Missouri’s Road to MMA Recognition

Pat Benson works his ground and pound technique

By Ron Merrill

Times were different in Missouri around 2003.

For one I was an avid early bird. By 6 am each morning I could be found on the elliptical machine at my local gym, burning off the sins of the night before. And at 6 am each morning, Monday thru Friday, former Missouri State Representative turned State Senator, Kevin Engler, occupied the machine next to me.

 Ours was an unlikely pairing. My passion was not politics and Senator Engler couldn’t have cared less about data entry. But we managed to find common ground for that therapeutic half hour or so discussing sports, and when I dared approach the subject, the legalization of professional MMA in Missouri. At the time, despite strong advocacy from upstanding promoters the likes of Jeff Powell in Columbia, MO, Senator Engler would assure me that legalization of professional MMA was “not even on the docket.” The hurdle that lay before us seemed full of financial intangibles.  “It will happen when the dollars make sense.” But before that could be, the groundwork of positive public perception had to be laid. This was no easy task. Our history is full of anecdotes. I recall driving down the Interstate near Kansas City and being horrified by the throwback-to-1993 promotional style I heard within a radio ad for an upcoming MMA event suggesting “there will be blood” and “someone could die.”

Stories of boxing rings encased in hastily erected chain link fences at “$2 You Call It Fight Night” were common. Perhaps my favorite was the submission battle royal that was held at a fairground across the river in Illinois. Granted, Illinois is not Missouri, but public opinion is not discerning.

It goes without saying that anyone embarking upon the road to legalization had their work cut out for them. Companies such as Rumble Time Promotions and Shamrock Promotions took notice of the opportunity that lay within the greater St. Louis area and began to include amateur MMA matches on their boxing and kickboxing cards. These classy “dress to impress” affairs sold out venues across the city and gave many people their first look at mixed martial arts.The presentation of the MMA product was clean, organized and professional. The public response was definite. Local mixed martial artists such as John Duever (8-2-0) out of Benny Voyle’s 21st Century Self Defense quickly became headliners and fan favorites.

From a bystander’s point of view it didn’t seem to matter that professional MMA hadn’t yet been legalized. The quality of the product and the fighters themselves were indiscernible to the thousands of fans who clamored for seats in large venues like Scottrade Center.

They could not be bothered with semantics like “amateur MMA.” They were content within a sort of mixed martial arts matrix. You take the blue pill – the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.

By 2007 the groundwork of positive public perception had been laid, and with that the dollars started to make sense. In August of that year Rumble Time Promotions had the well-deserved honor of hosting the first event to feature legal, professional MMA.

Making his professional debut that night was a man who knew a thing or two about the challenges associated with professional legalization. Jesse Finney, 34, is a local fighter (4-0-0 in professional MMA) and owner of Finney’s Championship Kickboxing and Shamrock Promotions.

“Spend the extra couple thousand bucks as a promoter to present the sport in the way that the sport deserves,” Finney said. “The Dana Whites and the Scott Cokers are doing it the right way. Come to our shows. Come to some of the other quality organizations around the area. There’s a lot of them and see what they’re doing before you jump in and become a promoter to make a quick buck. If you’re doing it the right way then that’s more fan awareness for everybody.”

Jesse Finney believes doing things the right way has made the difference in St. Louis 

For Finney, MissouriMMA’s progression from humble grass roots origins to internationally recognized, multi-million dollar pay per view was a logical evolution – a way to share with the world something that residents already knew.

“The thing is, man, St. Louis has always been a fight city. Now it’s not only just a fight city it’s also becoming a hot bed with boxing, which it always has been. We’re here with World Combat League [St. Louis Enforcers, who Finney coaches] and we won it all two years ago and it was kickboxing. And now all the sudden we’re bringing a major MMA organization to St. Louis in Strikeforce.”

Finney is quick to recognize the key contribution of other parties as part and parcel to the successful 2007 legalization effort.

“I think we probably have the best Athletic Commissioner in the country,” he said. “He’s the President of ABC [Association of Boxing Commissions], Tim Lueckenhoff. He’s a class act. In and out of the sport he’s a class act. He really went to bat for us. He really wanted to see the State succeed,” Finney continued.

With Chicago playing host to UFC 90 last October, and Missouri having been officially ‘legal’ for almost a year by then, the question on everyone’s mind was “which major mixed martial arts promotion would be the first to take a gamble on the Show Me State?”

The Strikeforce promotion struck first with the announcement of their June 6th event at Scottrade Center. The action-filled night features main card bouts like by Robbie Lawler vs. Jake Shields, Andrei Arlovski vs. Brett Rodgers, Nick Diaz vs. Scott Smith, Phil Baroni vs. Joe Riggs and the return of Kevin Randleman as he takes on Mike Whitehead.

The under card action is a nod to fighters and fight camps who have contributed to the rise and success of the sport locally, as well as the fans who have supported them along the way.  Jesse Finney takes on Davenport Iowa’s Josh Bumgarner while Finney’s friend and training partner Pat Benson squares off against Dave Cochran of Eric Thompson’s MMA academy in Ironton.

The stage set with solid regional shows, St. Louis will now receive some heavy hitters with Saturday’s StrikeForce card

Taking care to cover all his bases, Finney enlisted the help of local strength and conditioning expert Rob Hall, who is on staff at Finney’s Championship Kickboxing.

“[Finney’s] focused. He’s ready. I call him Gumby because I can just push him as hard as I want and he’ll do what I tell him. He might drop afterwards,” Hall said.  Reflecting on the hurdles of the past several years and the rewards culminating in the arrival of a major mixed martial arts promotion, Finney offered these final thoughts. “Missouri MMA blows up every week. There’s something new every month. It’s a very exciting time. [To all involved] please represent the sport well. [To the fighters] Carry yourselves well. You’ll get further in life carrying yourself well. Treat the sport like it deserves. You’re not representing yourself. You’re representing all of us in the sport.”

 “Everything we try to do is first class.”