Lion Fight to put Brightest Stars on Display for Muay Thai Event at UFC Fan Expo
Heralded as the best weekend of the year for
Ultimate Fighting Championship junkies, the UFC Fan Expo
attracts tens of thousands of fight fans from around the globe
annually. Centered around the UFC’s massive July 4 card, the Fan
Expo is accustomed to other Las Vegas-based promotions getting in
on the action.
American muay Thai giant Lion Fight is no stranger.
The Las Vegas-based promotion is scheduled to host a spectacular
card smack dab in the middle of the Fan Expo on Friday afternoon,
right during the peak of the expo in terms of the amount of warm
bodies walking around the convention center. Lion Fight CEO and
owner Scott Kent said in a interview with Sherdog.com that he
expects anywhere from 10,000-15,000 fight fans at the Sands
Convention Center at 1:00 pm when the fight card will begin, which
will be a boon for the company.
Last year Lion Fight held an event in conjunction with the Fan Expo, but it was off-property inside the Palms. But with this installment of the world’s largest MMA bazaar, Kent’s company will be on the premises.
Kent said AXS TV will televise the six-bout card live, which will be anchored by two championship fights. He understands the importance of landing a slot on such a large fighting platform, so he made sure to load the bill with some of biggest names under the Lion Fight umbrella.
“We are going to have Fabio Pinca, who is our world champion, fighting on the card,” Kent said. “We also have Jorina Baars, who beat Cris Cyborg, on the card and Kevin Ross. We are going to have a couple of fighters from Ireland coming over to kind of tap into the fan base that Conor McGregor is going to bring to the UFC the following night.”
Zuffa, the company that owns the UFC, doesn’t have a history of helping out other fight promotions, especially ones they do not own. But, Kent said, Lion Fight is different because muay Thai isn’t considered a threat to the UFC.
“Of course, this whole event is all about the UFC and their product, and they will really be promoting the Aldo-McGregor fight the next night,” Kent stated. “But both Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White signed off on this. Along with those two, Reed Harris was also an integral part in making this a reality. They think this is a great idea and it’s not a direct competitor to the UFC. While muay Thai and MMA are somewhat similar, we are different sports and they know we aren’t going to cut into their market share one bit.
“Now it’s really up to us to put on a world-class show and show them great muay Thai,” he added. “All of our fighters are world-class and all of them are capable of knockouts and great performances. Having exiting fights is very important for us and we need to maintain that level of competition. All of our fighters know how important this is and they will all bring their A game.”
Kent mentioned that anybody who buys a UFC Fight Pass ticket into the Fan Expo will be able to walk right into the area where Lion Fight’s card will be held, which is still being arranged. Tickets will be $65 and all seating will be general admission, but Kent said there will be some UFC VIP seats available, though exacts details of those were unknown as of press time.
American muay Thai giant Lion Fight is no stranger.
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Last year Lion Fight held an event in conjunction with the Fan Expo, but it was off-property inside the Palms. But with this installment of the world’s largest MMA bazaar, Kent’s company will be on the premises.
“The biggest selling point for us is to expose Lion Fight and muay
Thai to a much larger fight fan base,” Kent told Sherdog.com.
“Although many of them may have seen a Lion Fight event or at the
very least some muay Thai, they may not have been able to actually
watch one live and in person. That’s (the main) reason we are
holding it at 1:00 because we want to maximize the exposure.”
Kent said AXS TV will televise the six-bout card live, which will be anchored by two championship fights. He understands the importance of landing a slot on such a large fighting platform, so he made sure to load the bill with some of biggest names under the Lion Fight umbrella.
“We are going to have Fabio Pinca, who is our world champion, fighting on the card,” Kent said. “We also have Jorina Baars, who beat Cris Cyborg, on the card and Kevin Ross. We are going to have a couple of fighters from Ireland coming over to kind of tap into the fan base that Conor McGregor is going to bring to the UFC the following night.”
Zuffa, the company that owns the UFC, doesn’t have a history of helping out other fight promotions, especially ones they do not own. But, Kent said, Lion Fight is different because muay Thai isn’t considered a threat to the UFC.
“Of course, this whole event is all about the UFC and their product, and they will really be promoting the Aldo-McGregor fight the next night,” Kent stated. “But both Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White signed off on this. Along with those two, Reed Harris was also an integral part in making this a reality. They think this is a great idea and it’s not a direct competitor to the UFC. While muay Thai and MMA are somewhat similar, we are different sports and they know we aren’t going to cut into their market share one bit.
“Now it’s really up to us to put on a world-class show and show them great muay Thai,” he added. “All of our fighters are world-class and all of them are capable of knockouts and great performances. Having exiting fights is very important for us and we need to maintain that level of competition. All of our fighters know how important this is and they will all bring their A game.”
Kent mentioned that anybody who buys a UFC Fight Pass ticket into the Fan Expo will be able to walk right into the area where Lion Fight’s card will be held, which is still being arranged. Tickets will be $65 and all seating will be general admission, but Kent said there will be some UFC VIP seats available, though exacts details of those were unknown as of press time.
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