Set for the Azteca Music Hall, Butler and crew have put together a fight card worthy of notice even on the statewide scene, with luminaries such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt ace Daniel “Jacare” Almedia, Quaint Kempf, and Russell Brewer of 5-second KO fame all set to participate on a card that pits those Dallas-based fighters against the best pugilists the city of Amarillo has to offer.
With the “Amarillo vs. Dallas” event nearing, we decided to speak to the fledging promoter in order to share more about how he got into the business, what his aspirations are for his MMA promotion, and most of all, why fans should pay attention to 24/7 and attend his show in Amarillo on June 10th.
Fabian, for our readers that haven’t had the pleasure of meeting or attending your first show in Midland – tell them a little bit about your personal and MMA background.
I’ve always liked the UFC since the early days when Tito was still the champion in the late 90’s. I’ve always been a fan and ordered the pay-per-views. In the Midland/Odessa area where I’m from, you’d have have your concerts and you’d have your clubs (as a form of entertainment) but to me, MMA can be more family-oriented. With an MMA show, you can take your kids, you can hang out with the wife, you can do all that kind of stuff. There’s never been nothing [sic] like that around there. I’ve been a fireman/paramedic and I also own two retail stores so being successful with that other stuff, I was just thinking about it one day and thought, “why not go ahead and try doing this also.”
About a year ago, I started working on piecing this together. It took about nine-months to put my first show together with the April 8th one in Midland. From the feedback from that, everybody enjoyed themselves, they had a good time, and I was encouraged to go from there. The main thing I feel from people, whether you’re going to a show, a concert, whatever… you want to feel safe. Especially if you’re going with your wife, your children, you want everyone to feel safe so that’s my first priority with everything. And also, with the fighters, I’ve learned in the past that sometimes fighters don’t get treated like they should. So if you’re a fighter and you fight for me, I’m going to treat you like my family. I don’t know if you read some of the stuff I’ve put out but basically, my message is that I’ll get you flown down, make sure you’re taken care of with your hotel, and everything else. The last thing anybody wants is to for somebody to wonder, “Why does so-and-so want to fight for Fabian?” I don’t want that type of mark on me so I treat everyone like they are family. I’ll drive people around and take care of people myself.
The fighters I’ve spoken to from your last show echoed your remarks so congrats on doing well taking care of everyone so far. What other type of feedback have you gotten from fans that attended your first show in Midland?
The feedback I’ve gotten is that everybody enjoyed themselves. I kid you not. Everyone had a good time and enjoyed themselves at the fights and at the after-party. It’s the little stuff. I guess I like to try and micro-manage everything. There’s room for improvement though.
I’ve learned some things I can improve on – for example, the music wasn’t long enough or instead of having it screech to a stop at the end, it could have finished with a slight fade… I could have had some of the guys go through the middle of the crowd instead of going around to the cage so they could fans could have had a better view… I missed a few things with the warm-up mats… Little simple stuff I could have done. Even something as simple as Pedialyte… I didn’t know what it was but apparently it’s better than Gatorade to get a fighter rehydrated! And I learned fighters like to eat pasta. Guys like to eat Olive Garden after the weigh-ins so why not have Olive Garden catered at the hotel so when guys get through, they don’t have to drive off, have to wait in line or whatever. And I’ll have a refrigerator full of Pedialyte.
One more thing… these fighters, man they like to fight hard but they like to party hard too. The way I had it in Midland, the hotel, the weigh-in, and the after-party is at the same hotel. You can do the weigh-ins and whatever you need to do downstairs and walk back up to your room. It’s going to be the same way over here in Amarillo for next week’s show. I’ve got the Courtyard in Downtown Amarillo as the event hotel. The weigh-ins will be 15 yards down the street at Acapulco’s. The after-party will be 15-yards in the other direction at a nightclub called Tatum’s. Nobody will have to get in their card. Everything will be right there in the same area. Even as far as getting to the fights… I’ve got an escalade limo picking up fighters and taking them to the arena, along with bringing them back to the hotel.
It sounds like you’ve got everything lined up. Why should fans in Amarillo attend this upcoming show in Amarillo next Friday?
It’s your hometown against another town. It’s like Dallas coming over to try to take over Amarillo for one night. You know, I really don’t research every show or pay attention to what every promoter is doing… I just worry about what I do. I don’t how many times this has been done with town vs, town but Mike, if somebody was coming to my hometown to take over, I’m going to come out and watch it not happen. We’ve got the local guys out there ready to show what they can do. Dallas vs. Amarillo has never been before so I hope the fans come out and support their family, their friends, and everyone they see around their town.
How about you? Are there any fights you’re looking forward to specifically as a fan?
<laughs> I think that’s been the goal for every promoter I’ve ever spoken to. What’s the future hold for 24/7 in MMA, Fabian?
Once I get past June 10th, the next one is going to be crazy. I really can’t even let you in on it just yet but I can tell you it’s never been done before. You’ll have to come down for that because what I’ll have planned has been heard of. Seriously, I’m not just saying that. You’re going to be like, “what the… did he just do.” It’s going to be something crazy.
Do you have any last for our readers on why they should pay attention to 24/7?
The first 100 people 16 years old and older will get into the show FREE. You can also win tickets by listening to 93.1 The Beat and Rock 107.9 (108) in Amarillo. You can also pick up tickets at these locations.
I guarantee, whether it’s worth a dollar or fifty-thousand dollars, I guarantee everything that I do. At my last show, I told people that if they come out and don’t have a good time, they’d get their money back. People’s time is valuable. If they spend that time to come out to our show, I’ve got to make sure it’s a good experience for them and make an impression. It’s all about everyone having a good time.
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