Funny writing this on Thanksgiving week, as my single strongest feeling is grateful. When Sean George , Marco Camacho and I started Victory, we never imagined we would have these results this quickly. In the last year we threw the first WKA sanctioned MMA event in NY history, two of our fighters have been picked up by the UFC (as well as one by Invicta), we have broadcasted shows in 122 million homes, and we threw the first MMA event in Madison Square Garden History. Friday night was really about history for the athletes though. Forty athletes (for 9 MMA fights and 11 Muay Thai fights) made the long walk to that famous MSG House Ring where so many greats have showed their art and skills before (I personally have sat in nosebleed seats to seen Mosely, Calzaghe, Roy Jones, and Cotto in that very ring) but the list is much, much longer. Whether they won or lost Friday night, each of these athletes are part of history for the sport, the state and MSG. Each one of them sacrificed, trained through aches, pains, injuries, job conflicts, personal conflicts and the weight cut. All of their teams rallied around them to help them prepare, but at the end of the day, they each chose to make that long walk alone- to face an opponent who wants the win as strongly as they do – in front of the largest crowd in New York non-boxing combat sports history (3,872 receipts, not including another thousand from fighters, coaches, event staff, facility staff and press). ESPN, NY Post, NY Observer, Maxim, Complex and Manual magazines were there as this wasn’t just MMA/Muay Thai news- this was lifestyle, main-stream news. If you ever are on jeopardy the answer for “First MMA Fight at MSG” is “Who are Tom Doyle and Michael Angelo Kelly? All the camps involved were incredible and showcased rapid improvement and advancements of many fighters over a few short years (many times Im sure I wasnt the only one thinking When did they get that GOOD?!?! (Nj Mac, Codie Payne, Erick Castro, Juan Cortez, Adam Pakiela and of course Spencer Grekoski come to mind). Chike Obi, Eric Taylor, Aaron Sifflet, and Katalina Kick-Kat Morales were also extremely impressive (title shots in their future). We all know Ibrahim Farag Moza was a world-class national champ/Olympic wrestler, but when did he learn to strike and throw spinning head-kicks? Eddie Cuello has only been with Victory for two shows, but he put together (by far) our best card to date. Mike Gasparski kept everything buckled down on the show and was the backbone of our team. Incredible battles were fought between Jason Van Oijen and Paul Lee Banasiak, Will Watson and Chanon Kuldraree, Stephane Kenny and Ulbino Guzman, Pawel Zawistowski and Manny Cassais. The long-relationship and deep respect between Stephane & Ulbino and Pawel & Manny (as well as their camps) was great to witness and showed the real heart and culture of Muay Thai. Special thanks to Brian Crenshaw for supporting and sanctioning us through our bold moves, to Joel Bekker, Vincent Chapple and Kevin Mulhall for protecting our athletes and doing a fantastic job; and for Steve Bauzen for his talent and endless effort in capturing all this history so beautifully. Thanks for Nick Newell (who is already a fantastic fighter, but continues to improve rapidly as a commentator, and Jordan Jay Adams for being a rock and hanging with me in the booth! Thanks so the many I missed that helped make this happen! God Bless and Happy Thanksgiving to all our athletes, associated gyms, partners, and fans!
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 19:15:14 +0000
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