411 Interview: Dave O'Donnell
Posted by Alex Watt on 06.09.2011
411's Alex Watt catches a word with UCMMA promoter Dave O'Donnell ahead of the massive UCMMA 21 event on June 25th.
So remember those interviews I've been promising you all for weeks? Well, here's the first of hopefully many. A few days ago I sent a few questions over to UCMMA promoter Dave O'Donnell to ask him about UCMMA and the forthcoming UCMMA 21, UK MMA, UFC fighters, and much more. Enjoy.
How did you get into the MMA business, get involved with Cage Rage and ultimately set up UCMMA?
I watched a video of Royce Gracie fight at UFC 1 and I thought to myself ‘I want to train with that guy and I want to be doing what these guys are doing in a cage'. By 2000 we were putting guys in rings and I was training a lot of guys at my gym. Two years later, I wanted to raise some money for my club so I put an MMA show on just to see how it went - and it went from there really. Then after ProElite went down I opened Ultimate Challenge. We were humble and when we started we built from the ground upwards and laid good foundations and that's what it's all about.
For the benefit of those who have yet to check out UCMMA; what is UCMMA all about and why should people check out your shows?
We put on top class events. We did it with Cage Rage and made it a multi million pound company and now we are taking small steps with Ultimate Challenge. But trust me, start looking at the names we have and you will get a shock. Look at the caliber of the fighters we have, a lot of the guys from my show go straight to the UFC like Jason Young and Brad Pickett. I have an eye for talent and these young kids fighting on my shows have fantastic potential. We are also getting some kick back from the UFC with the likes of Paul Kelly and Dean Amasinger, but trust me we are the A-team of UK MMA.
UCMMA 21 is just a couple of weeks away. How excited are you for the show?
I'm always excited. June 25, UCMMA 21: Stand Your Ground, this show is going to be off the hook. I don't know where to put the guys on the card, there are so many great fighters on it. We managed to get a top six but I would love to get every fight on Sky Sports because there are going to be fireworks. We have a deal with Sky, the biggest sports channel in Europe and we have a weekly show ‘Cage Fighter' that is on every Wednesday. What we need now is someone in the USA to go ‘hey these fights need to be shown over here'. That's why I want to speak to HD Net and Fight net. I want those guys to come over here and see the British talent.
What fight on the card are you most looking forward to?
The fight the whole country is looking forward to is Oli Thompson v Mark Potter for the UCMMA Heavyweight title. Mark Potter had a strong boxing career but now he is ripping up the Heavyweight division and is a star in the making. But you have to remember Oli Thompson is former Britain's Strongest Man and he is a monster, he is the new Hercules of MMA.
June 25th will see the UCMMA debut of Paul Kelly. How big a coup was it to get a former UFC Lightweight? And are more big names going to follow?
I'm no stranger to superstars. I've had Anderson Silva, Vitor Belfort, Ken Shamrock, Matt Lynton, the list goes on and on. After his release from the UFC Paul Kelly needed a good place to come back to and he picked us. Yes it was a big coup and I hope to see Paul fight well. He has a tough opponent in Afaksi Sione, who is no push over. He is from New Zealand and has a strong Kiwi fan base here in London. Paul has to do everything he can to get that win.
Your focus seems to be more on the UK fighters than bringing over fighters from Europe or the U.S. Is this an intentional move?
In America you have hundreds of shows and thousands of fighters. Why would I want to bring them over here to fight unless they have a massive name and reputation? As I mentioned I've brought over big names fighters before like Phil Baroni, Jorge Rivera, Tank Abbott. At the moment I'm trying to build British fighters so they can go over to the UFC. People like Jason Young who we took to Canada and he put on an awesome performance. These guys are training so hard and are ready to prove themselves. In every country you have to have your own core of fighters and I'm trying to bring the best of British to challenge the rest of the world.
What do you think of the way MMA in the UK is growing? And how exciting is it to be one of the main figures at the centre of that growth?
Excitement is one thing, but I would love TV channels to push on with MMA because I believe we haven't even tipped the ice burg, we have so much more to do. Just like Dana White is working 24 hours a day to push MMA to the next level. I'm not happy with it in the UK, I want reality shows, mainstream TV - we already have the biggest sports Channel (Sky Sports) but I want more than that. I'm always looking to move forward because I believe the fighters deserve better, MMA deserves better. I would like to see a governing body, people abiding by rules like blood testing.
Who do you see as the next big things in UK MMA?
That is a question that's really hard because just when you think a fighter is doing absolutely fantastic and they are 7-0 or 8-0 they go and get beat and they're back to square one. On my shows I like to put on even fights so people have to prove themselves time and time again. They're not just hand picked, they're not just building records. It's nice to see fighters go 7 and 8 fights unbeaten but have they been the right fights? "The Posterboy" is a prime example, he is 9-0, but has had some of the toughest opponents. I still think we have not seen the best of Jimi Manuwa and the best is still to come and I see him as the next big thing. There are still guys like Ben Smith, Oli Thompson, Mark Potter, all these guys are ready to make the step up.
Do you think guys like Jimi Manuwa, John Maguire or any other UK fighters will soon get snapped up by the UFC, Strikeforce or Bellator?
I hope they all get snapped up. I am not a greedy person and the beauty with England is that we are producing fighters by the day and if my fighters get snapped up, they get snapped up and go on to bigger and better things. I had Karlos Vermola who had one good fight on our show and he got snapped up, it happens. I released John Hathaway when the UFC came in. Brad Pickett and Jason Young, I'm proud to let these guys go because these two guys always come back to our shows and do things for the fighters because they know these guys are the future stars.
What's next for UCMMA?
I'm building a skyscraper. At the moment I've only laid the foundations. I believe that in our footage alone that is Sky Sports HD quality we have over 60 hours of fight footage and over 40 knock-outs. I have 40 hours of magazine shows ready for countries like the USA and Australia. I've done it before with Cage Rage; I know what I'm doing here. We are trying to reach the first floor at the moment and this year alone especially with the June card; it shows that we are off to a flying start. We have a lot of support from fighters, managers and MMA fans in general. That's what it's all about building fans that will stay with you. Our top ten knock-outs reached over 100,000 hits last week and we are proud of that and I do believe that this time next year there will be massive things happening at UCMMA.
UCMMA 21: Stand Your Ground is live at the Troxy in London, England on June 25th.
