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Corkboard Event
MMA
Syndicate NEW HOUSTON MIXED MARTIAL ARTS SANCTIONING BODY MAKES ITS DEBUT
David Landry
League City, TX - March 21, 2008 -Two local businessmen join to form MMAS,
Mixed Martial Arts Syndicate. They are David Landry and Gilbert Arrazolo,
two next-door neighbors from Pearland. “It was funny because I was
sponsoring a fighter at a local event last October, and who do I see there
but my neighbor, who incidentally was also sponsoring a fighter,” says
Gilbert. “It’s sad that if you look up Houston and Mixed Martial Arts in
Wikipedia, we come up under the safety section because a young man, Sam
Vasquez, died as a result of blows at the same event we attended. It’s the
only verified MMA death on US soil. So after the event, I met up with David,
we talked about the elements needed to create an mma sanction that would
benefit fighters and gyms. I then brought in two other business partners,
Henry Lackey and Carlos Tejada, and we put together the syndicate.”
“So people ask me, what makes you guys different,” says David Landry, owner
of Landry Design and Development. “I tell them, we’re a syndicate. We’re
bringing the Houston gyms, fighters and the sanctioning body together. We’re
the only Sanction that will share profits with gyms and fighters. Twenty
percent of our net profits from ticket sales will go back to our fighters
and Houston gyms. Then there’s safety, I’ll let Gilbert talk about safety.”
“I’ve spent the past 15 years suing auto manufacturers and railroads over
safety issues. I’ve also been president of a trucking company for the past
three years. You have to be safety oriented to run a trucking company. So
I’ve taken this training and applied the principles to MMAS. First, we are
doing mandatory steroid testing. We are the only sanction we are aware of
that will test all fighters for steroids whether or not the state
commissions require it. Incidentally, the Texas commission does NOT require
it. Also, we will penalize fighters financially for illegal blows. The first
illegal blow will cost $500.00. The second can result in a forfeit of your
purse in addition to disqualification. In the auto design safety world,
there is a term called HIC (Head Impact Criteria) used to calculate forces
the head is exposed to in crashes. If you compare boxing to mma, the
difference in HIC values when going from a 12 ounce boxing glove to a four
ounce mma glove is dramatic. When you apply these forces through an illegal
punch to the back of the head, a rabbit punch, the potential for injury is
much greater in mma. That’s why we strive to prohibit this conduct. We want
our fighters to know that we will take every step possible to help them make
this a long and fruitful career.”
“Our goal is to make Houston a power house in the mma world. We’ve got world
class gyms here, Bushi Ban, Submission Boxing Academy, DeLeon Boxing Gym,
Silverback, to name a few. There is no reason why our young fighters should
have to leave Houston to fight professionally,” adds David.
“We’ve also received a great welcome by the business community. South Shore
Harbour, David McDavid Honda, Baystar Ambulance and Hooters all agreed to
sponsor our first event. It’s great when the local business community
supports you because it shows how popular mixed martial arts are here in
Houston,” says Henry Lackey.
MMAS makes its debut on April 4, 2008 at the Pasadena Convention Center. The
URBAN RUMBLE CHAMPIONSHIP will feature four boxing matches and six MMA
matches. The main event showcases Jon “El Jaguar” Kirk against Jeremiah
“Ironman” O’Neill. It will be explosive.
Debut Event: Urban Rumble Championship Pasadena Convention Center April 4,
2008 www.mmasyndicate.net
Contact: David Landry 281-236-1333
mmasyndicate@yahoo.com
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