Anyone that’s ever been to a Fight 2 Win event knows it’s not your usual jiujitsu tournament. With a background including hosting MMA events and rock concerts (sometimes at the same time), promoter Seth Daniels has often said that he values the crowd’s experience (read: entertainment value) as much as he does any match result.
“The best reward for me is when people that come to our show end up walking into a gym and signing up after,” says Daniels.
The rest of the crew feels the same way. #teamnosleep, a tight-knit group of less than 10 people on staff, spends all day and the day prior setting up the event so fans get the most bang for their buck. By the time competitors make that long walk out to the stage and compete, the goal is to make them feel like complete superstars in front of their family and friends.
“My goal as production manager is to make the best and safest show possible,” says Evan Burke, the man together with Daniels behind all the lighting and sound at Fight 2 Win. “I only say ‘safe’ because sometimes we work with pyro so we have to make sure it’s all good. I work concerts back home in Denver and try to incorporate things I see lighting people do with bands into our shows.”
With our 13 years in production himself, Burke is always working on new wrinkles to add to the Fight 2 Win experience.
“Little techniques with lighting placement, etc. can make a huge difference. Sometimes we do something small but it will make a huge difference in our show and we’re always trying to get better.”
“I want people that come to our show to walk out smiling. We try to have a lot of fun as a staff and I think that bleeds over to the shows. People get to see that we love jiujitsu as much as they do and we want to put on a dope show that’s not only a grappling event, but a party. We want our fans having a blast.”
Check out this small sample of what production is doing at Fight 2 Win from our last show in Miami:
Order these photos and see the complete gallery from the event at mikecalimbas.com.
