A call to MMA Promoters and MMA Fighters

As a MMA(Mixed Martial Arts) trainer I have witnessed / experienced several things over the past several years. With the popularity of MMA today, there are a lot people who want to capitalize on the money (promoters) and fame (fighters) that can come from MMA. So here is a list of things that I've seen and experienced that I feel need to be addressed / or at least said, and by the way, the list is in no particular order.

FOR THE PROMOTERS
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1. Promote for the right reasons.  If you are only in it for the money, then get out of the business.  I've witnessed promoters that will try to match fighters that have 30lb differentials, just to fill their card (which might have 30 fights!).   I'm not saying that I think it is wrong for a promoter to make money.   I do believe that promoters need to responsibly create matchups, for the fighters safety if nothing else, and if money is all that is important then good matchups go out the window.  Promote to make the sport better, and support the athletes that fight for you.
2. Get rid of your ego and make relationships with credible schools.  A school that you establish a relationship with will bring fighters your way.  They will probably be better trained and more exciting to watch than those one and out fighters that have not invested into their fighting.  Trainers and managers will come out of the schools and work to make the events that you hold a success.  Don't like a person that runs a facility?  Take your ego out of the picture and think about how you are hurting your event by not bringing in good fighters...Then go and make that relationship.  I have seen good promoters (or at least promoters that have had some good events), fall to the point of scrambling just to get the card filled, when there are several schools locally who could bring fighters.  But their egos are too big.  Their card suffers, and their next event may suffer (attendance wise) too.
3. Don't F up the relationships that you've built.  Promoters, remember the most important component of your event are the fighters themself.  If you screw up with their schools, then you are going to lose fighters.  Good fighters.  And, there are so many promotions available nowadays that a team can easily go to another event.  Which leads me to
4. Take care of the people who fight for you.  I don't believe that it is too much for a manager, trainer, or fighter to ask for an event entry for a spouse, extra corner, etc.  I have been to events where we don't even have people fighting, but the promoter has gotten as many of our people into the venue as we wanted.  And I have been to promotions where we have had several people fighting, but the promoter would not even give us one extra pass.  I am much less likely to go to those promotions that are stingy these days.  Seriously? You can't afford to give me a wristband so my wife who sacrifices countless hours so that I can train these guys can get in?  I'm suddenly feeling like all my fighters are coming down with an ankle sprain.
5. At a minimum pay for gas.  Every state has different laws regarding Amatuer fighters, and I realize that the promoter can not pay the fighters if they are amatuer.  Giving the school or people traveling, gas money or a per diem to make the trip to fight for you, or paying for a hotel stay is not, in my opinion unreasonable.  Paying the school for some training fees for the fighters is another thing that not only helps the schools that are supporting you and the fighters that are fighting for you, but also ensures that you will have a loyal school that you can draw fighters from in the future.  Gladiator Elite puts the fighters up in a nice hotel right outside the venue!
6. Focus on schools, academies, clubs, gyms.  I don't know how many times I have seen fighters whose opponent did not show, and how many times in that same case the opponent was an independent fighter.  Focus on the facilities that have trainers that are focused on producing athletes for your event.  Everything else is a crap shoot.  I'm not saying that there aren't a number of respectable independent fighters, but chances are high that you'll run into trouble with them.
7. Stop calling it cage fighting.  I know it sells tickets, but can you not establish a reputation in the area and sell it with something other than using the word cage fighting.  I do not train cage fighters, I do not train bar fighters, or back yard brawlers.  To me those are all terms that depict an unskilled thug fighter.  I train MMA athletes, who happen to fight in a cage. 
8. Require, enforce, and demand bloodwork.  Every fighter(who fights for me) that I have gets bloodwork testing for Hep B,C and HIV done every six months.  However 9 out of 10 times the promoter does not ask for the results.  This is unacceptable, because if they are not asking us, they are also not asking our competitors.  I shouldn't have to demand to see the opponents bloodwork.
9. Two corners in the cage between rounds.  Between rounds in the UFC you will see at a minimum 2 corners, a cut man, and doctor (when necessary).  I have gone into the cage where only one corner was allowed and had to deal with stopping blood, giving strategy advice, and delivering water, and trying to apply ice to the fighter.  Oh and yes I also had to open the cage door by myself and carry in the stool (if one was even provided) for the fighter to sit on.  I don't expect to have all the same things as UFC, but at a minimum 2 corners should be allowed in the cage.  period.  Ground and Pound promotions does an excellent job, allowing 2 corners into the cage between rounds.
10. Doctors. Make sure your medical staff know what to check for, especially in a knock out situation.  I have seen / heard of doctors checking pupils immediately after a KO.  The pupils were fine, but the fighter didn't know what day it was.  Have to protect the fighters.  Make sure the medical staff knows how to check for the common things like knockouts.  Donofrio MMA even sends in a cut man between rounds for amatuer mma!
11. Dear promoter, stop drinking at your event.  I have seen promoters drunk out of their minds.  Save it for after the event is over.  You can not make sound judgements when you are drinking.  end.

FOR THE FIGHTERS

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1. Stop training out of your basement.  Find a local gym, dojo, school, academy, etc that has MMA instruction.  Sure, you can be a tough fighter and be successful training at your home, but think about how much quicker you will become successful if you have appropriate instruction.  Not only the training, but the support that you will get from the trainers at a school is well worth the money that you will pay. Do you truly know how to throw a kick or combination?  Do you know how to apply a D'arce choke, an armbar transition?  Coaches want to train you, find your school.
2. Be loyal.  Hopping from one school to the next does not make you a better fighter.  It only increases the number of people who recognize you as a school hopper and who will not put their 100% into you.
3. Stop calling yourself a cage fighter.  Call yourself an MMA fighter.  Break the thug image.
4. Be an MMA Athlete.  Train like an athlete, which means stop smoking, start running, start eating right, be consistent with your training, and learn how to train mentally as well as physically.
5. Respect your training center and the venues where you fight.  I can not count the number of times that I have picked up tape off the floor, cleaned up blood that was neglected, or thrown away bottles and food.  If you go into a place and want to call it your home where you train, take care of it.  clean up after yourself.  I guarantee that if I have to clean up after you, that you will be paying for it later when I decide to give you the hardest workout you've ever had...because you can't respect the training center.
6. Watch your mouth.  There is no place for F bomb or the like in a training environment.  You are not a savage, so don't act like one.  The occasional profanity when you get hurt or just lost a big match is one thing, but I've heard many far from appropriate profanities flying.  If you do that in my dojo, you'll owe money to the donation jug.
7. Cross train.  Enhance your skillset by doing something where you learn striking and you also learn grappling.  MMA is not a one and only style of fighting.  It incorporates all aspects of fighting from throwing strikes, to take downs, to submissions.  Learn them all and be a well rounded fighter.  Our toughest fighters train several arts.
8. Make weight.  If you don't know how to diet and cut weight or it is your first time doing it, consult with your coaches about how to do it.  It is one thing to really bust your ass to make weight and miss it, it is totally another thing to screw off / not diet / not take it seriously and then not make weight.  It is disrespectful to your opponent, the promoter, your gym, and most importantly yourself if you cheat yourself out of making weight.  I unfortunately witnessed a case where the person training missed weight because he 1. Went out for a huge meal 1 night before he started cutting, 2. Snuck in drinks of orange juice and water (when he was cutting) 3. Wasted the money that his coach paid for his entry, and never made weight or fought in the event.  It was despicable and I lost all respect for him as an athlete that day.
9. Stop being so damn selfish.  It is your responsibility to your team mates to show up to train after your fights.  I'm not talking about taking a few days off after a fight or taking time off if you are injured, or even arranging with your coach to take an extended absence because of family or work commitments following your fight.  There are too many times that I see athletes fight and then disappear, sometimes for months.  They don't call / text / email / fly a plane with a banner for their coaches to let them know that they won't be at practice.  My point is, that you owe it to your training partners to help them get ready for events.   Even athletes that are injured can help out in the training center.  You owe it to your team mates and your coaches.  Take too much from them and eventually they will stop giving.
10. Protect your hands.  Find somebody who can properly wrap your hands!  Make tight fists when you punch, and train effectively on striking (ie learn from a coach).  I see all kinds of hand fractures due to insufficient hand wraps.  So you hit hard?  All the more reason to have proper protection.  How long do you want to be out with a broken knuckle before your next fight?  Get those hands protected, and that means finding a reputable trainer who can do it.
11. Come prepared, on time, and train your asses off.  Get to practice on time, ready to go, when the class starts, period.  Unless you have an agreement with your coach prior, you need to be on time and ready to go! It always irritates me when I see athletes talking during their workout.  I'm not talking about helping their partner through a move or giving feedback like "you almost got it".  I'm talking about doing half ass pushups while you yap about your weekend.  If you can talk during your workout 1. you don't have your mouthguard in which equates to not being ready to go or 2. you are not working hard enough.  Your training will pay dividends(wins) or ask for interest(losses) in the end.

Train with intensity  -  Fight with spirit  -  Win with humility