The Triangle Choke: Absolute Action MMA - A Night of Champions

Pro-Fighting Fans Editor-in-Chief Scott Dryden took some time to speak with Absolute Action Owner Parag Patel and Matchmaker Billy Donovan to discuss their July 24th event. Patel and Donovan will look to parlay the success of their second show into bigger and better things at Turfway Park in Florence, KY in front of what is expected to be a large crowd. Dryden discusses the vision of the promotion and what MMA fans can expect on July 24 th:

Middleweight prospect Marcus Finch was sponsored by Intimidation Clothing at his June 5 fight for Absolute Action MMA.

SD - What brought you to the sport of MMA?

Patel - I have been a fan of Mixed Martial Arts for a number of years. I started watching boxing events. That then turned to Kickboxing, Shooto and Pride as different cable channels started appearing that brought those sports to TV. Then we had the charismatic fighters like Royce Gracie, Tank Abbott, Dan Severn, The Shamrocks, Bobb Sapp, etc. in the original UFC competitions that started my interest. I had become close with a local fighter with whom I attended several events to watch him compete and it was at that time I noticed there were things "missing" in the local MMA scene. I felt that these fighters were going out and putting there heart and souls into a sport they loved and it was more about the promoter than it was the fighter. I decided to reinvent the local business model whereby the focus was less on the promoter, more on the fighter and in turn the fans.

SD - Speak about what your goals our in terms of growth and longevity.

Patel - My goals for growth and longevity in this business are like those in any other, I hope to be able to continue to put on events that the fans find exciting thereby giving them something to look forward to seeing. As long as the company is PROGRESSING, I will continue to look for avenues of growth by expanding the territory, adding multi-media adaptations of the show and most importantly, marketing the brand Absolute Action MMA. I will grow WITH the market. Sounds simple enough and if I learn from the perceived mistakes of others, I won't move too quickly and won't try to do too much too soon. As long as I maintain that fundamental philosophy, I should be able to sustain Absolute Action MMA for some time to come. We built Absolute Action MMA from the ground floor, starting with nothing, no name recognition, no stable of fighters and no 'coat tails' to ride on. The advantage in that is, fans, fighters, friends and sponsors will now have that shared passion of building Absolute Action MMA into THE PREMIERE MIXED MARTIAL ARTS Promotion in the region.

SD- You experienced substantial growth from your 1st show to the 2nd - explain.

Patel - The attendance growth from show one to show two was incredible. I attribute this growth to several factors. First, I asked Billy Donovan, a very known and respected member of the MMA community to team with Shane Robinson, my co-founder, in establishing the fight card. Secondly, THE PRODUCTION, it allowed me to offer the comforts of the BIG TIME feel with fan friendly accommodations. Next, the fans that were there the first time came back and brought their friends with them. I felt that giving the TV type atmosphere to the event with the lighting, video and sound, would keep the fans coming back. So far it has panned out. Also, I hired On the List Entertainment, a young but aggressive promotions company to “pound the pavement” and get the word out about The Awakening, with which they did an excellent job. There was more time to plan the second event, so I was able to get a commercial on TV, we were able to get flyers and posters placed around town. This was very important because the fight card (the true magic for the last event) was able to be broadcast to a greater proportion of MMA fans.

SD - How do you plan to differentiate yourself from the competition in the Cincinnati/NKY region?

Patel - In terms of competition, honestly, I don’t see any area promoter as “competition.” We should all be here, if even in a small way, to promote MMA. This is where I'll drop any air of humility. I have asked to work WITH other promoters in the area to bring more attention to the local MMA scene and to elevate OUR hometown fighters. I have been meet with resistance and have been accused of coming into “[their] area.” This isn’t the case with everyone as Brandon and Vanessa Higdon of Hardrock MMA have been VERY supportive of Absolute Action MMA and have worked with us to promote events here in the area. But here is what is going to make you decide, come to my show then go to another promotion and you'll see the difference in production value. I might not have done it first, but right now I'm doing it well. Look at the quality match ups on my card versus other cards. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT...All the fighters that fight are to be commended and to be respected for what they do for us the fan each and every time they walk into the cage and all the training they put into each fight. Its up to me as the Promoter (and my matchmakers) to put QUALITY fights together. This serves a number of purposes but most importantly, it helps the fighters get better and to improve. It does no good to the fighter to be handed 'walk-through' fights to pad their records, only to have a decent opponent come in and possibly hurt that fighter that may have an artificially inflated level of confidence. So the advantage of having experienced matchmakers is essential. And that is what I have.

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SD - What are your thoughts on the MMA Expo and the July 24th event in Florence, KY.

Patel - I look forward to the KY MMA Expo at Turfway Park on July 24th. It is going to be an opportunity for those people that may have heard of cage fighting or UFC to get a chance to see that it is more than just “brawlin.” There are two local schools that will be featured and will perform demonstrations in different styles of mixed martial arts that make up what we now call MMA. For $5, spectators can come and ask questions, view the demonstrations and experience some of what MMA is about. Also, the morning of July 24th, there will be a submission type grappling tournament. Again, for the same $5, spectators can come in and see a different aspect of what goes into the catch all “MMA“. ADMISSION TO THE EXPO IS INCLUDED WITH YOUR TICKET FOR ABSOLUTE ACTION MMA - A A NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS LATER IN THE EVENING All of this information can be seen at www.kymmaexpo.com or just by showing up on Saturday the 24th.

My show, A Night of Champions, will be another event that as you asked before, that differentiates Absolute Action MMA from the other promoters in the area. We have over 20 fights scheduled currently. We have 3 professional bouts signed. We have 4 Amateur Title events Planned. We have multiple schools and fight teams from the region coming to the event. My desire is to continue to provide an atmosphere of entertainment that is the STANDARD by which other promoters are held. Again, raising fan and fighter expectations on what a show should provide will help promote the local MMA scene to a more prominent level

SD - Speak about your role with Absolute Action MMA.

Donovan - I received a telephone call from Dr. Patel and agreed we would meet and instantly grew fond of him, As we all know Scott there's just not many honest people in this business and I could tell immediately this guy was for real. We agreed on a matchmaking position within Absolute Action MMA and since then we have gone full speed ahead with not just the matchmaking but promoting the event and putting the Absolute Action MMA brand anywhere and everywhere possible.

SD - Looking back at the show at Draw Bridge Inn - what are your thoughts?

Donovan - WOW! What a show! I was very proud of that show as you know we had a potential roadblock put in our way but we stayed calm and collected and we had the support of the local MMA community in full force that evening. June 5th 2010 to me marks the day that everyone in the area took notice that Absolute Action MMA is a fighter and fan friendly organization striving to make everyone excited about our events. We received a lot of very positive feedback from multiple people in the local MMA community and would like to thank all of our fans, our fighters and staff for a very special evening. Without that type of support we wouldn't be able to bring another quality event like the event were having on July 24th at Turfway Park.

SD- What are your goals regarding the growth of Absolute Action MMA and putting cards together?

Donovan - Absolute Action MMA obviously grew quite a bit from show number one to show number two and I would like to see that growth continued with every show we put on. As for the Company itself I can tell you we have had the olive branch extended to us from other areas asking for the Absolute Action MMA brand to bring its firepower to there area, we are currently looking into other markets in this region such as Daytona Beach, FL, Illinois and Eastern KY. In considering these areas the selling point for us is to be able to offer our local fighters the chance to broaden their horizons by bringing them to these other markets to help brand there name and further their career in different geographical regions. The ultimate goal is to have Absolute Action MMA syndicated and aired throughout the country and feature our local up and coming stars such as Aaron Webb, Shaun Asher, Shane McClain and Shane Robinson just to name a few. As for the fight cards themselves, as a match maker I strive on putting together fair quality match ups. I want to give the fans the match ups they want to see, not just put a match up together to add a fight to our card. Looking at the current card for July 24th at Turfway Park in Florence KY, the fans can see that there are multiple match ups between fighters with undefeated records battling it out. We want to continue providing the area with the highest quality of MMA possible. As for future cards, we will be doing another Turfway Park Show Aug 28th in which I have already started on and can tell you it looks like it will be the strongest card yet. Also Scott I will announce to you something that has not been announced anywhere else but somewhere in the very near future Absolute Action MMA is hoping to put together an ALL FEMALE fight card, I'm not sure if the state of Kentucky has ever had anything of its kind before but I am attempting to have this happen before the end of 2010!

SD - What do you have planned for the MMA Expo and how does the fight card shape up?

Donovan - I think this fight card is great! We have a lot of solid match ups including 3 pro fights. We have multiple title fights and we're featuring some newer athletes that are just breaking in the sport that will be names for some time to come! I'm very confident that we are offering our fans more "Bang" for there buck with the amount of quality match ups we are featuring on this card. I'm excited knowing that in attendance will be Ultimate Fighter Veteran and current Bellator signed fighter Luke Zachrich and local fan favorite and veteran of the most recent Ultimate Fighter series- Victor O'Donnell. Each of them will be readily available for meet and greets during the expo. I got involved with the expo simply because I liked the concept of bringing people together for more than just a fight event itself but to interact with multiple facets of the MMA community as a whole. This expo is more of a festival type atmosphere for fans to be able to come out and enjoy the entire afternoon and learn more about a sport we all love, The expo will be featuring live demo's throughout the afternoon presented by local area gym's and we have live entertainment that will be performing all afternoon, There will be quite a few vendors on hand for the fans to get there favorite MMA clothing, A few of the local schools will have booths set up to where the local fan can interact and have any questions answered that they may have about the sport and even how they can become involved in the training. I believe the $5 admission for the expo is well worth the time to come out and support the local MMA community, not to mention admission to the expo is free with your ticket for Absolute Action MMA's "A Night of Champions", The doors open for the Expo at 2PM and the demos start at 3PM. The gates for The live MMA event opens at 6:30pm, fights start at 7:30pm! If the weather turns into rain the expo will be postponed and done at a later date, you can get all the info regarding the expo at www.kymmaexpo.com.

By Scott Dryden
ProFighting-fans.com Editor-in-Chief