411 MMA Interviews: Dan 'Punkass' Caldwell
Posted by Jeffrey Harris on 08.05.2009
The Vice President and Co-Founder of the Tapout clothing company speaks with 411 MMA for an exclusive interview, live from the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con.
While at Comic Con, Tapout's Vice President and co-founder, Dan Caldwell, or Punkass as he's more commonly known among fans was in attendance to announce and support the new co-promotion between Tapout and the new Tekken 6 video game. Punkass was nice enough to speak with 411mania for an exclusive interview during the conventio while all the Tekken tournaments were going on:
Jeffrey "The Vile One" Harris: Do you come to Comic Con often?
Dan "Punkass" Caldwell: You know what, its the first time I've been here, but I'm stoked man, I love this stuff. I'm a big Star Wars, Marvel Heroes geek, so I love all that stuff. I think behind the scenes, a lot of the MMA guys are big fans of this stuff. I said earlier that Jeremy Horn, you know who is a big MMA guy and has fought in over a 100 fights and fought in the UFC, he brings his video game console every where he goes. Every time he fights, he brings it with him, and he collects all the comics. I figure a lot of us have that.
TVO: MMA has seen some extreme growth lately. UFC 100 was one of the most watched PPV events of all time. Tapout started in the '90's and has also seen extreme growth. What do you think of the growth of MMA and Tapout over the years?
DC: Well you know, we always believed in it. We always believed it would be one of those things that grow to the top. I mean, I think not unlike anybody who might've believed in comics thirty years ago or something or that type of what was going on there and video games, that too. If you have something that is fun to do and people enjoy it and enjoy watching, eventually it becomes successful. People want to do stuff that takes them away from reality some times.
TVO: So what exactly is this relationship between Tapout and Tekken?
DC: Well, they're marketing team approached our marketing, and I don't know if you know, my partner Charles [Lewis] had passed away, "Mask," and they were talking and he was a big Tekken fan. And so he jumped on board right away, like "hey, we have to be a part of this." He loves fighting games. And I played Tekken too, but I probably wasn't as well-versed as he was; he knew all the characters and everything. So he got the ball rolling, and then we just continued. They were great with us, wanted to integrate Tapout as much as possible. You can see in the video game, there's some MMA moves in there and stuff. So its like it just all kind of works together. There's a crossover audience . . . I believe there's that crossover audience, the same guys that like to play these fighting games or watch these fighting games like to watch mixed martial arts.
TVO: You guys are in the UFC, are you in this game [Tekken 6] at all?
DC: No, we're not personally in the game, but our clothes are in the game. Yeah, we are in the UFC video game which was pretty cool too. And then, Charles actually, Mask, has been in the past 4 UFC video games. He was on the cover of I believe the PS2 [game]. So we've had a lot of experience with video games. We've all been video game fans for a long time. We're always the guys that buy all the newest consoles when they come out and try to stay up to date. It's just a way of escapism, its fun to do.
TVO: So did you do character designing for the outfits in the game?
DC: We mostly designed shirts that we just -- we just designed some great designs and they put them together on all the right guys that would fit those kind of shirts.
TVO: So now with Round 5 and Jakks doing MMA action figures now, are you going to be getting your own action figure soon?
DC: They've actually approached us and we're in negotiations with a company that is doing the UFC action figures. And I guess from what I've heard, they might have bought out the Round 5 guys. So I don't know if that's true or not, but that's what I've heard.
TVO: In general, what are your thoughts on UFC President, Dana White?
DC: Ah shoot man. A lot of people have a people have a problem with -- sometimes he may be a little harsh on the mic, but I think he tells like it is. He doesn't pull punches, and sometimes you got to like that about a guy. I'd rather them tell me upfront how you feel about me, then walk away and talk behind my back. And he's really a guy who's been in the forefront of pushing the sport; I mean no one works harder than this guy. This guy works tirelessly. I mean he's out there promoting the sport of mixed martial arts tirelessly, traveling all across the United States. I'll call him one day; he'll be in New York. The next day he'll text me from Abu Dhabi, so I mean this guy is all over the place trying to push the sport and I think he's really one of the big reasons between him and Lorenzo Fertita, the big reasons the sport is as big as it is today.
TVO: I really enjoyed the Tapout reality series on Versus, are we going to see more of that soon?
DC: Yeah. We actually just filmed a pilot for our third season because of rest in peace, Mask, he was definitely a huge part of our TV show, and because he's not around anymore, we were going to go to Spike, but they wanted to see the show re-worked up and see the new concept and how it was going to be operated with me and 'Scrape. So, we have a new concept for what the show's going to be about and hopefully we'll be on Spike or some similar channel.
TVO: You guys have been doing great lately. I was told you had over a $100 million in profit last year. While the economy is in recession, you guys seem to be doing very well, and making the right decisions. But has it been rough with the economy and all?
DC: I think its been rough for everybody, but fortunately we've been in a growth pattern. We weren't at our -- we were still in a growth pattern when the recession started, so we still had a lot of expansion to do. So even though we might not have sold to the level we did in a single store at that same level this year as we did last year, its made up for it because we've opened up another 1,000 doors or 2,000 doors. So it's made up for some of the losses in the single store realm. And we're also opening up worldwide, so our growth has been opening up doors overseas. And even though our US sales have been down a little bit because of the recession, we've made up for that by opening the doors in Australia and England and Japan, and Germany.
TVO: Punkass, thanks so much, and thanks so much for supporting Comic Con.
DC: Oh yeah, I love it.
TVO: And thanks for all the support and all you've done for MMA over the years. Hopefully it keeps getting better and better.
DC: Thank you. Yeah, check out Tapout.com and pick up Tekken 6 when it comes out.
The TapouT Crew: Skyscrap (L), Punkass (C), and the late Mask (R).
Tekken 6 by Bandai/Namco games and co-promoted with Tapout is due for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PSP on October 27. Also remember, you can follow 411mania on Twitter, check it:
