On September 11th Premier FC executed their second all amateur MMA event in Springfield, MA. The event was a major success with well over a thousand tickets sold, fans of all ages in attendance, and some of the finest amateur fighters anywhere on one card. If you were lucky enough to be a few hours early and paying attention you would have seen the fighters arriving, the sound crew busily preparing entrance and victory music, vendors setting up stalls, the smell of fresh burgers and fries, and the beautiful women of the Mardi Gras going over last minute preparations in their transitions from exotic dancers into Ring Girls.
Despite a late start to the event, due to an electrical short that caused the sound and lights to fail, everyone was in high spirits and as the first fighters entered the cage the energy from the crowd was intense.
The following several paragraphs were made possible due to the overwhelming generosity of Karyn Wesch and Jason Franklin, both of whom took time from their booked solid schedules so that WesternMassMMA.com could ask them some questions.
Thanks to you both for the great show and the following interview. I am going to use some quotes, but for the most part I will just paraphrase the conversation.
I met up with Jason and Karyn at the American Martial Arts Academy in East Longmeadow, MA. The gym is every MMA students dream come true. The tour of the facilities was brief, but nothing less than impressive. The only way the meeting could have gone better is if we conducted the Q and A portion while rolling on the huge matted space or Thai Boxing in the ring. Since I haven’t been able to train recently I am always looking for an excuse to be close to the action.
Jason Franklin is Premier’s Matchmaker and because of this much of my questions were directed to him, but Karyn’s pivotal role as Promoter provided me with plenty of things to discuss with her as well.
Starting at the beginning wasn’t a good use of our time and many other people have written about PFC, it’s roots, and the roots of it’s creators that I concentrated my efforts on gathering information that painted a larger picture of Premier FC 2 and what the fans can expect for PFC 3 on October 10th. Karyn was even able to share a little of the future of PFC in 2011.
My first question to Jason was in regards to the match between Chris Standish of the Lion’s Den and Team Ravenous’s Jeremy Reipold. I wanted to get some solid information about the health and well being of Chris Standish because as a fan you have to feel for any fighter that prepares his or herself mentally and physically and then is not able to compete. Jason explained that Chris couldn’t get medical clearance from his physician due to a liver enzyme issue. We here at WesternMassMMA.com wish Chris, his family, and his team a quick and positive recovery.
Reipold, who fought Fred Mandracchia instead, also wished his former opponent a speedy recovery and looks forward to seeing Chris at future events.
Next we discussed another up and coming Team Savage fighter out of Lions Den by the name of Mike Johnson. Mike fought against the U.S. Army’s Josh Beauraplante, defeating him in a powerful display of talent and raw power. Mike defeated Beauraplante in the 1st round when the ref stopped the fight due to strikes. Keep an eye out for Mike Johnson. WesternMassMMA.com will be interviewing several of the fighters from PFC2 in the coming weeks and Mike is one we are privileged enough to have speaking to us.
While talking to Karyn I tried to address her with questions that fit her expertise and experience with advocating the formation of an all amateur mixed martial arts league. With her I wanted to help anyone interested in MMA find resources available to the public which would be useful in sustaining awareness of the sport. When asked where she would recommend Joe Public begins his search for news and information on public meetings held by the MSAC her answer was to look at www.Mass.Gov and to call the Dept. of Public Safety. Both of these agencies will give you the schedule of meetings and the MSAC website has a wealth of forms and information essential to understanding the rules and regs of the sport in MA. Karyn also explained the major difference between Professional and Amateur fighter licensing. In MA pro fighters get their credentials through the Massachusetts State Athletic Commission directly and that for now an organization using the acronym KICK International sanctions amateur fighters. She felt that this was all changing in the not so distant future and that the MSAC would be the only licensing authority that fighters both Pro and Amateur alike would have to contend with. More on this in an up-coming article!
With a look to the future, and October not being so far in the future, Jason and Karyn were able to share two names that will be on the upcoming card. (Of course this is subject to change and is not a promise of any kind). Nate and Sam Nadeau from American Fight Team will be competing against opponents that have yet to be decided. One of Karyn's fighters, Darby McLaughlin will be taking on Patrick Euglow of Allaire Fitness at 190lbs in Pete DiLorenzo’s AFO event: Halloween Havoc on October 8th, in Mansfield, MA. Good Luck Darby Western MA is pulling for you.
Finally I will wrap up this article with my opinions on what made Premier FC 2 memorable and what I think we as fans wouldn’t mind seeing at future events.
- Loved the Big Top Tent, would have been nice to have a midget match-up before hand and possibly a few of those Mardi Gras girls on Trapeze over the crowd, but hey the tent was super cool.
- The quality and quantity of fights for the money. UFC should take some notes on this because from now on if there is a live event in Western MA and you are thinking should I go in on a Pay-Per-View or see a live show the Premier FC has what you want and it is where you can see it.
- Every seat was the best seat in the house. A level seating area made this possible although I think if it were me deciding between general admission and raised tier tickets I would just go with the general admission with seating to first come first served at the slightly higher raised tier price. 15 fights is still a bargain at $45.
- The fighters having tents in the same space as the fans was cool. I would have liked to have seen some tables set up near or around the tents for the various schools, fight teams, and fighters so they could interact with the fans and press a little easier.
- And finally I think it would be cool if there was a raised platform, for the press, somewhere in the same type of spot under the tent as where the sound guys were setup at PFC 2.
Thanks for the opportunity to write about Mixed Martial Arts in Western Mass. Keep us on your RSS feeds and we’ll keep the content fresh.
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An action packed weekend in October. The 8th, 9th, and 10th bring three huge events to Central and Western MA. WesternMassMMA.com will have updated fight cards, exclusive videos, and plenty of interviews from fighters, promoters, and fans.
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