After completing his maiden voyage into fight promotion with WAR MMA, Nick Diaz will explore the possibility of a second event, according to his legal representative Jonathan Tweedale.
“The show went great,” he told MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani. “It looked superb on the webstream and there were more spectators in the house than expected. We are very pleased with how it went.
“The plan is to fully debrief from the first show, see what we can learn, see what can be improved, and then turn to planning a second show,” he continued. “That process will likely not take long.”
Although Tweedale declined to offer numbers on the gate or attendance figures for the show, which took place at Stockon Arena, the city’s local paper, The Record, estimated a crowd of 3,500.
Tweedale was a bit more forthcoming with information on the web stream numbers.
“As of [Saturday] night, WAR MMA had been watched by the equivalent of a sold-out football stadium,” he said. “Reaction from fans in the arena and online has been overwhelmingly positive and supportive.”
The show is still available online on a pay-what-you-want basis on Diaz’s website.
The 12-fight card was headlined by a match between former UFC fighter Daniel Roberts and Justin Baesman. In a split-decision, Baesman was awarded the win.
The idea of WAR MMA was to bring a new home promotion to the Bay Area after the dissolution of Strikeforce. Diaz’s connection to Stockton made the pairing a logical choice, but when asked about a venue for a possible second show, Tweedale would only offer a coy response.
“Not necessarily in the 209,” he said.