POST FIGHT PRESSER

LAS VEGAS — After a night of fights in the City of Brotherly Love, there was anything but love. The night delivered on some exciting and competitive matchups, and also left some highly disputed results. After the dust settled for the most part, I packed up and headed west in preparation of eMMA // Vegas, while the Union GP crew headed east for Boss Fight XXI. I finally got to speak with the main man himself, Dante Reed, and recap the night while also touching on some topics of interest for the future. Here is the transcript from the discussion. 

ISAAC COHEN

Ladies and gentlemen, I am here with the one and only Union GP President Dante Reed, and first let me say thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to be here with me. 

DANTE REED 

It’s no problem, Isaac. Thank you for having me here. 

ISAAC COHEN

Ok, first I have to bring up the most recent event that took place this past weekend in Philadelphia, UGP 22. An incredible lineup from top to bottom that had some incredible performances, but the buzz around social media is the couple of controversies that surrounded the judging. First off, I want to ask you about the Lightweight fight between Erick Costa and Osvaldo Ledesma. How did you see it?

DANTE REED 

Yeah, listen, anytime a fight goes to the judges, there’s always that possibility of a quote-unquote “robbery”. It’s unfortunate that there still hasn’t been an overhaul on how mixed martial arts is judged. I’ve spoken on this several times, and have agreed on several occasions with the fans. Same here in this fight. I had the fight going to Ledesma, but the judges did not see it that way. It’s a tough loss for him that unfortunately may set him back a bit in the rankings. But make no mistake, both of those guys are incredible fighters who will no doubt one day make a major splash in the division. But in my opinion, Costa got lucky on that one. 

ISAAC COHEN

Fair assessment. Now we have to talk about the main event. The fight went the distance and it was a unanimous decision victory for Meechan. 50-45 across the board and that set off a widespread uproar after the fight. What’d you make of the fight and do you think the judges got it wrong?

DANTE REED 

First off, I want to say that was an incredible fight. No question that’s the front runner for fight of the year. Those two left it all out there and aside from the result, should be extremely proud of their performances. I got a chance and rewatched it, and let me tell you, I honestly can’t say, with a hundred percent confidence, that Meechan won or Lena should have won. It was an intensely close fight that no doubt created some debate. Lena Lyons pushed the pace in all five rounds and landed more strikes, but Dallas seemed more versatile in his offense, even if they didn’t result in a lot of success. He worked in some striking, some clinches, and takedowns, while Lena stayed comfortable in sticking to her striking and staying patient with some counters. I don’t know that you could say that Dallas won all five rounds, that right there I can honestly question. But I think the strikes he did land were causing more damage, especially with a couple of those flying knees, but I don’t think you could give him all five rounds in that fight. 

ISAAC COHEN

So ultimately you agree that Meechan won the fight, just not a clean sweep 50-45 score?

DANTE REED 

I think when you look at the unified rules, the first and highest priority is effective striking and grappling. Judges look at the immediate impact of strikes first, and then the cumulative impact. So when you put it in that perspective, I assume the judges saw Dallas doing more damage with his striking as opposed to Lena’s volume. 

ISAAC COHEN

A lot of people are clamoring for a third fight. With Dallas Meechan now up 2-0 on Lena Lyons, is that a realistic possibility?

DANTE REED 

You know I don’t like to just make those kinds of statements on a whim, but given the way the fight went, you never say never. After reading some of the tweets, I know Lena is disheartened by the result, and made it clear she’s only interested in running it back immediately. Like all fights, we have to look at the landscape and see what makes the most sense. It’s definitely on the table, both fighters are down for it and the fans seem to want it, but I can’t commit to saying yes or no right now. 

ISAAC COHEN

It would be quite an interesting scenario if hypothetically we saw a third fight and Lena won, you would have to assume, at that point, that Dallas would deserve an immediate rematch afterwards. 

DANTE REED 

Right. That’s one thing you have to look at. What happens? A best of five series? Do you want to hold up the division for that? 

ISAAC COHEN

That’s a good way of looking at it. That could definitely clog things up at the top. Let’s now move onto the Co-Main Event between the returning fighters of Donnie Calabrese and Viktor Volkov. There were rumors I read that a deal with Donnie Calabrese hadn’t been signed and made official until about a week before the fight. Is this true?

DANTE REED

Yeah, you know we had been in contact with both Donnie and Viktor about the same time about a return and thought this would be a perfect matchup. Everyone involved had verbally agreed to make this fight happen. It was a huge return for both guys, and a fight that would definitely bump the winner up to title contention. We announced the fight without deals done from either fighter, but we were confident we could get it done. I love Donnie to death; watching him grow from where he was at during the beginning of his pro career, to what he’s accomplished to this point, is a remarkable feat. We offered him a max non-exclusive deal since he’s been competing in Japan. Now, you’ll have to ask him or his agent, but they did not like that offer, even considering it doubled his base pay from his last contract. But, we were firm on the offer. Eventually we got it done on a one fight deal with some added incentives. Now that the fight has happened, really we’re back at square one with him. 

ISAAC COHEN

Did you have any backup plans if that deal did not get made?

DANTE REED

We did. Once we caught the first snag with Donnie, we spoke with a couple of heavyweights and got one who agreed to take a fight with Volkov on short notice. I won’t say who it was, but it didn’t change the fact that it was still our intention to make this fight happen between Donnie and Viktor. That said, we’re also committed to sticking with our standard deals, especially when it comes to non-exclusive talent. And, it’s safe to say now, we won't be announcing any more fights until we've got pen to paper. 

ISAAC COHEN

So you mentioned this was a one fight deal for Donnie, and with him coming up short, I’m assuming he’s on the back burner for anything in the future. So my next question, what’s next for Volkov? You said this was a big fight with possible title contention implications, is he next in line for a title shot?

DANTE REED

I’m not going to go as far and say that he's the next man up right now, but he’s no question on the short list. He just finished a former champion in the first round, so he’s definitely up there. We were ecstatic to hear he wanted to make a return, and at heavyweight no less. The heavyweight division is really heating up as of late with a lot of great contenders. Volkov’s last fight before this comeback was at UGP 8 in a Cruiserweight Title fight against Roscoe. So he’s got the credibility and accord to get it, but we have to look at what we got in front of us, which includes some contract negotiations with a handful of other fighters. 

ISAAC COHEN

If you don't mind, I'd like to elaborate a little more on contracts. We've seen a number of fighters, especially those that last fought for a title, finish out their deals and have yet to sign a new one. Are there any updates you'd like to share in terms of any re-signings?

DANTE REED 

We've been working hard on getting a lot of deals done, and we're making some great progress, but as of now, nothing has been finalized. We're nearing new deals with the likes of Joey Byrne, Ardan Kelly, Bellamy DeSilva, Yasmine Vermeulen, and Lauren Moore. I expect to get those done within the next week or so, and start getting them back in the rotation. On top of that, we just had a couple of fighters that just finished their deals, so that'll be the next stage of negotiations we'll be heading toward. There's going to be a lot of movement coming up here. With re-signing seasoned fighters, to scouting and signing new talent, to shuffling fighters back and forth between Union and Everest, to fighters moving up and down weight classes, there's going to be a whole new landscape in the coming months. 

ISAAC COHEN

Ok, so nothing finalized as of yet, but it’s to be expected that those fighters you mentioned will stick around. So let’s talk about the future then, starting with Boss Fight Twenty-one. Natalie King and Zari Aliyah main event in a 140 pound catchweight fight. Both of these fighters have sat at the top of their divisions for some time now, but no title fights. Can we say that the winner of this fight will earn another crack at a title?

DANTE REED 

It’s possible. Nat and Zari are both in the same boat essentially. Former champs who have lost twice to their division’s current champ. It’s hard to sell a third fight when someone has lost twice already, but this fight here will help elevate the winner to another opportunity. Hell, truth be told, I wouldn’t mind seeing these two swap divisions. Zari competed at 155 before we established the 135 pound division, and there are some great match-ups for her up there. Same for Nat, she routinely gives up about ten pounds, I think she could be a terror at 135. But that’s their call, I’m not going to pressure them one way or the other. But to get back to the point, yes this fight could very well catapult the winner into title contention once again. 

ISAAC COHEN

Very exciting stuff. I agree that these weight class moves open up a whole new field of competition and could be great for the fans. Now I kinda want to combine the last two topics for this next question, and talk about current Lightweight Champion Delaney Donovan. His camp, representatives, and Double D himself has openly expressed their displeasure of not getting the main event fights and instead settling for the co-main slot. Has there been any progress to settle this grievance?

DANTE REED 

We’ve started the groundwork and opened up discussions, but we’re still waiting to hear from them. I will say we have offered Delaney a big main event fight and are open to renegotiate his contract. That’s as far as we have gotten. And let me clear the air again here on my end, anyway. There was never any intention to disrespect Delaney. When it comes to booking these cards, we typically go with the hot hand when we do two or more title fights on one card. As I mentioned a bit ago, we’re finally gaining a lot of depth and competition in all of our divisions. For the longest time, the Middleweights and Lightweights were our prime divisions, but now we have elevated the heavyweight and bantamweight divisions and have become very exciting and competitive. The Cruiserweight Division still needs some attention, but it’s getting there. Our endgame is to have every division drowning with contenders. 

ISAAC COHEN

I’ll play off that and say Everest is doing a great job at creating contenders as well. But I have to ask, what fight did you offer Donovan?

DANTE REED 

That… will be announced when we’ve got pen to paper. The plan is to nail down the main event fights for the next three or four cards after Boss Fight Twenty-one. Once we get those official, we'll be announcing those. 

ISAAC COHEN

Fair enough. Dante, it’s been a pleasure getting to speak with you, I know you’re a busy man, I appreciate the time.

DANTE REED 

Thank you, Isaac. It’s good talking to you.