Southern MMA Management

 

You guys know about me that every now and then my life gets overwhelmingly insane and I sort of neglect my little blog here…well, I wanted to update you guys on what is going on finally! I left my position in public relations a few months ago; got laid off from my boring day job, and ended up being asked to help some fighters get sponsors…which morphed into being a manager for a handful of really great MMA fighters. Now I have a full fledged business and I sure would appreciate your support. Visit www.southernmma.net to find out how you can do that. Check out our fighters, sponsor info, and check us out on Facebook and Twitter.

Thank you guys for the love! Have a great day!

How much can you know about yourself if you’ve never been in a fight? (fight club)

“Why do you want to work in such a violent business?”

This is usually the first question people ask when they find out that I work in public relations for mixed martial arts. I used to give a vague answer, something along the lines of, “Because I enjoy the sport and I enjoy photography, so it is the perfect job for me!” Then I noticed people were frequently unfriending me on facebook due to my “violent” photos or (more often) making comments about the “hot” guys (and girls) I get to photograph (not that I’m arguing, but there are plenty of hot guys who don’t fight) I started thinking people might have the completely wrong idea about why a female (or anyone, for that matter) would want to be involved in MMA.

“Why would anyone want to fight?”

That is the typical follow-up question. Why put yourself through the pain, the potential for broken limbs, the brutal training, the weight cutting, the whole spectrum of difficulty leading to a mano a mano battle of wills in a public display? Who wants to get hit in the face, knocked out, put to sleep, bloodied, battered, bruised or beaten? (And believe me, it’s not always the loser who is in the worst physical shape at the end of the fight.) There are lots of sports to showcase athletic ability – cage fighting seems to be the most dangerous, why choose it over any other sport?

I had a sudden realization of why I identify so closely with fighters and MMA in general. Inspired by a conversation I had recently with one of the fighters I work with, it occurred to me that fighting is more than a physical combat sport. Step in the cage with another man and you are stepping in the cage with yourself. You fight with hands and limbs and spirit against another human being and also against your own fears, your own endurance, your own abilities and the strength and devotion you have to your training.

Don’t we all fight those battles every day? We fight against life itself…our ability to stay on our feet, our ability to fight back even when we know (or think) we can’t win, our ability to avoid tight spots and take a few nasty falls. I know my struggles have been plenty. I’ve battled cancer, the loss of a child, becoming a single mother and learning how to take care of my children by myself. Now I’m fighting the loss of my hearing. My struggles aren’t any more or less difficult than anyone else’s; they just are what they are. I don’t fight in a cage. I never will. I’ve devoted my life to standing strong for my children and raising them. I will fight for them no matter what that means for me.

Sometimes people say that a fighter has “heart.” It means he or she is willing to push forward even when he is getting rained on by strikes, willing to come back from losing two rounds and devastate in the third even if he goes on to lose the fight. It means he is willing to test and push his limits, show no fear, and fight to the end no matter what the result. I’m inspired by that and hope that, regardless of what life has in store for me, I will always fight adversity with heart and spirit.

As long as I am able, I will carry on capturing moments and stories like these in cage fighting. To remind you (and myself) to breathe, to focus, to push the pace, to stand your ground and never give up. And if you find the sport too violent to handle, if the blood and intensity offends you, if you think you are in a position to judge someone because of what they love, then maybe you haven’t had to fight in your own life, or maybe you’ve chosen not to. I choose to fight and will continue to do so, even if I never wear a pair of gloves to do it.

To those I know, thank you for allowing me to be a small part of your fight career, you all mean the world to me and I hope that what I do is beneficial for you all in some way. A good many of you are like family to me, standing in my corner when I’m broken down, exhausted, and ready to give up and I am grateful for that, too. Conflict means much more to me than just business – it’s an opportunity for me to be immersed in a sport that I love and that means something big in my life.

Why you need to know about Conflict Fighting

Shon "The Wolverine" Winchester, Alexander Karate, Greenville, SC

Hey, I’ve been a bit out of the loop on Fight Site, but I have GREAT reason for the absence..I’ve been working for an MMA apparel company called Conflict Fighting. Conflict is based out of Greenville/ Spartanburg, South Carolina. You guys know that I’ve made my purpose as a photographer to help promote fighters, and with Conflict that is exactly what I get to do! I’m currently serving as the Director of Media Relations as well as working on an exciting affiliate program which I think you guys will want to know about as it unfolds.

I’d like to encourage you all to support companies like Conflict Fighting, and here’s why: they sponsor and support LOCAL AMATEUR and PRO fighters like YOU and help promote mixed martial arts in the Carolinas and beyond. When you wear the bad-ass Conflict logo across your chest you are supporting a LOCAL company that ultimately will help you reach your goals as a fighter, promoter, or school. So next time you get ready to throw down some cash on an MMA t-shirt, consider throwing it down on one of these and show your support for South Carolina mixed martial arts.

And if you are interested in having your photos taken or websites built, get in contact with me, I have a very busy schedule these days but I can work you in! Have a great day, thanks for stopping by!

 

UFC 119: Mir v. Cro Cop

Check out the article I wrote for Conflict Fighting reviewing UFC 119: Frank Mir v. Mirko Cro Cop

Xtreme Kage Fighting @ Bi-Lo Center Results

Although there were some major changes to the fight card for the event, Saturday night’s cage fighting was an excellent night of challenges for the Upstate’s best mixed martial artists! A brief rundown of the fights (there may be mistakes here, guys, I tried hard to keep up with the many alterations to the original card!)

AMATEUR FIGHTS:

Wolfgang Stein v. Vlad Levenfield – Wolfgang Stein won in the first round by TKO

CJ Hamilton v. Solon Staley – Staley won in the second round by guillotine

Justin Scoggins v. Eddie Sims – The bout was called a draw due to an unintentional headbutt by Sims which resulted in a cut above the eye of Justin Scoggins in the first round

Joseph Corneroli v. Allen Little – Little won by unanimous decision

Jay Prusinowski v. Michael Graves – Graves won by TKO

Charles Rosa v. Andrew Holman – Holman won by arm triangle choke in the first round

PRO FIGHTS:

Jacob Allman v. Jacob Pruitt – Allman won by Rear Naked Choke

Jimmy Fowler v. Jeremie Wilson – Fowler won by arm bar in the first round

Stephen Thompson v. Marques Worrell – Thompson won by Rear Naked Choke (as told to me by an audience member as I was leaving after my locker room interview with Jimmy Fowler, so this is not confirmed!)

Please correct my errors in the comments and I’ll fix them! It was a great night, thanks to all the fighters, especially JIMMY FOWLER and CONFLICT for sending me as a representative!

Greenville Area Martial Arts Photography Special!

I am offering a special for gyms and dojos in the Greenville area – I’d like to spend a day in your facility photographing your students and trainers. Kids martial arts photos, team photos, photos for use in your advertisement, etc…contact me to learn details! I charge a flat rate for digital packages!

New Site: SC Grappling & MMA

I just purchased a domain name in order to create a website for South Carolina MMA! I can’t wait to launch this site; it has been a dream of mine for a while to bring MMA events and fighters into the spotlight in South Carolina, and I believe this is a real way to make this happen.

What the site will offer for the public:

• A calendar of upcoming MMA, grappling, and Muay Thai events in and around South Carolina.
• A database of training facilities
• A forum to discuss the events and fighters in SC
• A database of photos, fight cards, and results of all SC events
• Interviews, articles, and information about the fighters and the events (including a regularly scheduled podcast)

The site will offer MMA fight promoters and training facilities an affordable advertising opportunity, which will have several pricing levels. Fighters will have the ability to generate a fan base through the site. I’m sure many more ideas will be forthcoming, but to start with the site will have a simple layout that contains all the information someone in this area will need, whether he is a fighter, a promoter, owner of a gym, or a diehard fan.

So what do I need from YOU?

If you are interested in advertising with the site upon the launch, please contact me. I will be running a very low price special for you to begin with, since traffic will naturally grow over time. SC Fighters: I want to know who you are and have the opportunity to include you on the site as well. Please contact me. I would like to see a good mix of gyms, promoters (upcoming events) and fighters featured on the launch of the website. Don’t let me down! Just to give you an idea, after I started covering local MMA events on THIS site my traffic increased by 1000% overnight, so there are PLENTY of people out there seeking information like what I plan to offer.

My email is mollyh422 (at) hotmail (dot) com.

Thanks people, here’s to the future of SC MMA!!!!!!