Another promoter enters local mixed martial arts scene

It's not exactly a cage fight, but competition among promoters is heating up the local mixed martial arts scene.

"CageFest" has had the local big-venue market to itself, putting on several successful pro-am shows at the Ted Constant Center. That'll change Saturday, when the "Elite Fighting Challenge" muscles in at Scope.

It's the first time a city-owned venue has been host to this type of close combat - excepting, perhaps, some behind-the-scenes sparring in council chambers.

"I think competition is good for the sport," said Buck Grant, owner of Hybrid Academy of Martial Arts in Virginia Beach, where several local pros train. "It gives the athletes more opportunities to showcase their skills."

Jeremy Ridgeway agrees. His company, co-founded by him and his brother Jamie, is based in Forest, near Lynchburg, and has put on several amateur shows there. This is its first pro-am show and first in a large arena.

"I lived there for nine years, and I love the area," Ridgeway said. "When we started, we said that the first place we've got to go when we're ready to expand is Hampton Roads."

With several MMA schools and large wrestling and military communities, Hampton Roads is being viewed as fertile ground for MMA shows. While no one has put on a successful boxing card here in years, the market for MMA appears to be growing.

The last CageFest show in April drew 5,000 fans. That company also has put on shows in Roanoke and Richmond, but "we do better here," promoter Chris Wiatt said.

CageFest will return to the Constant Center in October. Wiatt, the wrestling coach at Menchville High in Newport News, said he hopes to do three or four shows a year. If the Elite Fighting Challenge does the same, the market won't get saturated, he said.

"If their intentions are to come down and run six events a year, then that's gonna hurt us both and neither one of us will make it."

Ridgeway said it's up to the public to decide if there's room enough for two major promotions.

"I think there is, or I wouldn't have come there," he said.

Like Wiatt, Ridgeway said his intention is to provide opportunities for up-and-coming fighters, pro and amateur. Promotions like theirs are a sort of minor leagues for fighters aspiring to make it to the Ultimate Fighting Challenge, the big leagues of the rapidly growing sport.

Ridgeway contends that the quality of the fights is what will set the Elite Fighting Challenge apart. That, and the show's production values.

"The upper part of our card, the top four or five fights, would be a main event at any pro show in Virginia," he said.

The main event pits California pro Charles Diaz, an "Ultimate Fighter" TV show participant, against Patrick Curran of Illinois. Local pro Phillip Wyman, a Marine Corps sergeant, is fighting in the co-main event against Mike Medrano of New Jersey.

Grant, a veteran of the local scene, said he's been impressed with the marketing and promotion that the Elite Fighting Challenge has done.

"They're really catering towards the military for this show, which is smart," Grant said. "If you're in this area, you either cater to the wrestlers or the military guys."

Ed Miller, (757) 446-2372, ed.miller@pilotonline.com