Originally Posted by King Kabuki
Recently one of my MMA buddies just beginning his career has been running into some problems. When consulting me on it as a friend, and as another person beginning a Fight career (in Boxing), again I figured it was an opportunity to further share some of the maxims of the older Fight Sport, just some things I picked up along the way from other Fighters/trainers/managers and am hoping to put into practice to protect myself, plus, addressing some of the mistakes that have already been made that I've heard of.
- Agreeing to fights with little information. If you're less than 3 months from your fight, there's NO REASON you shouldn't know who you're fighting, where, EXACTLY when, and what your pay is going to be. I was very concerned he didn't know his pay around the 2 months out mark. I think the statement I used was "you could be fighting for a chicken wing and a grape soda for all you know." Normally it's a manager's job to secure all this information, but if you don't have it something is wrong, manager or no. Don't let the people involved give you the run-around about the details.
- Contracts. Don't allow your manager to sign contracts for you if you're not even there, and if your attorney (managers and attorneys should be separate entities idealistically) hasn't read them. My trainer got fucked over this way out of a Title fight AND step-aside money. His trainer/manager signed something in his name, and he lost his #1 Contender status. He never did quite recover from that despite having a very good career afterwards.
- Proper preparation. NO ONE should be preparing for a Professional Fight alone. If your trainer does something like skips town just before a fight, promising he'll be back in-time to help some and corner you, then fuck that guy. The ONLY excuse for that is higher obligation, like he's training a Champ who has been his Fighter for longer or someone else more experienced. If he's getting more money for that, you can't really argue with it. But if not, then there's no real excuse. Not when it's YOUR career and ass on the line. Find yourself a more reliable team if you have some Fight contacts.
- PAID sparring. So I was told my friend was sparring guys who were preparing for Fights on a routine basis, and hard sparring sessions, and that based on one of the more recent sessions a working Pro asked him if he'd help him out preparing to fight a similar Fighter. When he told me this my first response was "how much is he going to pay you?" In Boxing, if you're a money Fighter and you want high-level sparring, you shell out a little coin for the guy to take the beating. I know a lot of MMA guys have the mentality that they'll spar anyone just to get the experience and work in (at least the ones I talk to), but keep in-mind if it's hard sparring or prep for a money fight, you're rendering a service for free. In Boxing when you're a Contender or Prospect, it's not uncommon for trainers to turn down opportunities for you to spar Champs. Why? They'll say "You're gonna be a Champ, you're no one's sparring partner." As MMA grows, paying for sparring is just a way to help out other Fighters. I mean my boy was driving like an hour or more to spar, least they could do was pay his damn gas. Also, I often hear guys complain they can't get good sparring. At that point, offer cash. If everyone in your Gym is too scared of you, put a bounty out on you. Set aside like $50 or $100 and tell them you'll give it to whomever can knock you down, sub you, whatever. Someone will step up motivated, because money talks. Guys like Larry Holmes in Boxing at some points had as much as $10,000 bounties out on themselves for whomever could knock them down in sparring.
- Sponsorships. Sponsorships are nice, but be careful you don't low-ball yourself being sponsored by fly-by-night T-shirt Companies and whatnot. Take Xyience for instance. Seemed like a great idea to be sponsored by them, right? Well right now they're under Federal Investigation for running a Panzi scheme here in Vegas, and they're facing multiple share-holder lawsuits, as well as having just declared Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. I bet there's at least one Fighter kicking themselves in the ass for being associated with that Company, even if they did shell out some nice coin in the beginning, right now they're pretty much all sizzle and no steak. Make sure your sponsorships are legit, and you're actually getting something from it.
- Licensing/Medical Expenses. I've been asked numerous times recently who pays for medical expenses and things like licensing. On the lower levels, Fighters pay out-of-pocket. But if you've got a Pro Fight lined up, the Promoter should be paying for licensing fees and exams. If not something's up. They should at the very least reimburse you for having to pay fees to fight in their show. Even if the paycheck is small money, basic things like travel, lodging, licensing, and medical expenses should be covered. I know Amateur associations that cover most of that, so if a Pro show isn't, I wouldn't fight for them.
- Matching. One of the fighters in our Gym said it best when being asked if he'd fight for a Promoter who is known for putting on fights that don't pay that great: "It depends who he wants me to fight. If he wants me to fight an undefeated guy, he better give me undefeated money." Unless you're content to just fight, make sure you're not being used as cannon-fodder for some killer. I know this happens a lot in every Fight Sport, but if it's not what you want don't do it. However, that said there's NOTHING wrong with being a Journeyman and living the "have gloves, will travel" lifestyle as a Fighter. Journeymen are the backbones of the Sports, and Prospects wouldn't have those shiny records AND good experience without them. Hell I may never be more than a Journeyman myself. But it's something you have to understand the nature of, Journeymen can still make a good living as Professional Fighters, if they're willing to ask "how much" a lot.
For any of you Fighters and/or Promoters, feel free to add more.
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