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MMA Fight Pit Promoters Dreaming Big With First Event, but Will It Pay Off?

If you’re a fight fan looking for a way to burn through some spare cash in August, you’ve got options. Between UFC 133 last weekend and UFC 134 later in the month, the committed MMA fan is likely to add a hundred bucks to the cable bill this month just…

But upstart promotion MMA Fight Pit is hoping you’ll consider adding an extra thirty dollars to that tally on Saturday night when it debuts with a card full of familiar names like Jens Pulver, Houston Alexander, Razak Al-Hassan, Jamie Yager, and Junie Browning.

All these men have two things in common: 1) they used to fight in the UFC, and 2) they don’t anymore. So how do you convince people to pay money to see them fight after the UFC has decided it can’t even use them on free cable TV fight cards anymore?

“I think people are looking for an alternative to UFC events these days as well, and I think this is a card, as a fan, that I want to see,” said Torry Crooks, one of the promoters behind Saturday night’s event in Albuquerque, N.M. “These are some of my heroes that are on this card. These are guys who have a chance of making their way back, or as we expand as a promotion, going on to bigger and better things with us.”

In other words, the one thing we know about these promoters is that they’re optimistic.

It’s a tough time to hit up fight fans for some cash. One week after UFC 133 and two weeks after Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson, MMA Fight Pit is squeezing in on a rare open Saturday night, but it’s also doing so just one day after a Strikeforce: Challengers card on Showtime and one day before a free UFC card on Versus. Even if it is available for twenty bucks less than a UFC pay-per-view, the main selling point is still fighters who the UFC decided it could do without.

That makes for a tricky little marketing tango. The main reason most fans know these names is because of UFC exposure, but now that the UFC is done exposing them, how much value remains?

The answer changes as you go down the card. Alexander still has the appeal of a slugger who’s long on power and short on defense. With Pulver, there’s the sense we’re seeing the final act in a great career, and whether it’s going to be a tragedy or a redemption story is still unclear. Browning brings little more than the allure of chaos, and after coming in more than seven pounds over the 155-pound limit for his bout, he seems poised to deliver.

Put them all together and you do have something resembling a draw, but is it the kind of draw fight fans are really going to pay $30 for?

A few probably will. Maybe they’ll be the independently wealthy types, or maybe just teenagers indiscriminately running up their parents’ cable bill with no thought to the consequences. But if the last few years worth of would-be competitors to the UFC have taught us anything, it’s that it’s hard enough to sell tickets with UFC castoffs, but almost impossible to do well on pay-per-view with them.

Then again, maybe it depends on how you measure success.

MMA Fight Pit promoter Crooks said he was encouraged by the early response from fans, who in his opinion, “either want to see these guys win or they’re controversial characters and they want to see them get beat up. Either way, it’s a fight they want to watch. We’re not as expensive as the UFC on pay-per-view, and I think people are hungry for an alternative.”

And who knows, maybe he’s right. It’s just hard to imagine that fans have thirty bucks worth of hunger in them for this particular alternative, and on this particular Saturday night.

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Jens Pulver Still Trying to Find a Way to Leave MMA With No Regrets

Yes, Jens Pulver is still at it. Twelve years and 40 fights after his debut at the Bas Rutten Invitational 2, the former UFC lightweight champ is still getting in the cage, still trying to find some peace amid the chaos.

The question many people ask …

The question many people ask the 36-year-old Pulver — and the question he’s been struggling with himself lately — is, why?

“It kind of dawned me a couple days ago,” he said Wednesday on a media conference call. “I thought I was doing it because it was fun, I love it, and that’s still part of it, but the reality is, I’m doing it now and giving it 100 percent the way I am…[because] when I walk away, I don’t want to walk away with any regrets. I don’t want to be 65, God willing, sitting in a chair on a deck in a rocking chair and wishing I would have gone out differently.”

In other words, he’s doing it so he can quit, but have it not feel so much quitting. He’s doing it so that he can feel good about how he’s doing, which in turn might allow him to feel good about stopping.

The only problem is, as long as a fighter feels good about how he’s doing, he isn’t likely to stop. He’ll probably just keep going, especially as long as he could use the money, which Pulver certainly could.

It makes you wonder what this happy ending for Pulver would look like at this point, and how he’d even know if he found it.

Things recently seemed like they were on the verge of turning around for him. After being dropped from the WEC following five straight losses and then adding a sixth on the small circuit, he won two in a row.

Sure, they weren’t big names or on big fight cards, but he got his hand raised again for the first time since 2007. Then he went to Kansas City for a fight in May and he lost again, this time via first round submission.

So much for that happy ending.

Now Pulver is back to take on former WEC bantamweight Coty Wheeler on a thirty-dollar pay-per-view card that’s littered with names fans used to know, but probably haven’t thought about all that much lately.

Houston Alexander. Junie Browning. Jamie Yager. And, of course, Jens Pulver, who’s still trying to figure out how to get back to the fighter he used to be.

“Ironically, I spend more time remembering,” Pulver said. “…I watch interviews of mine from way back, especially when I had more confidence. I’m sitting there going, man, I remember that guy.”

The difference, Pulver said, is that now he doesn’t take several months off between fights, which means he doesn’t have to spend the bulk of his training camp “getting the fat off.” Physically, he’s not worn down, he said, and mentally, he’s no longer so burned out.

“I go with these guys that are my weight, and I’m right there with them. The problem is just trying to turn it on in the cage. I’ve become what I almost despised most or what I put down the most when I was a world champion, which was the gym fighter.”

In training, he said, he’s taking it to his younger, faster sparring partners. The broke-down old man looks pretty good then.

“It’s when the lights come on and the face in front of me is different” that he loses some of that pop, Pulver said.

“The mental side is what’s gotten the oldest. The physical skills are still there. I’ve got no injuries. …The mental side of me kind of got old, got tired, and that’s what I’m trying to fix more than anything. I don’t know how to adjust to that, because it’s new to me.”

Maybe it would be easier to deal with if it were a physical decline. Maybe then he could write it off as a natural and unavoidable consequence of age. The fact that he remains convinced that his problems are more mental than physical probably isn’t helping him find the strength to walk away.

As he put it: “I’m using this time to prepare myself to walk out the door of MMA, and when I do, I don’t want to have any regrets. Basically, my major reason why I’m fighting right now is I’m out there to send myself off the right way.”

Of course, that assumes that there is a right way, or that there’s any peace at all to be found in the last throes of a fighter’s career. It also assumes that you find that peace first, before you decide to leave, rather than after, when you don’t have any other choice.

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Houston Alexander Talks Kimbo Slice, UFC and Upcoming PPV vs. Razak Al-Hassan

Can Houston Alexander make it back? Just a few years ago, Alexander exploded into the UFC with lightning fast wins over both Keith Jardine and Alessio Sakara. However, almost as quickly, Alexander disappeared from the major MMA scene. Following a strea…

Can Houston Alexander make it back?

Just a few years ago, Alexander exploded into the UFC with lightning fast wins over both Keith Jardine and Alessio Sakara. However, almost as quickly, Alexander disappeared from the major MMA scene.

Following a streak of consecutive UFC losses to Thiago Silva, James Irvin and Alessio Sakara, Alexander was in a must-win bout with Kimbo Slice.

Alexander’s matchup was envisioned as a high-impact slugfest with the better brawler winning. The fight did not turn out that way. Slice defeated Alexander by unanimous decision in a somewhat lethargic bout.

The bout was the only one of Slice’s fights to go to the scorecards.

“If I could go back and do it again,” Alexander told Bleacher Report, “I’d probably do it differently. People expected two gorillas to go at it and pound on each other’s chest. He had a strategy. I had a strategy.”

Regardless, Alexander was not in complete agreement with judges’ decision.

“I guess some of the judges don’t count kicks. It is what it is.”

With the loss, Alexander was dismissed from the UFC. Now, two years, five fights, and three wins (one no-contest) later, Alexander continues his road back. In just a few days, Alexander is set to take on another former UFC fighter, Razak Al-Hassan.

The fight will be featured on this Saturday’s MMA Fight Pit: Genesis card. The show will be available on pay-per-view starting at 9 p.m. EST and 6 p.m. PST.

“It’s a great matchup,” Alexander said of the bout with Hassan. “Guy likes to strike. I like to strike. I like to kick. He likes to kick. It’s going to be a great match up for both of us.”

Alexander is familiar with Hassan’s past.

“It’s good to see him develop like he has,” Alexander said. “He was one of those up and comers that I saw in Omaha.”

Omaha is where Alexander became a very busy fighter.

“I’ve probably had 200 unsanctioned fights between here and there,” Alexander said about the early part of this career. “I’ve fought five people in the same night, and I fought once a week for almost two years straight.”

The idea of participating in that many unsanctioned fights appears to be a very eerie proposition. Alexander was not worried about it.

“Exact same rules,” Alexander said, when asked what the differences between sanctioned and unsanctioned were. “Being in an unsanctioned fight means your record is not updated. It was one knockout after another. A lot of them lasted under a minute.”

Alexander has a simple explanation for his underground success.

“People don’t like being punched in the face,” the man nicknamed the Assassin said. “I don’t mind it. It wakes me up. I know it’s ‘go time.’ Retaliation is a must.”

The upcoming fight with Hassan will mark Alexander’s fifth since leaving the UFC. All five have been with different organizations.

“It doesn’t matter to me as long as the opponent is a quality opponent,” Alexander said. “It’d be nice to be in one organization, but it’s also nice for me because I get to travel to other parts of the country and other parts of the world.”

“It’s good for me to be a free agent right now because if I sign with any organization right now it’s going to be for big money.”

If Alexander had his choice of future opponents, one fighter quickly comes to the top of the list. “The Sandman” James Irvin.

“I’m disappointed I didn’t get to fight James Irvin again,” Alexander said about the potential rematch in March 2011.

Irvin won the first bout in just eight seconds.

The second bout was canceled just a week prior to the fight when Irvin was suspended for a positive steroid test. The failure was Irvin’s second offense.

“The guy has to cheat people to beat them, so he has to use steroids,” Alexander said of Irvin.

Alexander, though, did stop short of saying the Irvin was using performance enhancing drugs in the first fight back in April 2008.

“I don’t know. I can’t say that,” Alexander said. “I never should be in that position (to lose the fight). Whether he used or not, I should never have been in that position.”

“Using steroids is like a quick fix. It’s like that stuff for your tires.”

However, should Alexander be victorious over Hassan and receive an offer to rejoin the world’s top MMA promotion, he would definitely embrace the opportunity.

“UFC is the epitome of MMA,” said Alexander. “There’s only one MMA organization that I know of that gets on ESPN. ESPN is the Mecca of all sports. You want to get the recognition.”

As for the upcoming Hassan fight, Alexander will believes he will impress the crowd.

“I’m going after the guy, being aggressive. I predict I’m winning the fight, and I’m not trying to take it to the judges.”

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Jordan Mein: The Future of Canadian MMA

The Future Is Bright This is arguably the greatest time of the year for sports. Baseball is back on, NFL camps are scheduled to open shortly (normally), the NBA and NHL are down to their two best. MMA is now in a position to be co…

The Future Is Bright

This is arguably the greatest time of the year for sports. Baseball is back on, NFL camps are scheduled to open shortly (normally), the NBA and NHL are down to their two best. MMA is now in a position to be contributing to the drama as well. UFC 131 is in Vancouver this Saturday and The Score Fighting Series is broadcasting a well conceived card.

Lethbridge, Alberta’s Jordan Mein will be fighting on The Score Fighting Series this Friday at 7:30 (EST). The event is being held at The Hershey Center in Mississauga, Ontario. The 21 year old, with a 21-7 record, has been dubbed the “Future of Canadian MMA” by many pundits. His test on Friday will demonstrate how worthy he is of that title.

Naturally, the face of Canadian MMA today is Georges St- Pierre. Jordan may never achieve all that the future UFC Hall of Famer has, but he has proven that his journey to reach that goal just may well be worth watching.

Jordan not only oozes talent, he is equally as charismatic. Sincere humility, infectious enthusiasm, and an affable disposition aligned with striking, wrestling, and submission skills make this a potential blue chip stock to be excited about. He is the first generation of MMA fighters. People schooled in the sport of MMA and not gravitating towards it with a strong base in one discipline.

When asked if people do not recognize his intelligence and articulate nature because he is an MMA fighter he joked with the confidence to use self-deprecating humour, ” I am not that intelligent nor articulate. I’m just straight MMA. ” While Jordan has impressed people with his well-rounded skills that have earned him this unofficial title, he has backed up the hype.

His past two fights were against former UFC fighters: Joe Riggs and Josh Burkman. Riggs once contested Matt Hughes for the UFC welterweight title and defeated G.S.P.’s next title challenger Nick Diaz: Mein vanquished him in the second round via TKO. He then won a convincing, unanimous decision over Burkman.

Mein’s take on the Burkman fight was an example of what a humble and respectful person he is:”It taught me that I could get rocked and comeback. I learned that I can overcome adversity as I got rocked several times and was hurt a lot.”

Being the future of anything can often create the opposite effect. It inherently creates pressure and often paradoxically manifests failure. Jordan on the pressure: ” Pressure is what one needs in life. High pressure fights and competing at the highest level is what I want. The pressure is awesome because I know I can achieve the expectations.”

Those that know of Jordan already, know of his father: Lee Mein. Lee is a stalwart in Western Canadian MMA. The iconic figure recently won on his 44th birthday and bolstered his record to 5-9. His real contributions have been to developing talent in Alberta and Western Canada. C.M.C. (Canadian Martial Arts Center) is where he grooms fighters and like many dads worked hard on his son.

According to Jordan, the plan was absolutely always for him to become an MMA fighter. ” We started with Karate, Karate tournaments, Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu and Jiu Jitsu tournaments. It then progressed to Sport Jiu Jitsu which was basically MMA. Everything was geared towards doing MMA.”

It has been well documented that fighters such as Floyd Mayweather Jr., Shane Mosley, and Oscar De La Hoya have had problems dealing with the father/coach relationship. Jordan happily says, ” I want my father to get his percentage from his manager fee. He deserves it. Absolutely, he is still the key person driving my development.”

People have asked for this young man to represent a nation. They expect titles and great fame. In considering the path G.S.P. has forged, emulated Canada’s current king might be near impossible. Jordan’s hopes for himself: ” When I put my head on my pillow I hope to see myself being a great entertainer and filling seats. I want to give the people exciting shows.”

Jordan’s fight will air live on The Score in Canada and be broadcast on http://www.thescore.com/. The card begins at 7:30 (E.S.T.) The show will also feature former Pride star Rameau Sokoudjou (11-8) vs. Roy Boughton (5-1), host a battle between UFC veterans Joe Doerksen (46-15) and Luigi Fioravanti (22-9), and features, in separate matches, up-and-coming Canadians Antonio Carvalho (12-4) and Adrian Wooley (7-1). Check it out.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Glory World Series to Air Live on YouTube Pay-Per-View

Filed under: Fighting, MMA Media Watch, NewsGlory World Series will be offered live on YouTube pay-per-view on May 28, officials announced on Thursday.

According to a press release issued by the organization, this would mark the first combat sports pa…

Filed under: Fighting, MMA Media Watch, News

Glory World Series will be offered live on YouTube pay-per-view on May 28, officials announced on Thursday.

According to a press release issued by the organization, this would mark the first combat sports pay-per-view offered live on YouTube pay-per-view. The event will cost $7.95 (USD) and can be ordered here.

Glory World Series will showcase both MMA and kickboxing fights. The event will feature two tournament finals: Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Tommy Depret in a MMA welterweight final and Gohkan Saki vs. Brice Guidon in a heavyweight kickboxing final. The winners of each tournament will earn $150,000 (USD) respectively.

Also, former UFC fighter Houston Alexander will meet Jason Jones in a light heavyweight MMA bout and current Strikeforce heavyweight Sergei Kharitonov will meet Mighty Mo in a heavyweight kickboxing bout.

Another interesting fight on the card involves Mark Miller, who will be returning to kickboxing for the first time since undergoing open heart surgery in 2007. “The Fight Shark” will meet Nikolaj Falin in a heavyweight kickboxing bout.

In total, there will be six MMA fights and six kickboxing fights on the card, which will be held in Moscow. Check out the full card here.

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Houston Alexander to Rematch James Irvin at Shark Fights 14

Filed under: NewsHouston Alexander revealed Thursday on Twitter that he will face James Irvin at Shark Fights 14 on March 11 in Lubbock, Texas.

The light heavyweight fight will be a rematch from UFC Fight Night 13 in April 2008 where Irvin knocked out…

Filed under: News

Houston Alexander revealed Thursday on Twitter that he will face James Irvin at Shark Fights 14 on March 11 in Lubbock, Texas.

The light heavyweight fight will be a rematch from UFC Fight Night 13 in April 2008 where Irvin knocked out Alexander with Superman punch in just eight seconds.