Bleacher Report - Regional MMA

Armageddon Is Coming: An Interview with AFC President Darren Owen

E. Spencer Kyte — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:08:20 -0500

Darren Owen's long-time dream became a reality this past August, as Armageddon Fighting Championships (AFC) held its first event in Victoria, B.C.

After years of legal wrestling and venues pulling out at the 11th hour like they were Karo Parisyan, Owen and business partner Jason Heit were able to return professional Mixed Martial Arts to the capital of British Columbia, and they're ready for more.

We sat down with the AFC President last week to discuss everything from the trials and tribulations of getting an organization and event off the ground to the future plans of the AFC.

This is the K2 Interview Series...with AFC President Darren Owen.

First things first - when did you fall in love with MMA?

I think it was about my 12th birthday party.

I went to the video store and saw the VHS tape on the shelf and thought, "This is real fighting. You've got to be kidding me!" So I had to get my mom to rent it because I was 12.

Rented it, put it in and I was in love with MMA from UFC 1.

I have the exact same memory of the VHS tapes at Jumbo Video and I think there are a lot of people out there with the same recollection.

From that starting point, how did things evolve? How did you go from kid who fell in love with MMA to President of AFC?

I played football for a long time; I was always competitive, always wrestled my older brother, and liked the physical side of sports.

I wanted to get into MMA, but there was nothing here really. A friend of mine was training at Island MMA and as soon as he said, "Hey man, come check it out," I was in there.

The first day I went in, I was completely hooked 100 percent; started going five days a week, three hours a day.

There wasn't what I felt was a good promotion locally and I wanted to put on good fights, so over time, I became friends with the guy who owned the gym, Jason Heit, the co-owner , I asked him, "Have you ever thought of putting on MMA shows here?"

He said he had, and so we said, "Let's do it."

I know you had your first event back in August, but it was a long struggle to get there. What were some of the roadblocks and legal situations that you had to overcome to make this happen?

Sanctioning was the biggest thing; who can sanction it? Where can they sanction it? Who has authority to do it? Where do they have authority to do it?

We kind of figured it out after we booked Pearkes Arena.

The arena was on board with it, then we got a letter from the Mayor of Saanich saying, "This is prize fighting, and you'll be arrested if you proceed with this," even though we had the Victoria Athletic Commission that said they'd back us.

So then we had to look in Victoria and found the Victoria Conference Centre.

We wanted to do a classy, high-end kind of event and it's a really nice venue. We were 100 percent up-front and honest with them.

We said, "we're bringing in a cage, two dudes get in, it's a Mixed Martial Arts event. It's a combination of kicking and punching and grappling. These are the gloves they wear. This is what's going on. These are the rules."

They knew 100 percent what was going on. Everything went forward for months and months; emails, organizing and then the day I was supposed to sign the contract, turns out that was the day it went to their boss to sign it as well, and their boss was the one who said, "We're not doing this. Forget it."

I was called that morning and told not to bother coming in because they weren't doing it.

That's brutal. It's the Karo Parisyan treatment.

After all that, however, the event did eventually take place Aug. 22. How would you rate the event? What were your pros and cons of your first show?

Ecstatic that it went off and it pretty much went off without a hitch as well, other than a couple outside sources trying to prevent it from happening, but that didn't stop us and I was very happy with how the event went.

Afterward, I'm a perfectionist, so I was asking everyone I could (managers, fighters, people who were involved) "What can you see that we need to improve? How can we get better?"

I asked Kalib Starnes, "You know, you've been to the big show. What can you see?" and universally, everyone said we did a great job and that it was a great show.

Every fighter wants to come back. Every fighter wants to fight for us again. We treated the fighters right.

Jason is a fighter himself; he knows what fighters want and we gave the fighters what they wanted and that's important to us.

I want to get better, though.

We're buying a new Octagon; the one we used was a little small, but it was the best we could get in Western Canada. I just want to keep making the show better and go from there.

Your second show has been teased; I know I got an update through Facebook that an announcement is coming soon. Can you give us something a little more concrete for AFC 2?

It looks like UFC 111 is going to be March 13, so obviously we don't want to have our show on the same day as a UFC event, so we're just waiting on a contract from the arena, but it looks like we'll be March 6 at Bear Mountain Arena.

Anyone you can confirm as of now that will be appearing? Fighters that have expressed interest in coming on board?

A lot of people are interested; we got a lot of ideas being thrown around.

Anyone who is not signed could potentially come and fight. There are some big names in the States who are interested, some talented Canadians. I don't want to jinx stuff.

You mentioned Kalib Starnes earlier. He fought recently in Australia. Is he a possibility?

He would like to fight for us and I would very much like to support local fighters, so I would love to have Kalib come fight.

As a whole, we're seeing more regional promotions popping up in Canada, as well as rumors that the UFC is going to perhaps be coming to Vancouver this summer. How do you see the state of the sport in Canada right now?

I would love Vancouver to open up for MMA in Canada. Like a lot of people, I'd like to get my foot in the door in that market.

MMA in Canada is huge and it's only getting bigger. You can't ignore it.

Sanction it and sanction it properly. Don't force it underground, that's when mistakes get made.

This is the fastest growing sport in the world and it could even end up in the Olympics some day, so how could you ignore that?

That's one thing that has always struck me: you have the negative views of the sport and the negative slants put on the sport, yet it's comprised of a number of Olympic events...

It's uneducated people that aren't familiar with the inner workings of the sport and the training that goes into it.

These athletes train and train hard, as hard or harder than NBA players, NFL players. People just don't know.

What is the market like here in Victoria? How is the media? The public response?

Everyone has been great.

People have been really supportive; a lot of organizations and business sponsoring the event, a lot of people want to be a part of the events.

The media has been surprisingly good, very receptive.

I had one media blitz where I don't think the network was talking to each other because they came in (to Island MMA), showed the kids class, showed the instruction, safe environment, did a really great job with the story.

But then the same people interviewed me afterward, cut it, edited it, and tried to make me look like not the nicest guy out there, but that's the way it goes.

We touched on UFC in Vancouver a little bit. There is talk of an MMA Expo to go along with it like they've done with UFC 100, there was one in New York and Toronto has always had a great turn out for their show.

Is that something you'd be interested in and we would see you at if it happens?

Oh man...that would be cool. I would definitely be interested in something like that.

I don't want to take baby steps, but I don't want to put ourselves out there too far to where it doesn't make smart business sense.

We were looking at having Herb Dean come up and referee our first event, but he's not too cheap.

We ended up going with (Canadian fighter and UFC veteran) John Alessio, who has refereed Randy Couture's Xtreme Couture events. he's a sanctioned referee and did a very good job.

(UFC VP of Regulatory Affairs) Marc Ratner got wind of our event when they were trying to get into Vancouver and let us know how happy he was to hear that we're doing things the right way, having a sanctioned referee.

Last couple questions are always the same in every interview I do. They're quick hitters, just say what comes to mind first.

If you could fight anyone (past, present, fighter or not) who would you fight and why? Kenny Florian said Osama bin Laden, Tim Hague said Fedor...

I probably wouldn't say Fedor or anyone like that. I would probably be able to beat down Hitler pretty good or that guy who ratted out Jesus.

Judas?

Yeah, Judas. I would go to town on Judas. Ground and pound him.

You already do some matchmaking...

It's such a brutal process. People think it's easy; just put two guys together, but it's the hardest job.

If you could put together any three fights, free of organizational ties...

GSP - Anderson Silva...

Everyone says that.

Fedor and a healthy Brock Lesnar...

Also makes most people's lists.

A couple months ago I would have said Anderson Silva and (Lyoto) Machida, but I don't know now. Not after the Shogun fight.

GSP-Anderson Silva would be my No. 1 though. GSP and anybody, really. GSP and Jason Heit.

All-time favorite fighter? GSP?

GSP.

Best fight you've seen...live or otherwise?

I saw the GSP-Penn II fight live. I don't know if that was the best fight, but it was fun to watch. It was great watching BJ's pumpkin head take a beating.

It would probably be the David Heath-Mike Nickels fight at MFC 22...I saw that one live. Jason's fight too, against Paapa Inkumusah.

That's about it. Thanks for doing this.

Thank you.

photo courtesy of AFC / Arnold Lim - MMA Ring Report

Read more Regional MMA news on BleacherReport.com

LaTasha Marzolla: Playboy's Knockout Fighting at Tuff-N-Uff 11/27

Todd Jackson — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:07:47 -0500

With women's MMA steadily on the rise, many aspiring female mixed martial artists are seeing new doors open. Those doors are providing more opportunities as the sport evolves and further accepts their efforts to prove they belong.

They certainly do belong, that much is already apparent.

With the efforts of gentlemen like Barry and Jeff Meyer, President and Vice President respectively of Tuff-N-Uff Amateur Fighting Championships, women's MMA has found a respectable, high profile promotion to support their ascent in the sport.

Just last July, Tuff-N-Uff put on the first ever all female fight card, Tuff Girls, in Las Vegas, the fight capital of the world. This groundbreaking event was an amazing show that really displayed how exciting women's MMA can be.

Tuff-N-Uff is proud to say that world class female fighter Gina Carano fought for them in her early years as an amateur. Tuff-N-Uff is honored to have helped Carano establish herself under their banner. Now they look to provide the venue for another rising amateur fighter to make her mark on the sport.

They are showcasing another stunning yet equally dangerous knockout, all puns intended there. LaTasha Marzolla (1-0), the 2004 Playboy Special Edition Playmate of the Year, will be competing in her second MMA bout November 27th. Fighting out of Xtreme Couture, Marzolla will square off with Kate Mcgray; both are undefeated as amateurs.

LaTasha has surrounded herself with some of the greatest fighters in the sport at Xtreme Couture. Training there she will continue to hone what is already a well seasoned fighting career.

Latasha started out training under Master Toddy in kickboxing. Her record as a kickboxer is 9-3 so she is no newcomer to combat sports. Her experience shines through in her efforts as an amateur mixed martial artist.

Her first fight in MMA also took place with Tuff-N-Uff against a fighter named Christy Tada whom she stopped in the first round by TKO.

“Latasha’s fight against Christy is the second most viewed video on Tuff-N-Uff’s YouTube channel and has been featured on websites all over the world,” said Jeff Meyer. “We’re excited to help her pursue her dream of becoming a future star in the sport of MMA. She is funny and sweet outside of the ring but has proven to be more than serious inside of it.”

It should be interesting to watch her career progress further as she trains at one of the best gyms in the world as she already has a solid background in full contact fighting. Not to mention a highly attentive fan base from her early years as a model for the most prestigious gentleman's magazine in the world.

Her recognizable name and her high profile MMA affiliations will help her not only make her own way in the sport but also leave in her wake reinforcement of the fact that female fighters are here to stay, and plan on doing some damage.

Point being if Marzolla can find success in this sport, not unlike Carano's or even Cyborg's, it will help to open doors for more women to compete in this fast moving sport. Their success lends itself to the evolution of MMA for the better.

This is not the only fight taking place on November 27th at the Orleans Hotel and Casino. Tuff-N-Uff, as always, intends to blow away their sure to be packed house with top notch fighters trained at some of the best camps in the world. It is not uncommon to see fighters from Wand Fight Team, Xtreme Couture, or many other prestigious gyms competing for the Meyer brothers.

There is nothing quite like attending one of these events. Fights are fights, and shows are shows; many are high quality and very entertaining. All that said, nothing at all compares with a Tuff-N-Uff event.

There aren't many amateur events that will bring in MMA moguls like UFC President Dana White, or living legend Randy Couture. It is not often that you will bump into Vitor Belfort on your way to buy a T-Shirt at a smaller event like this one. Another great supporter, both as fan and coach, is Wanderlei Silva.

No one attending one of these shows should be the least bit surprised to see one of these icons sitting across the venue, or even in the hallway outside.

Their support of this promotion is all the proof one needs to display the true quality and integrity of the events. Barry and Jeff work very hard to bring the best they possibly can to fight fans in the Las Vegas area. If you're not local to Vegas, you can always log on to their website and check out replay footage of the fights after they take place.

At the end of the day, Tuff-N-Uff is building the future of this sport by combining integrity with entertainment, quality with accessibility, and excitement with promise.

If ever you're able to catch one of their events, don't miss the chance. If you're not able to attend, support their efforts by checking out their site. There is more than one exciting match there just waiting to entertain you.

Read more Regional MMA news on BleacherReport.com