Long Beach Fight Night 4 - 4/19/2009

Long Beach Fight Night returned to the Long Beach City College Hall of Champions for its fourth installment on Sunday Night. The night featured 9 action packed professional Mixed Martial Arts fights.

Topping Events, Inc. has made turned LBFN into one of the premier MMA events in the Southern California area. The crowds are considerably larger today than when they put on their first event back in August of 2008.

“At least from the very first show we have doubled,” says Jason De La O, Topping Events. “Every one gets a little bit better, as we learn what people are looking for.”

While promotion through advertising definitely helps an event like this become a success nothing is more valuable than word of mouth.

“We try and promote as much as we can, and word of mouth is helping us a lot,” says De La O.

Not only do the fans enjoy the event, but the fighters appreciate it as well.

“They just basically have a really good experience with us win or lose. They like the way they are treated,” De La O explains.

The evening got off to a great start, when heavyweight Manny “Bam Bam” Lara fighting in only his second professional fight, defeated Anthony Apello, when referee Mike Beltran stopped the beating at 2:24 of the first round.

“It’s really intimate, it feels kind of good knowing a lot of the people here. It’s cool,” Lara explained after his fight.

While the fighters physically abuse each other in the ring, many of them realize it is a business, and do not hold any resentment towards their fellow combatants.
“MMA is a sport, it’s not murder,” Lamar Jiles, fighter for Team Wildman explains. “We go out here and we have a good time, my opponent I just fought, I would take him out to eat because it’s not personal.”

Ticket prices for LBFN range from $25-80, the latter of puts you ringside, compared to tickets to the upcoming UFC event which range from $75-$800, LBFN is a bargain. Smaller promotions such as these help grow the sport from the ground up, introducing MMA to people who may not have otherwise experienced a live fight.

“It gets the name out there, and that’s what we are trying to [do],” explains Jiles.

If LBFN keeps doing what it is doing, it may soon need to look for a larger venue.

“We are aways from that, but I think we are heading in the right direction,“ countered De La O. “Just keep after it, and give southern California a good venue for entry level to minimally skilled athletes to show their skills.”

If you missed this one, you can catch one of the next event on July 19 or October 18, 2009. For more information visit www.longbeachfightnight.com