My MMA Journey - Part 1

I began my martial arts training with Traditional karate in Ireland way back in 1993, my first introduction to grappling came in 1998 when I began training at the Pancrase London club under my first MMA coach Fred Rado, I had already been training in Traditional Japanese Jiujitsu for about a year at my University club but Pancrase was my first experience of real MMA style grappling. London Pancrase based out of Paragon Kickboxing Gym in east London was probably one of the first MMA clubs in the UK and many of the top MMA fighters of that era trained with him.

I had my first amateur MMA match in late 2000. I had already been training in martial arts for over 7 years at that point. MMA was a virtually unknown sport back then especially in the UK, there was no UFC on TV, no Ultimate Fighter tryouts and there was probably only five MMA events per year being held all across Europe.

I never planned to make a career out of fighting but just like everyone else competing during this time I wanted an opportunity to put my training to the test. I had been training in Karate, Kickboxing and some grappling so it seemed the obvious choice to test myself and see if my skills and training would hold up under pressure. It's like learning swimming for years but then never getting in the water to see if you'll sink or swim.

Unfortunately for me I received a huge cut over my eye from an accidental head-butt about one minute into my first match and it was declared a no-contest.

I competed in many more amateur MMA matches over the next two years. These events had different rulesets but usually involved a mixture of striking and grappling and usually no striking to the head. I fought on events including Amateur Pancrase, KSBO and Combat Sports Trials. These events were all feeder events for bigger professional shows. I eventually won either gold or silver in my divisions at all three of these tournaments over the years.

In Mid 2002 the UFC held there first ever event in London (the first UFC to take place outside of the USA, Brazil or Japan). I was lucky enough to train alongside several of the fighters who were making their debuts on this card which saw an explosion in the popularity of MMA in the UK. Not long after that I travelled to train at Next Generation MMA in California for three months.

While training in the USA I pretty much gave up any ambitions to fight professionally. Firstly because I realised that the level in the top countries (USA, Brazil, Japan & Russia) was so far ahead of everywhere else in those days that fighters from other countries didn't really stand a chance. The situation has changed completely since then and now there is much more of an even playing field with fighters from all countries (Australia, Ireland, Poland) having won UFC titles. This is due in a big part I believe to fight coaches such as myself training in these MMA powerhouse countries and bringing back what we've learned to our students and training partners.

Another reason that I didn't want to be a professional fighter is that I didn't want to commit to that lifestyle for the next ten years in the hope that I might eventually get good enough to make it to the UFC or another big event. A career as an aspiring professional fighter was just too uncertain. Sleeping on bunk beds in the gym for three months alongside eight other sweaty training partners from different parts of the world was enough to convince me that I wanted to get back to a normal life as soon as my training trip was over.

In the UK I got back into my normal routine of working during the day to pay the bills and then training in the evening. Around this time I saw a new TV show which was following the careers of some of the early UK fighters on the Cage Rage events. Having had a decent amount of success on amateur MMA, BJJ and Grappling events, I decided that I should step up and test my skills in a pro MMA event.

I was very confident going into my first MMA fight and I remember that this was the only fight that I've ever been confident about. My opponent was quite a bit heavier than me and was an experienced kick-boxer, I was sure though that my grappling would be much better and that once we got to the ground I would be able to arm-lock or choke him. Unfortunately for me the rules of this event meant there was a thirty second time limit on the ground and and my opponent was able to hold on and get back to his feet every time I took him down. He caught me with some big punches right from the beginning and I pretty much didn't remember any of the fight after the first ten seconds. Finally I got knocked out cold in the second round.

This fight was an important learning experience for me as a fighter and a coach. Often before fights fighters will ask me about feeling nervous and the truth is that you should feel nervous because you're about to go out and do something very risky and dangerous. You might get knocked out, slammed on your head or get your arm broken.

When I hear a coach in the changing room telling his fighter not to be nervous (just go in and have fun in there bro). This shows me that the coach doesn't know what he's talking about because he's never been there himself. Nervousness is good, it helps you prepare for the danger you are about to face. If you aren't nervous then it means you don't understand the risks of what you are about to do when you step into the cage and you would be better off going home and coming back when you are ready.

Part 2 coming soon.

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What I've learned as an MMA coach

These are some of the things I've picked up on my first ten years as an MMA Coach

You don’t need to be a Fighter.

Before becoming a coach I believed that I needed to gain as much fight experience as possible. In my mind it would affect my credibility if I hadn't been there and done it. Since opening my school I've never had a single student who cares if I had real fight experience or not. The only thing that students care about is whether you will be able to help them achieve their goals. Fight Experience can be useful and is helpful for separating the legitimate coaches from the frauds but many experienced fighters are clueless when it comes to coaching and don’t take the time to learn how to coach properly.

No Substitute for Experience.

However, my own fight career has been a useful asset for me. My experiences in the ring and cage have given me confidence in preparing fighters and an ability to understand what they are going through during their preparation. I can help my fighters avoid making the mistakes that I made during my fight career. This speeds up their learning and progression rather than relying on trial and error. I am also confident that I am not asking my fighters to do anything that I haven’t done myself. Trustworthiness is one of the most valuable attributes a coach can have. The fighter must be able to trust the coach 100% rather than doubting if he is actually speaking from experience.

Wide Knowledge Base.

What you learnt during your own training and fighting won’t be enough. Every Fighter has their favourite techniques that have worked well throughout their competitive career. When you start coaching you encounter a wide variety of students of different skill levels, personalities and body types for whom these techniques just aren’t a good fit. Students will get bored of learning your ‘A game’ every night for the next five years. You need to go back and re-learn many techniques and skills that you didn’t pay too much attention to when you were a fighter. You need to understand them so you can pass them onto your students. You also need to invest time in learning how to coach properly and be aware of the distinction between demonstrating how much you know versus passing on the information in a useful manner.

Always Keep Learning.

Don’t keep looking back to the glory days. MMA is continually getting better and more advanced and a good coach needs to keep learning and improving. Some martial arts styles haven’t changed much in the past 50 years however MMA and BJJ are continually evolving and changing, A good coach must keep up to date with new techniques so that students are not caught off guard by them, Too many coaches rely on just teaching the way they were taught. All sports evolve and improve over time and combat sports are no different. It makes sense to continually stay on top of the latest developments in the sport just as an athletics or football coach would.

Martial Arts Trends come and go.

There will always be new fads or new trends in the industry. Since gaining popularity in the western world Martial Arts has a history of going through trends where one style would be popular for a few years and then replaced by another. This was the case with Judo, Kung Fu, Karate and then Ninjitsu. MMA & BJJ are currently the biggest trend in the martial arts world. BJJ is actually a microcosm of this Martial Arts trend phenomenon where we see a new group of techniques become popular for a few years before being replaced by something else. Based on this I believe you need to be aware of the current trends in the industry but focus on the term long term rather than basing your entire coaching philosophy around whatever happens to be popular at the moment.

The Right Culture and Training Environment.

As mentioned previously, a good coach must stay on top of the latest developments in in the sport, however, Trends come and go. What is relevant and popular this year may soon be seen as an old fashioned technique that nobody uses anymore. What can persist for a much longer time is the gym culture that you create. The atmosphere and culture in your gym is the most important asset. How the students and fighters act, treat each other and behave in the gym. The training environment you create in terms of safe and effective training, and the reputation and the values of the team are more important than short term success.

Coaching Beginners is more Impressive than Coaching Champions.

Anyone can coach a fighter who is already a champion. By the time they reach Championship level the fighter should already have spent ten thousand hours training. It becomes more a matter of supervising their training and making sure they don't do anything stupid. What impresses me most is when a coach can take a complete beginner with no skill or training background and get them to championship level.

The Team is more Important than the Individual Fighters.

Obviously it is always more rewarding to work with a fighter from beginner level all the way up to championship level but this is not always possible. Fighters will switch gyms, lose interest in fighting or quit training altogether but its not a big deal. Every top level professional sports team has players leave every season, every college or high school has to start off each year with a fresh batch of players. If the right systems, culture and coaching are in place then the team will consistently produce results.

Focus on Quality over quantity.

Some people aren’t a good fit and will do more harm than good. Many coaches think that the more people they can ram into their classes or fight team the better. One bad training partner with the wrong attitude can put off (or Injure) five or six people. The same is true with building the long-term culture of the Gym. Some fighters will bring with them bad habits such as turning up late, missing classes or lazy training. If you don’t stamp it out this will eventually rub off on other junior members of the team, who will follow the lead of the senior fighters, develop the same bad habits and ultimately lose any chance of achieving their full potential. No matter how much talent a fighter may potentially have, if they don't fit with your team culture and philosophy you are better off without them.

There are no secrets. 

Fighters often feel like they are missing out if they aren't training with ten world champions every day. I've trained at some of the best gyms around the world and with many of the top coaches. What I've learnt is that there really are no secrets. The most successful gyms and fighters just do the same things that everyone else does, they just do more of it and do it more consistently.

It's about more than just Winning Fights.

Training fighters to win trophies and belts is great but the novelty quickly wears off. This is especially true if you feel that the competition success isn’t having a positive effect on the fighter or the team. There are too many examples of fighters and athletes who were successful in competition but the success had disastrous consequences for their life outside of sport. Martial Arts should be a way of improving the lives of everyone involved rather than focusing on winning at all costs.

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Fight Training Mistakes

Here are some of the things that I see aspiring fighters do which I think are very detrimental to their long term fight career success.

What is your Goal and What will it take to get there?

Not having a clear goal of what you want to achieve leads to unrealistic expectations of what it will take to get you there. If your goal is to win a local level amateur fight you will probably get away with training a few evenings a week however if you want to be an international level fighter you need to be in the gym for several hours every day, week after week, year after year even when you don’t feel like it or are running low on motivation.

What Stage are you at in your Fight Career?

Not having an accurate idea about what stage in your career or fighter development you are are at. This leads to not doing what you need to get to the next level. If you are already a UFC champion, you can probably get away with just honing you existing skills and doing training camps to make sure you ‘peak’ for your title defenses. Top level champions have already spent twenty plus years learning and perfecting the skills of Jiu-jitsu, wrestling and striking. If you are not yet at that level, you need to be working every day to build those skills.

How much Training are you really doing?

Not being honest with yourself about how much training you are actually doing. For example, some fighters are in the gym for three hours but they are actually training for 45 minutes’ total. They waste a lot of time chatting and training halfheartedly while chatting to their mates. Its OK to have fun and be sociable but its worth remembering that while you’re chatting and having fun your opponent might be already into his third hour of serious training and that will make a huge difference to the outcome of the fight.

Are you doing the Right kind of training or Just doing what you Enjoy?

Doing a lot of the wrong kind of training. Wasting too much time on the type of training you enjoy rather than on what you actually need to do to win fights. A big example I see of this is fighters doing fancy tricks in pad work routines which look good but which ultimately won’t help them to win fights. You need to identify the weaknesses in you game and spend your time working on fixing those holes. This is obviously not as much fun as doing the stuff you enjoy but its what you need to do to avoid losing fights.

Are your Training Partners helping you to become a better fighter?

Training with the wrong people. Training with seriously motivated people who want to train hard and work consistently to keep getting better is tough but its what you need to do to improve. If you waste time training with lazy, unfocused and unmotivated training partners it will rub off on you and you will eventually end up like them.

Are you Actually getting any better?

Staying in ‘maintenance level’ rather than focusing on continual daily improvement. Some fighters get to a certain level and the are not prepared to keeping putting in the same amount of work that will get them to the next level. You should try to improve your skills by 1% every day rather than being happy to stay where you are.

Are you actually sticking with the program or chopping and changing every few weeks?

Fighters can sometimes be easily influenced and will often adopt any new fad or training method to get short term results rather than thinking long term. Probably the biggest mistake I see with fighters is that they change their training routine and preparation in spite of overwhelming evidence that what they had been doing is working and getting them good results. Once you have a small amount of success in any field there will always be ‘experts’ who will appear to suddenly tell you what you should be doing better. If its not broke don’t fix it. Stick to what has been getting you the results.

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Staying 'Fight Ready' - Part 1

Why MMA fighters need to train year round in order to reach the highest levels in their fight career.

This article was written with the help of Wayne Goldsmith who I have been working with for the past few months. Wayne is a sports coaching expert who has worked extensively with sports teams and organisations all over the world including Swimming Australia, the US Olympic Committee and numerous Football and Rugby clubs.

Stay Fight Ready

I have always encouraged my fighters to train consistently all year round rather than doing ‘Fight Camps’. I believe in constantly improving your skills so that you are a much better fighter the next time you step into the cage than you were in your last fight. Fight camps usually involve training hard for six weeks before a match which inevitably leads to slacking off afterwards until another fight comes along. This is pretty common in the world of professional MMA which leads to low level fighters trying to do the same hoping to get the same results.

The alternative to this is to be in the gym every week constantly improving and adding new skills to your repertoire and also ensuring that you are staying fit and ready to fight at short notice if necessary.

Baseline Fitness Level

It is easier and more logical to maintain a ‘baseline level’ of fitness and skills throughout the year rather than to take long periods of time off, then having to rush the development of fitness and skills when a suitable fight opportunity arises.

Ideally, MMA athletes will aim to never be more than 3-4 weeks from their peak performance fighting shape. To achieve this, it is essential that the MMA athlete remain committed to maintaining a "baseline" of skills, technique and fitness training at all times of the year.

Over time, this "baseline" level can be progressively improved to higher and higher levels so that the athlete's peak performance systematically improves over the long term.

Obviously it is more difficult to maintain year round training rather than going hard for a few weeks then taking months off. It requires much more professionalism, determination and work ethic on the part of the fighter, however, I feel that the ability to do this will separate the top fighters from the rest.

Using 'Periodization' for MMA

Mixed Martial Arts is a relatively young sport which leads to uncertainty about the best ways to train and prepare for it. Often this leads to athletes and coaches imitating what they see athletes doing in other sports. One example of this is the practice of 'Periodization'.

Periodization is the systematic planning of Physical Training with the aim of reaching the best possible performance in the most important competition of the year. It usually involves progressive cycling of various aspects of a training program during a specific period, usually divided into the off season, preseason, in season, and the postseason.

Although there are elements of Periodization which I feel can be beneficial, there are several reasons why I feel this does not work as perfectly for Mixed Martial Arts as it does for other sports such as Football or Athletics:

Lack of a 'Fight Season'

Mixed Martial Arts is less predictable schedule than other sports. There is no clear calendar of events such as national championships, world championships and Olympics. MMA doesn’t have a ‘Season’ such as in Football or Rugby. Fighters, especially those early in their careers, need to be ready to take fights all the time at short notice. This is due to need for exposure which will help build their profile and career, the need to gain experience against increasing levels of opponents and also to make the most of opportunities when they come along.

Missing out on Big Opportunities

I would advise any fighter who wishes to make it to the top level, to be ready to fight every two months for around the first 2-3 years of their career, while also making sure to constantly build on and improve their skills between these fights.

Need to Keep Learning and adding to your skills

Another big reason to not take time off between fights is because there is so much material to cover. Even if you are already a high level competitor in one fighting style it is essential  to keep improving and adding weapons to your game. Opponents will study your previous fights to capitalise on weaknesses. It is essential that you are spending time fixing up the holes in your game while adding new skills and weapons from one fight to the next.

Compared to other sports there are lots more skills to learn and practice. There aren’t enough hours in the day to master all the various skills and techniques of Take-downs, Boxing, Jiu jitsu, Kicking, Clinch Fighting, Leg-Locks and more but you can make an effort to gradually add some elements of a different skill-set to your arsenal which gradually turn you into a much more dangerous opponent.

The fighter needs to commit to being in the gym every day, year round to keep getting better all the time not just when they have a fight coming up.

In part two I’ll discuss the various levels and stages of fight readiness and preparation.

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Getting Better at BJJ Faster

Speed up your Learning Curve with Isolation Sparring

Finding Better Ways to Train

Throughout my martial arts training and especially since I’ve been coaching I’ve been interested in investigating more efficient ways of training. I’ve never been convinced by people who say ‘this is the way they’ve trained in Japan/Thailand/Brazil etc. for 100’s of years’. Interestingly this doesn’t happen in other sports. Golf coaches don’t stick to the same coaching methods that were used in 15th Century Scotland, Soccer and Rugby coaches don’t use the same training methods that they used 100 years ago so why should training for Martial Arts and Combat Sports be different.

In my opinion a lot of traditional training methods such as (in the case of striking sports) doing 30 minutes of skipping, endless rounds of bag-work and then live sparring are inefficient. The majority of people who train in this way will not enjoy the training, they will not make any progress and will eventually drop off and quit. If only a tiny percentage of the people are getting any measurable results it indicates that there is a fault in the process.

Using techniques against Resistance

Another problem is that students spend a long time learning techniques and are often able to perform these moves perfectly on the punch bag or against an un-resisting partner but then as soon as they try to spar it all goes out the window.

One alternative which can be fun for the new student is to not spend too much time practicing technical skills and just do lots of sparring to get used to the speed and pressure right from the start. This often leads to the student not spending enough time actually practicing and perfecting techniques and instead relying on instinct and athleticism. They may also fall into the trap of becoming over reliant on their favourite techniques and avoiding their weak areas. This can leave huge holes in their game which may be easily exploited in the future by more experienced and well rounded opponents.

Speeding up Reaction Time

Another major problem that students experience in sparring is remembering which technique to do at which time. At the end the round the student realises that they could have used a specific technique which they had been practicing for all of last week. Too many techniques and positions at the early stage means there is too much to think about which slows down the students reaction speed and decision making.

The best way I've found to overcome these issues and to bridge the gap between practicing techniques and then using those techniques in sparring is to use a concept which I borrowed from the Straight Blast Gym. It is called Isolation training and involves zeroing in on just one aspect or skill and focusing on improving it under sparring conditions.

Isolation Boxing Sparring

An example of how this works can be seen in boxing sparring. A group of students have just spent the class working on their jabs and then moved onto slipping jabs, head movement and counters. Now if they go straight into boxing sparring it is likely that everything they have been working on will go out the window, they will be throwing lazy jabs and forgetting how to slip. The alternative is that we go into 'Jab Only Isolation Sparring'. I have found that this leads to much better results as there is less to think about and allows the student to just focus on and perfect one aspect of their game.

Isolation BJJ Sparring

There are many variations of these types of drills, some of the most successful that I have used in the past are BJJ positional sparring drills. A good example of this is the side control sparring progression drill. One person starts off on top in side control and just has to maintain the position while the other tries to escape, as you progress you can add other variables to the drills such as the person on top cannot use hands, person on top has to switch position every 5 seconds, person on top has a specific objective such as getting to mount or knee ride position.

Other good ideas for BJJ drills are sparring from just one specific type of guard e.g. De la Riva guard then going back to the start as soon as either partner achieves their objective which could be getting a sweep or passing the guard.

This idea can also be useful for getting students working on finishing submissions and escaping from submissions at the same time. One student starts with the submission such as a Triangle Choke semi locked in. He then tries to finish the submission while partner works on escaping. If either of them are successful they just reset and try again or reverse roles.

Benefits for Both Training Partners

The great thing about training like this is that it's beneficial for both partners rather than just one person doing the techniques while the other is the dummy. Also, training like this can be better than sparring if there is a big difference in the skill level between students. In a sparring situation the less skilled person would never get a chance to do any attacks of his own and would just spend the entire time unsuccessfully defending attacks.

There are infinite options for these types of drills and are only limited by the imagination of the coaches and students. It is important though that that you don’t just do drills for the sake of it. Ask yourself is this drill developing a skill which is transferable and effective in live sparring and competition . The objective is always to improve real fighting ability rather than to just get better at drills which look impressive but ultimately have no crossover benefits for real fighting ( which is where many traditional martial arts styles have gone wrong in the past)

Don't Try to Win The Drill

Also, within every group of students the majority will see the benefit of the drill and have 'lightbulb' moments (‘oh yeah I do struggle to regain half guard/check kicks/move my head… this drill will really help’) but there will always be one who tries to ‘WIN the DRILL’ by finding loopholes in the rules rather than using the drill the way it was intended. So make sure everyone is clear that the objective is to learn & develop skills rather than just trying to win. Like the person in this clip.

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Your first MMA fight

Why do you want to fight?

You need to get the reasons straight in your head first. Make sure your reasons will be strong enough motivators to make you train hard and prepare well. You are not just representing yourself but also your team and your coach.

The best reasons to compete are to test your skills and training or maybe this is your first step on a fight career. If you just want to have a go at it so you can tell your friends that you’re a fighter, I would advise against it. It takes a lot of hard work and commitment to train for a fight, even if it’s just a low level amateur fight.

When are you ready to fight?

You are ready to fight when your coach tells you are ready. Your coach should have enough experience to know when his students are ready to compete (if he doesn’t then think about training elsewhere).  Don’t ask your coach to get you a fight; it puts him in the awkward position of having to tell you that you aren’t good enough. Ask the other fighters at your gym how they started and what sort of volume of training they did before their first fight and then try to follow in their footsteps.

What experience to have first?

I’d recommend that most people train for about 6 months to 1 year before they have their first fight. This is the minimum time required to get comfortable with the fundamental skills (basic kicks, punches, takedowns & grappling) needed for MMA.  Don’t try to fight without being good at the fundamentals of striking & Grappling.  You wouldn’t take part in a triathlon if you could ride a bike and run but don’t know how to swim. It’s pointless, you need to be comfortable with all the skills first before you try to utilise them in a competitive environment.

It’s a good idea to have competed in some grappling or BJJ competitions too. However, don’t spend too much time competing in other sports such as BJJ because the rules, point system and skill set is too different and you might struggle to adapt your style to MMA when you fight.

Where to start?

I recommend starting off in either amateur MMA tournaments or in interclub sparring events. Amateur MMA is a good way to learn and test your skills without too much pressure or danger. The amateur rules that I fought under allowed grappling, striking and takedowns but with no strikes allowed too the head. Some have criticised these rules for being unrealistic however during my amateur competition days I saw many future UFC stars such as Dan Hardy & Michael Bisping also competing and they all went on to have successful fight careers.

These events won’t have as many spectators so there is less added pressure. Your first few fights should be just an experimental and learning process where you are trying to figure out your own style and your strengths and weaknesses without the added pressure of 2000 people watching.

It’s also not fair on the audience to have to pay $60 to watch someone fight for the first time. Of course we can admire the bravery of first time fighters for getting in the ring but I wouldn’t expect anyone to pay to watch me play tennis for the first time so why am I paying to watch a kung Fu guy have his first MMA fight and get bashed for three rounds. It makes the sport look very amateurish.

How to prepare and what to expect from your first fight

The most important consideration is to make sure your fitness is up to scratch. There is absolutely no excuse for having poor cardio as it’s 100% within your control. This means lots of running, hill sprints, endless rounds of pad-work and grappling in the lead up to your first fight

Another important reason for working on your fitness is because the pre-fight nerves will really zap your energy and affect your fitness. You have to be ready for that. Don’t worry if you feel nervous or jittery before the fight. Everyone experiences this. It doesn’t mean you are afraid to fight. If you were afraid you wouldn’t be in the changing room getting your hands wrapped, you’d be back at home watching UFC on TV shouting advice from your sofa like an armchair warrior. The reason you feel nervousness is that your body is preparing for action. You just have to focus on the task at hand and be confident that all the work you’ve done so far will be enough to get you through.

Alternatively, you may be nervous because you genuinely know that you are unprepared for the beating that you are about to receive. In which case please read my’ finding a good MMA gym’ article.

Have a clear game-plan of what you are going to do during the fight. What is your first move going to be?  What if you get stuck under side-control? Don’t just go in and try to see what happens because it will leave too much to chance and gives you too much to think about. Choose five or six things that you will definitely try to do during the match and options from each position.

Don’t expect it to be easy. Your opponent is likely to be just as well prepared as you and so you should expect not everything to go your way during the match.

After your first fight, what next?

The point of competing, especially in your first few fights is to treat it as a learning experience. After the fight you need to think about what you did right and wrong and what your strengths and weaknesses were. Whether you win or lose you need to analyse your performance and figure out what lessons you can learn to help your future training and performance. Also be realistic about the fight, maybe you won but the opponent was just very unprepared or made a silly mistake, that isn’t going to help to make you a better fighter. Maybe you fought really well and did everything right but your opponent was also really good and he just managed to get the win by decision. In this case you should be happy with your performance and just keep working hard and trying to improve so you can fight even better next time.

What other questions do have about how to prepare for your MMA debut? Please ask in the comments section below.

Here is another article on how to make the most of your Martial Arts Training:

http://deniskellymmacoaching.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/success-in-your-martial-arts-training.html

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Running a great MMA show

I’ve been at more fight shows than anyone I know. From MMA shows to Boxing fight nights and everything in between. I’ve attended fight shows in the UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Japan, Hong Kong & Thailand.

I’ve also been lucky enough to attend these events in a variety of roles. First off as a spectator, then as a corner-man, then a fighter, then back to being a corner-man and now as a coach. I've been lucky enough to have seen all types of events. Some very good & others very bad.

If you are planning on promoting a fight show here is a list of things I think could help…

• Pay Fighters – Fight fans come along to watch the fighters; they don't come to watch ring announcers, card girls, interviewers or anything else. I’ve seen lots of shows where the promoters didn’t have a budget to pay fighters yet they could afford to pay for a ring announcer. After the show people will remember the really good evenly matched and action packed fights. They won’t remember if the ring announcer did a good job.

BUT, only pay the fighters if they deserve to be paid which leads on to point number 2…..

• Research Potential fighters - I’ve heard of promoters putting fighters on their show based solely on a fictional fight record & Facebook fan page. On the other hand I know of one promoter who personally travels to Mongolia and other far flung destinations to watch potential fighters train & prepare for fights before he puts them on his show. If you want your fight show to stand out from the rest you might have to go the extra mile. This doesn’t mean you have to start jet-setting around but maybe ask fighters to at least send you either a DVD or links to watch their fights online.

• Good Matchmaking – This follows on from proper research of fighters. If you go to a fight show and every fight ends in the first round by KO or submission, it means that one of two things has happened. Either you’ve been lucky enough to watch all the future world champions OR the promoter/gym owner has matched up all his own boys against the residents of the old people’s home down the road.

• Don’t rely on fighters selling tickets – if a fighter is any good he will be in the gym every night training for 2 – 3 hours, when he’s not doing this he’ll be at home. If  the fighter you are putting on your show has 200 friends that he can sell tickets to it probably means he’s out talking about being a fighter more often than he’s actually in the gym training.

• Look after the fighters – treat them like professionals so they will be keen to come back and fight on your show, they will also tell their team mates and training partners so you will have a source of future good quality fighters.

• Proper Refereeing and Judging – Make sure judges & referees have a full understanding of the rules and scoring system of the sport. This will help to avoid confusing & embarrassing incidents later on. One promoter I know actually makes all the referees and officials study previous fights and tests them on rules & scoring. On the other hand I’ve been judging on an MMA show where one of the other judges actually told me that he doesn’t really know anything about MMA (he was a former kick boxer)

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