Utah’s largest MMA promotion is doing things the right way in more ways than one.
This past weekend, Fierce Fighting Championship (FFC) hosted FFC 32 at the Maverik Center in West Valley, Utah. Despite the card suffering some last-minute drop-offs — including its main event between Michael Cyr and Joel Haro for the former’s Pro Bantamweight Title — the show brought non-stop action and provided fans with an incredible night of fights.
FFC 32 featured eight fights split evenly between amateur and professional. Impressively, the event boasted five finishes, including two first-round knockouts from featherweight Vince Wright and heavyweight Zeke Latu.
The card’s opening battle between amateurs Mike Gullion and the debuting Zack Singer took home Fight of the Night, while amateur featherweight Morgun Colledge received the Performance of the Night nod with a dominant first-round submission over Zac Hamilton.
The main event saw former UFC veteran Jared Vanderaa finish his fight before it could even really begin, submitting Eric Iman within the first two minutes to retain his Pro Heavyweight Title.
While the action-packed fight card was reason enough to tune into the pay-per-view, the promotion’s work outside the circled cage makes FFC a must-see.
Fierce hosted its first event in 2016, operating out of Price, Utah. The following years saw the promotion expand its reach with events in Salt Lake City, eventually becoming the premier destination for mixed-martial arts in the Beehive State.
One of the key contributors to the company’s growth is COO and Head Matchmaker, Zack Patridge, who joined the promotion as a color commentator shortly after the pandemic.
Partridge detailed that one of the methods FFC has utilized to draw attention to local MMA is activating the Utah MMA community. He emphasized that Utah has a strong MMA presence that hasn’t been fully recognized yet.
“Utah has a fantastic MMA community and I don’t feel like it gets enough respect,” he noted. “We’re so close to Las Vegas, which is considered the Fight Capital of the World. Everyone loves the Vegas fight game and that’s great. They have so many great gyms and talented fighters, but just right up I-15, so do we.”
Fierce’s first step to involving the local MMA community is showcasing Utah talent and providing them a stage to shine on. With local and regional fighters on their cards, the audience is comprised of heavily invested fans, friends and family, all coming together for a uniquely personal and unifying celebration of Utah MMA.
Doubling down on the community, Partridge explained that FFC is dedicated to making their shows enjoyable for all ages. They commendably host events in family-friendly venues with well-lit parking, find radio edits for walkout music and encourage respect between fighters to ensure that parents feel comfortable bringing their children.
“At the end of the day it is mixed martial arts and it's all about respect and discipline and showing good sportsmanship,” he said. “We try to be a breeding ground and cultivate that type of an atmosphere to keep it fun for all ages and make sure everybody feels safe.”
On the topic of youth, Fierce is making strides to welcome younger generations into the local MMA family. They have introduced and begun growing the Be Fierce Be Kind Program, a non-profit raising money to pay for kids’ gym memberships and training.
As listed on FFC’s website, “Be Fierce Be Kind's mission is to provide youth access to mixed martial arts in an effort to develop discipline, confidence and an open mind. Teaching our youth to treat and promote kindness is the heart of our mission.”
With the local MMA community fully embraced into the operation, Fierce even extends an invitation for passionate members to join their team. The promotion offers a volunteer-based internship program encapsulating all aspects of the operation, from media production to sponsorship coordination to the cage crew.
Partridge reflected on his experience of joining Fierce as a volunteer color-commentator and working his way up through his love for the business, stressing that the promotion values passion and dedication when growing their team.
“What’s really interesting is that the core members of our team pretty much all started as volunteers… I think that it’s created the best team possible so we haven’t wanted to change that. I want people that want to be a part of Fierce and do it for the love of the show."
While involving the community every step of the way, Fierce is, at its core, “for the fighters.”
Partridge detailed that the promotion is run by former fighters — himself included — allowing them to fully appreciate the importance of taking care of their competitors. In an industry that isn’t necessarily known for putting fighters first, Partridge emphasized that FFC leadership treats fighters, alongside trainers and coaches, the way they would hope to be treated.
“Sometimes it's not about saving a dollar right now,” he said. “It's about reinvesting some of our money from the shows to pay for better medical care for the fighters and to give them the best experience possible. I think not being short-sighted, trying to save a few bucks or cutting corners here and there has gone a long way to show the fighters how much we actually do care about them.”
Fierce’s honorable treatment of its fighters has attracted more regional talent to come and fight under the umbrella. Partridge identified that the promotion intends on becoming a major feeder into the UFC, and he believes that Utah — now more than ever — has the talent to transcend to the highest levels of combat.
“Before the last few years, it seemed that we were hoping like, ‘this is our guy that can get to the next level’ or ‘maybe this is our guy.’ Now, we got like ten guys coming over and it’s not a matter of if we can get somebody there, it’s which ones. We will have so many of them and inevitably, a couple of them will break through.”
FFC will host its next event, Fierce Challenger Series 10, on June 15 at Warehouse 22 in Syracuse, Utah. Tickets for the card are on sale now.
Comments