Getting Familiar ep 1

Dante Reed

The set up wasn't anything fancy. Just two stools and the UGP 13 poster as a backdrop. Tilly Jean Wade sits with Union owner Dante Reed as everything begins to unfold.

Tilly Jean Wade

What's up y'all? I’m Tilly Jean Wade and welcome to the first installment of Getting Familiar.

The theme song began to play before the Getting Familiar logo appears.

Tilly Jean Wade

I just wanna say thank you all to tuning in to this bruh...and I also wanna thank Harp for allowing me to do this. He’s been so busy being a hype machine I think he deserved a break. So again thanks Harp for letting me do this for this first episode.

Waving, Tilly smiles before getting right back to it.

Tilly Jean Wade

As y'all can see I'm chilling with the man himself. The owner of Union Grand Prix Dante Reed. Thanks for joining me this evening man.

Dante Reed

No problem. Thanks for having me.

Tilly Jean Wade

First things first...Where are you from? And how was it growing up?

Dante Reed

Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. Had a good upbringing, can’t complain honestly. I don’t really have that heartbreaking story you hear so often in combat sports.

Nodding her head Tilly looks down at a few of her notes.

Tilly Jean Wade

Take me back for a second… UGP 1 the beginning. What was that like knowing yoooo this shit is really happening?

Dante Reed

It was like I was dreaming. UGP 1 was the first show that I had total control over. Union Grand Prix was originally just scheduled to be a five event competition, to crown tournament or round robin winners in four weight classes. But obviously you saw the quick explosion of popularity and demand, so we decided to build this thing into an ongoing promotion and now I don’t think anyone would argue to say that Union Grand Prix is the cream of the crop!

Tilly Jean Wade

It most definitely is and still growing to this day but with everything that went down how does it feel to finally be back?

Dante Reed

Oh man, it feels amazing! With the break, I think it was much needed for the fighters to rest their bodies, and for the personnel to recharge their minds. But everybody was itching to get back in, and with the big Boss Fight show we just put on in Columbus, it's like we never even missed a beat.

Nodding once more Tilly looks up as if she’s pulling a question from out of thin air.

Tilly Jean Wade

What was the numbers on that show? That was a bomb ass Boss Fight. I got to see that action up close and boooooy ...they were banging in there.

Dante Reed

The numbers were great for the show across the board. Putting two title fights as the headliners of the night, especially with competitors like Hanako Takeuchi and Roscoe Robinson, they’re going to draw in big crowds. So, I’d have to look back to make certain, but I’m pretty certain that was the biggest Boss Fight event we put on.

Tilly Jean Wade

There was a lot of fighters that were released. I think it was like twelve right? That's enough fighters to start a division mannnn. Was there any panic that there wouldn't be any fighters wanting to come to Union with the other promotions coming along?

Dante Reed

It was thirteen, initially. Then after we decided to cancel UGP 12 and essentially hit the reset button, we took a hard look at the landscape and ended up releasing over a dozen more. In the end, I think it was around thirty or so fighters we let go… And no, it didn't create any concern on our end. I believe we have created a great relationship with all of our contacted fighters, and I don't think it's a secret that Union Grand Prix is where the best competitors come to fight.

With a wave of her finger Tilly snaps it as a question not on her notes comes to mind.

Tilly Jean Wade

About those other companies...how do you feel about the growing competition in the sport.

Dante Reed

I think it's great for the sport. For a long time, there was one, maybe two MMA promotions around at any given time. I'd like to say we had a major part in the recent blowup of promotions popping up. However, I believe we have established ourselves as the premier MMA promotion running today. A lot of the things we do, you see are being duplicated, but I believe wholeheartedly that no one will come close to us. We are the gold standard of mixed martial arts.

Tilly Jean Wade

As we know there are some fighters contracted with multiple companies. Do you think we will start seeing more Exclusive...non exclusive contracts in the foreseeable future?

Dante Reed

I think there will be a good mixture. I think it all boils down to these men and women wanting to compete as often as they can. So I think the majority of the contracts will be nonexclusive. However, every company wants to have their “face of the company”, so I think there will be a handful here and there that will stay exclusive to one company.

Tilly looked down at her notes before placing them to the side. There was a question she meant to ask earlier that came back to mind.

Tilly Jean Wade

You know for me...I got into mixed martial arts the first time I punched a punching bag. Being a tomboy and always on the road it was hard for me to make friends and stuff like that unless I was in a gym so it kinda came naturally. So what I’m asking is how did you get into the sport?

Dante Reed

I've always been a competitive person growing up. I wrestled in school and took it to a Division II scholarship, where I got my business degree. It was around that time in college I discovered MMA. It was still in its infancy, and banned in most of the country. After college I actually got into professional wrestling, my most famous stint being the commentator for Union Battleground. That's where I got my connection with the Graves brothers, who wanted to expand into MMA. Gunnar was the one who offered me the job as President of Union Grand Prix, which obviously was a huge honor and no-brainer. I signed the deal, and never looked back!

Wanting to know more about Dante’s High School and collegiate career Tilly ask...

Tilly Jean Wade

You won any regionals or stuff life that as a wrestler?

Dante Reed

In high school, I placed 3rd at State my sophomore and junior year. Senior year I placed second. In college, I qualified all four years for nationals, but placed 5th my senior year, going 2-2.

Tilly Jean Wade

Man I know with being a boss it looks cool but I know it also can be a pain in the ass. What has been the hardest part of your day to day task as the President of Union?

Dante Reed

No doubt it's the booking. Before we took this break, we had 80 fighters on our roster. It's a tedious balance of getting your big names the fights, while keeping your future stars in a solid rotation.

Tilly holds up finger to indicate what she’s about to bring up. The ring on her finger glimmering with the light.

Tilly Jean Wade

It's almost been a year for Union. So far what has been your favourite moment?

Dante Reed

Man, there's been so many big and exciting moments already it's hard to pick just one. I guess I'm gonna have to go with the cliche route and say just the rise of the company as a whole. Around this time last year, we were signing a lot of guys nobody had ever heard of; guys like Donnie Calabrese, Roscoe Robinson, and Cristian Bonanno. Now they're household names that became stars while in Union. And now here we are in 2019, and we have future hall of farmers like Daniel Fisk, Byron McCall, and Navorro Williams; while having a big class of fast-rising stars like Derrick La’Bell, Robert Guilliman, Delaney Donovan, Hanako Takeuchi, and Zari Aliyah. Every single fighter under our banner has the potential to be the next big thing, and that I'd say is my favorite moment.

“Oh yeah” was said under Tilly’s breath as she thought about something.

Tilly Jean Wade

There is a host of good fighters in Union. Are there any fights you would like to see?

Dante Reed

Oh my God, so many. It's crazy to think that with Boss Fight XI just happening, it was headlined by two title fights that were rematches a year in the making. We still have so much to do, and so many possibilities.

Tilly Jean Wade

The Bantamweight division is still fresh but are there any other plans you have going forward?

Dante Reed

Absolutely. I've got so many ideas, we could be here for hours. I don't want to give too many details, but I've been in talks with several people on numerous different projects that will keep Union continuing to grow.

Wanting to get to the UGP Thirteen card Tilly ask...

Tilly Jean Wade

Right now though you just booked the card for UGP 13 in Chicago. Guillman versus Reed being the main and La’Bell versus Donnie being the Co. What are your thoughts on this card?

Dante Reed

I’m hyped to finally get Guilliman and Reed booked. It was a huge disappointment when we cancelled UGP 12, but we wanted to make good on the fighters and the city of Chicago. UGP 13 is back in Chicago, and Donnie is a big name there in his hometown. But to be honest, I hadn’t given much thought on giving Mob a second shot at the title, especially with Derrick as champion, since Donnie is 0-2 against him. But Donnie has improved tremendously, going from 0-3 to 5-4. The fans poured out their love for the guy after his last fight, and we like to listen to them and give them what they want. After much deliberation, and considering these two guys have been here from the start without any breaks in between, it made sense to make this happen.

As for the rest of the card, we tried to go hometown heavy, to do right with Chicago and the UGP 12 debacle. So we have an exciting undercard in store, with the likes of Zion Momo’a and Travis Decker, Delaney Donovan and Jeremiah Ford, Megan Reed and Arnie Dawe, and a number of others who the fans adore. It should be another banger event, one I’m really looking forward to.

Tilly Jean Wade

Well Dante that looks like all the time we have. Once again thanks for joining me today. And don't forget next week I take you inside a camo. Which camp you're just gonna have to wait and see.

Dante Reed

It was my pleasure Tilly. I’ll be seeing you back in the cage soon.

Tilly Jean Wade

Thanks for watching… but most of all, thanks for Getting Familiar.

The theme song begins to roll as the scene begins to fade.