The Project Files: The Little Guys

“The little guys”

By Jeremy Luchau

As a promoter, you really have to know your role in this sport.

With the thousands or promotions popping up across the world, I think it’s very important to really “get in where you fit in”.

People always praise me for the job I’m doing at Tachi, but in all honesty I’m just following the game plan that was laid long before I ever stepped into the mixed martial arts world.

We aren’t reinventing the wheel here at Tachi Palace Fights or have some special Kool-aid that the fighters are drinking.

Honestly, there were some very, very smart men that ran promotions here at Tachi before I ever stepped foot here. Guys like Reed Harris and Scott Adams from the WEC and former Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino Entertainment Director Christian Printup.

The game plan here is a simple one. We respect the fighters and fans and we know our role in the industry. We aren’t trying to be the next “big thing”. We are content trying to be the very best regional promotion in the country.

I was once told, “Why try to be the next McDonald’s when we can be the best Wendy’s”.

We work extremely hard at staying focused and on task. Never getting too excited and caught up in the spotlight of growing too large and biting off more than we can chew.

Following the announcement by Dana White that the UFC would be opening the 125 pound division, there’s been wide speculation that it will “crush” Tachi Palace Fights.

I just laugh… really?

We couldn’t be happier that some more of our roster now has the ability to take their skills to the next level and compete.

Our goal has always been developing talent to make it to the next level. Over that last few years we’ve built a roster of Flyweights that rivals any in the world.

Guys like Ulysses Gomez, Darrell Montague and Luis Gonzales helped pioneer the division here, and since, we’ve been able to add the depth with Jussier da Silva, Ian McCall and Mamoru Yamaguchi.

We don’t fear the granddaddy of all promotions coming in and “stealing” our fighters. We are proud to ship all these boys off. You can’t steal things we are willing to give away (To the right people).

Dana, take ‘em all.

We will only reload. Everyone will see the hard work that Richard Goodman and I put into these fight cards and fighters. The hours and hours of planning and research we put in.

It will once again be our jobs to go out there and develop more talent, showcase some of the world’s top up-and-comers and get these guys the right opportunities to get them to the UFC.

Will you ever see another regional promotion have a show with four Top 10 fighters in one weight class again?

Probably not, but I think that’s a good thing.

We are in the business here of developing talent for the big boys.

We wear that “little guys” patch with pride and we are proud to see our “little guys” now take their games to the next level and be able to play on the field with the “big guys’. In fact, I bet some of them steal the show.

You can expect to see some new faces in the future and that just means more opportunities have been created for the fighters and how can that be bad for business?

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Facebook: www.facebook.com/jeremy.luchau
Twitter: @TheProject23
Email: [email protected]

Special Thanks: Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino (www.tachipalace.com), Fairtex (www.fairtex.com) and Metal Mulisha (www.metalmulisha.com).

“The Project Files” by Jeremy Luchau is an ongoing weekly blog series here at ProMMAnow.com that publishes each Thursday and will give readers an inside look into the life of an MMA promoter. It is part of our ongoing series of exclusive content written by individuals involved in the mixed martial arts industry.