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The UK MMA Promotions Thread: BAMMA, Cage Warriors, ETC


seanz25

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So with the forum now getting a dedicated area for MMA I figured a dedicated UK show/stuff thread might be a good idea, it's a bit of a funny one shows over here, the major promotions are kinda infrequently promoting events, to few to warrant each promotion a dedicated thread IMO, they seem to go through spurts of being popular over here to absolutely zero interest whatsoever. I partially blame down to pricing, but also do get that MMA events aren't cheap to put on, but I can go see a UFC event for nearly the same price as an event in my local community hall featuring nobody's. I'm not choosing the latter really am I? But maybe it'll be a bit more interesting with a dedicated area to discuss, if not this one can always just be put in the bin :)

 

Anyway I'll kick it off with the most recent Cage Warriors show, I know it was mentioned but kind of got brushed over in the 'Other' thread, anyone catch it? Paddy Pimblett looked the absolute business in his fight and at age 21 he's UFC bound for certain if he carry's on that way. Scott Clist also performed a superb comeback to win his fight via TKO right on the buzzer in round 1. Fun show for what I saw and it's great they've got TV and a fight pass deal over here.

 

They've got another show on the 4/06 in Newport which will likely be worth checking out.

 

BAMMA have a few shows coming up to, they've got one during May with the return of Freakshow who's always fun to watch, they're also putting on a title superfight during that show.

BAMMA's in a bit of a lurr otherwise though right now, TV deal's a bit shit and there so infrequent with there events it's hard to catch-on with unless you follow there social media religiously. They've also got little to no stars, a few years back they had some decent and not so decent 'name' fighters on there cards, Tom Watson, (Love or hate) Reid, Daley, right now I barely know a bloke on there roster, which indicates they've not really progressed even though they've got a TV deal on a more main-stream channel. They had an event here in Southampton a year or so ago that was sparsely attended in a O2 concert hall, a hall that acts like Bob Dylan, Neck Deep, Jamie T, Motorhead have all sold-out, it was way to big and likely expensive for what they achieved, I landed a couple of comp tickets fortunately but £40 was the cheapest ones going, and half the fight's where semi-pro bouts. I'd imagine about 75% of the audience which must have just been under 250 people where likely friends and family. Askham was on the card, the rest again relative nobody's. Was a fun show but £40, fuck off.

 

Anyone else get to many local shows or that on here? It's rarely discussed, whether that's because people just don't go or whatever I don't know, I've been meaning to check out Shock 'N' Awe down here in Portsmouth which is just up the road for me, they seem to have a decent little setup production wise and regularly sell out events in decent sized arenas, but I'm yet to attend, anyone here been to one of there cards?

 

Edited by seanz25
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Cage Warriors 75 wasn't live on Fight Pass but it's archived up there now if anyone's interested.

I thought it was? I watched a stream as my sub ran out just before it and I figured I couldn't do rewards. Stream was for sure from fight pass? 

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Cage Warriors 75 wasn't live on Fight Pass but it's archived up there now if anyone's interested.

 

The Cage Warriors show was definitely streamed live on Fight Pass as I sat and watched it live on there last week, ha.

 

Ebb, your fucking useless mate. Chatting utter shit. BANNED. :p

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Was it?! Haha. I thought it just aired on Premier Sports then just went up on Fight Pass later.

 

My apologies :)

 

As for local promotions, there's a local Welsh one called Pain Pit (terrible name) that i've atteneded a few times. They draw a good crowd and the production is deceny but i always find the matchmaking pretty one sided on there. It's recently been accquired Cage Warriors though and is now known as Cage Warriors Wales.

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Every time I've seen BAMMA on TV I'm always fascinated as to how they're making any money. It's almost always pitch black to hide how few fans are there, but every now and then you get a shot of what looks to be no more than a hundred or so people. I assume someone is losing their arse on every show, right?

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yeh BAMMA's gotta be hanging on by a thread. They run big arena's and at the moment they have very little on their shows to draw in the fans. BAMMA at one point had some real steam behind it, when they signed Nate Marquadt it really felt like we had a UK promotion that could really make a mark on the world scene. I remember them announcing some title belt situation that would create a sort of Lonsdale MMA title, it all seemed like good times but it just never seemed to happy.

 

Cage Warriors re-launch looks to have been a big a success though, you got the Fight Pass deal and they sold out their first show. Future's bright for them.

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Every time I've seen BAMMA on TV I'm always fascinated as to how they're making any money. It's almost always pitch black to hide how few fans are there, but every now and then you get a shot of what looks to be no more than a hundred or so people. I assume someone is losing their arse on every show, right?

They've got tons of world-wide TV deals, way more than you'd imagine, I'd presume that combined they probably do alright. They also have decent sponsors in Lonsdale/Sports Direct. The channel 5 deal probably helps with that, but Ebb's right, they were on to a winning formula around the time I started watching MMA regularly, they blew it when they stopped booking any familiar household names. 

Edited by seanz25
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they must be doing something right cause they've been around a while but there seems to be such little buzz around it now, makes you wonder how it can sustain itself. I know BAMMA were something to do with Rizin, but how far that relationship goes i don't know?

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  • 3 weeks later...
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9toVh6V.jpg

 

 

BAMMA troop on this Saturday, the poster states that it's going to be on 5 or Spike, but from the TV guide im seeing the only thing i see on Saturday night is the Haskins/Morales boxing. Maybe it'll be updated later in the week.

 

It's actually a solid looking card, some recognisable names at the top of the card, Tom Duquensnoy in particular looking like a real top class prospect. I'll hopefully get to see a good part of this.

 

full card here: http://www.sherdog.com/events/BAMMA-25-Champion-vs-Champion-50145

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  • 4 weeks later...

Weird ending to tonight's Cage Warriors show. Ali Arish in a submission not locked all that tight, starts slapping the side of Marshman and when the ref calls it as a tap complains it is ground and pound.

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Just mentioning the Reid vs Barrett PPV in another thread on here - Am I right in thinking that's been the only ever official TV MMA PPV within the UK?

 

EDIT: Also here's Dave's greatest ever MMA concept:

Edited by seanz25
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