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With Ring of Combat, Lou Neglia shows MMA promoters how it should be done

By Pramit Mohapatra of Fight Ticker

Over the last 18 months, I've been fortunate enough to cover MMA at its best having been Octagonside for three historic UFC events (Couture-Sylvia, Rampage-Liddell, and Liddell-Silva.) I've also been cageside watching intently as a new promotion like EliteXC struggles to gain credibility from and acceptance with the MMA public. And, unfortunately, I've been a first-hand witness to the failures of the now-defunct Bodog and IFL promotions.

While the UFC has clearly hit upon a formula for success, leagues like Bodog, IFL, and even EliteXC could learn a lesson or two from Lou Neglia, who puts on highly-recommended regional MMA cards in New Jersey with his Ring of Combat promotion.

Last night I attended my second Ring of Combat (ROC) event this year and for the second time I came away a believer. Neglia has figured out his own formula for success that has allowed him to now put on 20 events under the ROC banner, with two more planned for later this year. How has he done it? I thought about the two events I've attended and came up with some answers:

1) Venue. A major mistake promotions like the IFL, Bodog, and even EliteXC make consistently is that they rent big-time arenas (the kind only the UFC can fill) and routinely fall far short of arena sell-outs. In the case of the IFL and Bodog, arenas at the events I went to were 3/4 or more empty. Even EliteXC struggles to put 10,000 people in the seats for a Kimbo Slice-headlined card.

Neglia, on the other hand, holds his shows in the cozy confines of the Tropicana showroom in Atlantic City, which can't hold more than a couple of thousand people and pretty much sells the venue out. There's something to be said for picking the right-sized venue and packing it to create intensity and an experience that is far superior to sitting in the Izod center in the Meadowlands and being able to hear a pin drop.

2) Location. Remember when it seemed like every MMA event was held near a casino? Well, many up-and-coming promotions have forgotten that equation and have held events in some rather "interesting" locations. There's no doubt, however, that gambling and fighting go hand-in-hand.

While it's been a long time since a major promotion such as the UFC has ventured to Atlantic City, Neglia certainly hasn't forgotten the inherent benefits of putting on live shows in a location that is more conducive for holding such events than the average city. Rather than putting on a show in a place like Stockton, Calif., where there are few other attractions, ROC events are located in a hotel and in a city which provide MMA fans with far more than just MMA action to fulfill their entertainment needs. Atlantic City has restaurants, clubs, and casinos to pass the time. And, while it's not Las Vegas, it certainly is a major step up from Newark for traveling MMA fans.

3) Hospitality. Neglia also hasn't forgotten that it's the paying fans who keep promotions like his afloat. And, he treats ROC attendees like he cares about them. Between every fight on the card, ring girls toss prizes into the stands. The girls are also very accessible for pictures with their adoring fans. Each event ticket comes with free drinks, which is a nice perk if you're into consumption of beverages. And, maybe most importantly, fans can essentially walk up to the cage and take pictures during fights. In addition, a ROC ticket stub gives attendees free admission into the Tropicana's best night club, Providence, after the fights are over. While this might sound like a chaotic mix, somehow it all seems to come together to produce what appears to be a very content and entertained crowd. Fans don't simply get MMA fights when they attend a ROC event -- they get a night's worth of entertainment.

And, with tickets affordably priced between $50 and $150, the night's entertainment won't break the bank like a UFC event will.

4) Fighters. Something else Neglia hasn't forgotten is that fights involving participants fans have a connection to are much more compelling. So, he fills a majority of ROC cards with local fighters. New Jersey and New York-area academies such as Serra Longo and Tiger Schulmann and numerous others are well-represented and each fighter brings a strong contingent of fans to the event. It's not a stretch to say that many in attendance have a direct rooting interest in at least one fighter in the event.

5) Pace of the card. Neglia keeps his cards moving, wasting very little time between fights. So, while last night's card was full of quick, lopsided matchups, fans had little time to worry about what they'd just seen because the next fight was ready to go within five minutes. As EliteXC proved at the May 31 event in Newark, nothing kills a buzz better than sitting around, waiting for the next fight to begin.

While overly-ambitious promotions arrive on the MMA scene with delusions of grandeur and fade away within months, Neglia has become a fixture in the northeast MMA scene by keeping his events simple and fan-friendly and by not over-reaching. ROC isn't the only promotion out there that adheres to these few rules but it is the one regional promotion I've become acquainted with -- very happily -- over the last few months.

Neglia's next event, ROC XXI, is scheduled for September 12 back at the Tropicana Showroom. And, if you haven't figured it out by now, I'll be there for sure.

World Champion Louis Neglia today announced the season premiere of Ring of Combat – Tournament of Champions championship Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) events. The first available pay-per-view broadcast of the event debuts on Friday, June 29, 2007, at 10:00 PM EDT with replays throughout the month of June and July and will cost a budget-minded $19.95.

Louis Neglia’s Ring of Combat has held many of the most action packed MMA events that the Northeast has seen and is moving up to the next level of competition and moving up to a new level of broadcast exposure.

"Mixed Martial Arts is becoming a truly revolutionary sport, surpassing almost every major sport in popularity among its target demographic group of 18-34 year old males,” said Louis Neglia, founder and promoter of Ring of Combat. “2007 will be the best year yet for the Ring of Combat tournament and our partnership with Pay Per View is breaking new ground for our fans and creating new exposure for our sport and broadcasting partners. Our PPV broadcasts will be available for a reasonable and affordable $19.95, giving fight fans and the hard working man and woman the opportunity to be inside the ring when the action starts.”

Recent Pay-Per-View (PPV) broadcasts of MMA events exceeded 700,000 buys in early 2006 and then closed out the year with the highest PPV buys ever with more than 1,000,000 for a single event. Louis Neglia’s Ring of Combat is sure to be a crowd pleaser, with finals scheduled for and April 27th respectively. The top fighters in each of three different weight divisions – Lightweight, Welterweight and Middleweight will vie to be the Champion in their respective divisions and for their share of more than $100,000 in prize money.

Louis Neglia’s Ring of Combat – Tournament of Champions Finals will be held live at the Tropicana Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, NJ on Friday, April 27, 2007 at 9:00pm EDT. Fighters from around the world will be competing for their share of a $100,000 purse. MMA finalists competing in the Tournament of Champions Finals include, Binky Jones of Maryland vs. Ian Loveland of Oregon; Todd War of Texas vs. Philippe Nova of New York and Marc Stevens of Delaware vs. Jason House of Texas.

“Having been a former world champion myself, I know how difficult the life of a fighter is and this is why I created Ring of Combat in 2000 into one of the only MMA events that truly rewards talented and undiscovered fighters with substantial compensation and TV exposure for their hard-fought efforts,” added Neglia. “With Ring of Combat, we are giving these up-and-coming fighters the support and compensation they deserve and bringing honor to the MMA world.”

About World Champion Louis Neglia Presents…Louis Neglia is a three-time world kickboxing champion, has performed in some of the largest arenas in the world and has starred in three martial arts films. He was named “Fighter of the Year” and inducted into the Karate Hall of Fame, among other notable achievements. Louis Neglia Presents has hosted sellout Mixed Martial Arts events at the Taj Mahal, Caesars Palace and the Tropicana in Atlantic City, the Marriott International, the Meadowlands, The Capitale in New York City and Madison Square Garden, to name a few. Louis Neglia Presents events have been televised on the Madison Square Garden Cable Network, Telemundo, Sports Channel, ESPN2 and on Pay Per View. Louis Neglia Presents Ring of Combat is one of the most action packed Mixed Martial Arts events that the Northeast has seen. For more information visit: www.louneglia.com.

With Ring of Combat, Lou Neglia shows MMA promoters how it should be done

LEGENDARY FIGHTER & PROMOTER LOUIS NEGLIA TO ANNOUNCE PPV SCHEDULE FOR THE RING OF COMBAT