The MMA Digest

Coming off a show this week, X-agon promoter Ivan Abrahams talks about his Australian MMA promotion.

How’d the X-agon promotion come about?

I have been fascinated with MMA since Tony Bonello introduced it to me about 7 years ago. He was training at my Gym and told me he was a cage fighter. I had never heard of it and so he brought in some videos for me to watch. As I grew more and more intrigued by the sport I felt that there was room for a professional promotion in Australia. I spoke to my trainer, Paulo Guimaraes and the two of us decided to give it a whirl.

What is the Australian MMA scene like these days? Still very young, very challenging. Our fighter base is still very small and we still experience too many fighters that enter a fight only to get cold feet a week before the event. Having said that I have seen a huge growth in the fighter mentality in the short time I have been promoting.

What are your thoughts on the UFC? 

Love it. They are the reason for MMA in the world, and have continually evolved their shows to a standard that was inconceivable a few years ago.
Who’s the most interesting fighter you’ve met and why? 

Phew. Tough question. I have met so many fighters now that I am unsure if the ability to “switch on” is interesting anymore. I would have to say that not one of them jumps out as the most interesting, but Dion Crouch from New Zealand would be right up there. Dion is a school head master, the most polite and gentle giant I have met in a  long long while, yet put him in a cage and he transforms into a master of the fight game.
What’s been the best and worst part of being an MMA promoter? 

The best part is still to come, the worst part is having fighters pull out days before a fight.