BAMMA event, they went down the pan the first time, but i think if they could get a good money man/corp involved they could do big things, the problem is then getting big names and signing them to an organisation


----------



## YourMMA (Aug 20, 2009)

There are a few burgeoning promotions attempting to take things in the right direction... High-level European fighters and the best of the domestic guys. Unfortunately, for the majority of people who buy tickets for events the names and accomplishments don't matter. They're buying tickets to see a friend or see two blokes "twat each other" and herein lies the problem: you're expending a lot more money on better fighters but it will usually make little difference in ticket sales because the 'hardcores' would have been there anyway and the 'casuals' don't care...

Anyway, top promotions in the UK at the moment IMO are:

OMMAC

Strike and Submit

UC

Knuckleup

Bushido Challenge

There are thousands of others though.


----------



## TheInsuranceMan (Nov 27, 2009)

Although I wasn't a huge fan of the CageRage format (dancing girls etc), Dave & Andy did some stirling work in promoting British MMA. Getting Sky Sports to show events was a huge coup. Unfortunately, no one could foresee the ridiculous self-inflicted problems brought about by Elite-XC (fight rigging? please!), so our best known and flagship promotion went down the pan. Fair play to DoD for dusting himself off and starting again though, I have nothing but respect for that man. Fingers crossed he can grow his promotion again (and maybe tidy it up a bit - no offence meant if you're reading this Dave!).


----------



## kainer2 (Aug 7, 2007)

TheInsuranceMan said:


> Although I wasn't a huge fan of the CageRage format (dancing girls etc), Dave & Andy did some stirling work in promoting British MMA. Getting Sky Sports to show events was a huge coup. Unfortunately, no one could foresee the ridiculous self-inflicted problems brought about by Elite-XC (fight rigging? please!), so our best known and flagship promotion went down the pan. Fair play to DoD for dusting himself off and starting again though, I have nothing but respect for that man. Fingers crossed he can grow his promotion again (and maybe tidy it up a bit - no offence meant if you're reading this Dave!).


To be fair ProElite saved Cage Rage from going down the pan.

It's just ProElite and the companies they purchased lost so much money that everything eventually went belly-up anyway


----------



## Gods of War MMA (Aug 3, 2009)

I'm a huge fan of Pro Kumite and Shock N Awe so far from a pro fighter and coaches point of view. They get the contracts out quickly to the fighters, no problems with the fight purses or tickets deals plus the events seem to run smoothly. Angrrrr Management are pretty good too.


----------



## stevecollins1988 (Mar 20, 2011)

Slightly off topic but....

No offence to these promotions, but I don't think names like 'cage warriors' is helping MMA being taken seriously as a sport on this company and only feeds people who dismiss MMA as 'cagefighting' BAMMA seems to be a great name; British Association of Mixed Martial Arts, that's official as the Rugby Football Union or the Football Association and when you say it, it sounds as though it should have the same respect.

I think if British MMA promotions want to be taken seriously and not be seen as (to quote Dana White talking about pre Zuffa UFC) a 'freak show' then they need to seriously think about how they promote. Very few people want to watch a freak show, a lot of people like watching very real and legitimate exciting sports.


----------



## PrideNeverDies (Sep 28, 2008)

I agree, the term cage does no good for the sport , from the views of outsiders

but Cage warriors will always be a hundred times better than BAMMA, when promoting, and taking care of fighters


----------



## Agentman (Jul 1, 2010)

Its probably true to say that the inclusion of a cage in MMA has done more damage to its image over the years than any other single factor because of the images it conjours.

Sadly, for as long as most UK MMA events are held in dingy halls and nightclubs, filled with T-shirt wearing, beer swilling, shaven headed fellas covered in tattoos yelling stuff like "Kill him!" or "Knock him the f**k out!" they will always struggle to attract the casual fans and general public they will need in order to achieve legitimacy.

People on the outside looking in are bound to be intimidated or put off by the atmosphere or feel that it somehow excludes them if they dont have an intimate knowledge of MMA and if MMA in general ever really wants to be accepted in the Western world they will have to make some efforts regarding how they promote themselves.

The Japs had the right formula with Pride. Even though those events were more violent than the likes of the UFC they managed to create an event with the party atmosphere of a day out at the races where even if you dont know squat about horses you can still enjoy the day, get dressed up, have a drink, socialise and maybe broaden your horizons a little about what was actually happening there.


----------



## PrideNeverDies (Sep 28, 2008)

The japanese were much more respectful to MMA

Youre right mate, there are too many amateur productions put on in nightclubs and cheap hotels


----------



## Agentman (Jul 1, 2010)

That said the Japs also have a different cultural attitude to the Brits and Americans.

In Japan crowds sit in relative and respectful silence during competition and the most you might hear is a contemplative "ooooh!" as someone executes a move or a moderate cheer for the winner of a bout. You wouldnt have all the yelling, screaming and swearing that you get at Western events.

If Western audiences behaved more like their Eastern bretherin then I'm sure casual onlookers would have a different impression of the sport despite the fact that the violence in the ring is similar or greater.

Not that I think we should all sit in silence at shows but the shows themselves could do with trying to move away from some of the stereotypes that have plagued the sport.


----------



## stevecollins1988 (Mar 20, 2011)

The problem is I think many of these promotions believe this is how to promote the sport.

I think some promotions think the blood and guts freak show type image in a barbaric cage is the way to get punters through the door, which may be true for some people who have no idea what it's about, on a one night basis. But it's not the way sustain an audience.

I didn't get to like MMA properly until watching the Ultimate Fighter, which improved my knowledge of what Jiu-Jitsu entails and how fighters use different wrestling techniques to control fights, etc. It also showed that the vast majority of MMA Fighters are decent people and in some instances quite funny and articulate. It changed my view on MMA a lot while before being a casual oberver, believing it was mainly like the early UFC shows, instead I steadily became more and more interested in it as a sport. Thats how to sustain an audience


----------



## Agentman (Jul 1, 2010)

I sometimes think that those trying to genuinely promote the sport are pushing against a closed door though.

I listened to Simon Majo interview Michael Bisping for Radio 2 a couple of months back, Bisping was articulate and polite and proved to be an excellent ambassidor however Majo - an experienced broadcaster and journalist - showed startling ignorance, even asking if UFC fighters were allowed to use weapons!

Sadly its organisations like the BBC that the sport will need to get onside if it ever wants to become a mainstream success but when the ignorance of such organisations is such that they cant even be bothered researching a subject prior to interview then how much joy can those hoping to promote MMA expect?

The first principle of journalistic integrity is objectivity and the BBC is supposed to be impartial in its views but this interview and the BBC's general attitude as well as the attitude of some other organisations like the BMA creates the impression that its a closed house and no amount of evidence will prompt them to change their views.


----------

