Media Managing a fighter for the first time

[ZafroTexas]

If you were given a fighter to manage that was making their pro debut what would you do? I’ve more or less taken on a client that wants to make their pro debut. I’ve already reached out to some local promotions via their contact section of their webpage but I feel like I could do more. Does anybody have any ideas or experience with this?

 

[Flower2dPeople]

Local sponsors, social media presence.

 

[Fluffernutter]

Maybe Sherdog could have a forum specifically for regional fighters to find promotors.

For instance something like:

Upcoming show in Lubbock, TX
June 16
In need of:
welterweights with less than five fights, heavyweights for a debuter, and Bantamweights with less than fifteen fights.

Must have medicals updated

Will pay for travel and lodging.

They can negotiate purse right here on the forum

 

[STAY GOLD]

Keep looking up fights for him. Depends the country he competes in, a lot of regional promotors and matchmakers can be contacted on social media, mainly Instagram.

Find him some sponsors, preferably some that will be able to pay him a little in training camp and not only on fight night.

If he's training at a small gym, make sure he learns as much as he can and once you notice he's outgrowing the gym, you need to help him find a better suit that will allow him to continue to learn and grow. A lot of gyms are open to having fighters come in to train and they will allow him to teach some classes to help them make a extra money, but that depends on how experienced your fighter is and what he can offer.

 

[Xuh]

I'd make sure to always be walking around with a cigar

 

[Koala]

Shave your head, dress up and speak broken English

 

[CorninginChristianburg]

Promoters are always looking for fighters, it's basically never vise versa.

 

[SalvadorAllende]

Have him trashtalk Dillion Danis online and probably fight him in the streets

If that does not works IDK.. maybe a sextape?

But in reality, I don't fucking know.. good luck to your guy. Keep us posted about his career.

 

[Mittens]

Buy a megaphone.

Or an urn.

Both work wonders.

 

[DoctorTaco]

You need a relationship with a single local promotion. Whether officially Or with a handshake deal you need to agree to at least a 3 fight deal with them. This will ensure that they are willing to play ball about match making and not feed your fighter to the wolves.

At the lower levels, wins and finishes are way more important than the purse itself. Don’t burn bridges or get stuck with tough match ups over a few hundred bucks. Be willing to take less money than the opponent if it means getting a good, winnable fight. Find out the budget for an opponent and then start looking for opponents yourself. (Don’t contact fighters directly, go through their coaches). Once you find a local guy you want to fight you can broker the deal and then present it ready to go to the match maker.

SELL TICKETS. No matter what a promoter says, this is at the end of the day their most important metric. Selling tickets gives you leverage and goodwill.

Make sure the fight is exciting and your guy is going for the finish. If you’re setting your fighter up with bums he should be getting them out of there. Promoters hate boring wall and stall or lay and pray fighters. Even if they’re winning they aren’t providing the audience an exciting night of entertainment. This sucks, but it is what it is.

Sponsors! Get your fighter sponsors. If you can’t get anyone to pay or kick down free gear then ask if you can put local businesses down as sponsors for free so you look legit and it encourages other businesses to pay for their spots. Negotiate annual deals instead of per fight deals. Make sure the fighter, coaches, gym and yourself are advertising on social media for these companies. Show them why sponsoring a fighter is a good marketing expenditure

 

[samuelsoncast]

Maybe Sherdog could have a forum specifically for regional fighters to find promotors.

For instance something like:

Upcoming show in Lubbock, TX
June 16
In need of:
welterweights with less than five fights, heavyweights for a debuter, and Bantamweights with less than fifteen fights.

Must have medicals updated

Will pay for travel and lodging.

They can negotiate purse right here on the forum

This was popular approach for Cagewarriors (uk forum) back in the day.
I've always been surprised it hasn't been a thing on Sherdog

 

[STAY GOLD]

Promoters are always looking for fighters, it's basically never vise versa.

Not always the case, specially if you’re looking for international fights.