After winning the sweepstakes for crime-stopping, MMA-fighting wonderkid Ben Fodor—aka Phoenix Jones—the World Series of Fighting (WSOF) enjoyed a rush of media attention and exposure.
Jones’ story first blew up on ESPN’s SportsCenter, and every MMA promotion on earth turned its attention to the 5-0-1 professional fighter after the segment was released to the masses.
Many organizations tried, but only one got him to sign on the dotted line.
“It took me 24 hours, man,” WSOF Matchmaker and Senior Executive Vice President Ali Abdelaziz told Bleacher Report. “I thought of it and I called him (Jones). I know the UFC wanted to get him on The Ultimate Fighter, Bellator made him an offer—he was getting four or five different options. And I made him an offer. I’m going to help build him up.”
Abdelaziz made Jones a multi-fight offer he couldn’t refuse, and now the real-life superhero will make his debut with the WSOF on April 10 at WSOF 20.
While nobody has been officially named for Jones’ promotional debut, Abdelaziz guarantees the company is not giving out “gimmes” for the Seattle-based crime-fighter.
“He’s not going to get an easy fight,” Abdelaziz said. “He’s not going to be an easy fight for anybody, but he’s not going to fight (WSOF welterweight champ Rousimar) Palhares or Jake Shields, either. He has to earn his way there.”
That said, Abdelaziz recognizes the potential for Jones to emerge as a superstar for the WSOF. He possesses the personality and charisma to become a household name, and his backstory borders on unbelievable.
Even better, the dude can fight. He’s not just a sideshow attraction who dons a latex suit at night and carries some name value.
“Listen, Phoenix Jones, he’s 16-2 in amateur competition,” Abdelaziz said. “He beat some guys who were in the UFC. The kid is an unbelievable athlete. He’s explosive. I guarantee you this: If Phoenix Jones could not fight, he would not be in the World Series of Fighting. He would’ve signed with somebody else.”
Taking these sentiments a step further, Abdelaziz compared Jones to an MMA legend, commending his ability to absorb a beating and fire back with even greater effectiveness.
“He reminds me a little of Frankie Edgar in some of his fights,” Abdelaziz said. “Some of those fights, he was getting beaten up, then he came back and won. I have a lot of respect for that, and I love his story. I think he’s really real, man…Spiderman is fiction. Superman is fiction. Phoenix Jones is real.
“At the end of the day, Phoenix Jones, or Ben Fodor, is going to go inside a cage. The cage is going to be locked. He’s not going to have a mask, he’s going to have a guy across the cage from him trying to take his head off. And Phoenix Jones has to deliver.”
Alongside Jones, Abdelaziz and the WSOF brass brought the heavy artillery into 2015, pumping out multiple title fights in the first quarter of the year.
Undefeated lightweight champion Justin Gaethje defends his title against Luis Palomino at WSOF 19 on March 28, while middleweight champ David Branch takes on former UFC fighter Ronny Markes one card later at WSOF 20.
Those two cards will also feature lightweight standouts Nick Newell and Melvin Guillard as well as former UFC mainstays Thiago Silva and Matt Hamill.
With this strong foundation in place, Abdelaziz anticipates expansion and continued growth in 2015.
“I have a different mindset this year,” he said. “Anybody who’s a free agent out there, I’m going to go very, very aggressively after them. I want to keep signing bigger names, and we’ll keep building this thing up.”
This, Abdelaziz acknowledges, will not happen overnight. Like any process worthy of investment, it will take time and patience. Thankfully, the WSOF has the support and the mentality necessary to make a run this year.
“We didn’t want to go out there and put on millions of dollars worth of shows and go out of business,” Abdelaziz said. “A lot of people didn’t think we were going to last five shows. Now, we’re about to do 20 shows. We have some good investors behind us, and they keep the blood pumping. These guys are unbelievable. They love the sport. They say we can have 50 shows, we can have 100 shows.
“None of us are going to quit.”
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