“I’m young money”
By Jeremy Luchau
Had to switch the iPad on and listen to music this morning to get me motivated to do this blog.
If anyone knows me… that means Lil Wayne of course.
We are roughly five weeks out from Tachi Palace Fights 10 and we are really gearing up our promotions and media in the coming weeks. You can’t start that too, too early, as people will forget.
I’ve found here in our area that five to six weeks usually works perfect. It’s far enough for people to plan for the event (save money with this economy) and not too far to forget about.
Not that I will let people forget, I take it personally as a former journalist to make sure I get the word out about the show and our fighters.
So far we’ve only had one fight change since we announced the card and it looks like everyone is doing things right at this point… knock on wood.
Over the next few weeks I will write several press releases and be in touch with media across the world to help showcase what are sure to be some of the very best fights of the summer here in California and across the US, excluding the UFC of course.
On top of preparing for the Aug. 5th show, we are also working on the TPF 11 card on Dec. 2, and I’m currently working on budgets for 2012.
Also in the coming weeks (although I did knock on wood), I can promise there will be some more changes to the fight card. It may be injuries or personal issues, but the card is sure to take a couple hits.
But my mentor once told me that you learn what kind of promoter you are dealing with the bad issues and not the successes. It’s how you perform under pressure and resolve problems, how you turn a negative situation into a positive one.
Since I was first told this, I’ve really tried to live by this, and not just with MMA but in life. You will never find out what kind of person you are until you deal with the most difficult situations, and how you handle them quite often will be how you are judged.
I’ve also learned to expect the bad to happen and be prepared. Have a back-up plan if your main event falls out two weeks before the show. Be ready when your star of the show gets called up to the UFC. Be ready when the fan favorite doesn’t complete his medicals or misses weight.
I’ve seen a lot of promoters over the years trying to scramble last minute to fix situations they had not planned for. Can you always replace that key guy? No, but you have to let the fans believe that you have, that they’re still getting the very best possible fights. You better be able to sell them on what you’re doing and if you don’t believe in it, neither will they.
Can you convince everyone of this? Surely not, but it’s your duty to try and put forth your best effort in order to do so and still maintain the integrity of your product.
If you’re prepared and have some back-up plans in mind you can just react to the situation instead of spending several days running around talking about how you got screwed and not be able to fix something that should have been done in the first hour.
Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I think I’m still winning the BIGGEST LOSER challenge at work. I’m down 11 pounds or so and maybe July is the month to start training again.
Also, my fiancée Lauren is scheduled to be the “Babe of the Month” for the month of July for MMAKO. Make sure you check her out on Facebook (Lauren De La Cruz) and at www.mmako.com.
*********************
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.