Relive fan-favorite Jason “Ridiculous” Andrada’s second 1st round KO in a row against Eric Ruiz at Lion Fight 9! Andrada will return to the ring at Lion Fight 10 as he takes on JP Cole on the main card!

See what happens when you kick a man with shins of steel in this week’s featured fight. Watch Malaipet Sasiprapa vs Vishnu Gulati free on LionFight.com! Don’t miss the recently signed Malaipet make his return to Lion Fight as he takes on Hakeem Dawodu Friday, July 26 LIVE on AXS TV.

Scott Kent, CEO of Lion Fight Promotions, announced that he has signed Thai fighting legend and World Muay Thai Champion Malaipet Sasiprapa to an exclusive, multi-fight contract with his organization. Malaipet now competes only for Lion Fight and will return to the ring against Hakeem Dawodu at “Lion Fight 10” taking place Friday, July 26 live on AXS TV and from the Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

“Malaipet Sasiprapa is a legend and a champion and always a dangerous opponent in the ring,” said Kent. “With his devastating kicks and clinches, Malaipet Sasiprapa is what Muay Thai fighting is all about. Malaipet’s fights are as intense as they are thrilling, and I am honored to welcome him to the Lion Fight roster.”

“It is an honor to fight for Scott Kent and Lion Fight promotions and to be one of the guys bringing the sport of Muay Thai to fight fans in America,” said Sasiprapa. “With every event, Lion Fight continues to proves itself as the best organization in the sport. I’m excited for my next fight on July 26 and to show everyone watching on AXS TV that Muay Thai is the greatest stand up sport there is.”

Malaipet is originally from Thailand and started training in Muay Thai at the age of six. He has over 170 professional Muay Thai fights to his record and has also competed in kickboxing and mixed martial arts. He is the current WBC Muay Thai Welterweight Champion and the former Rajadamnoen Champion, IKBA World Champion, IKKC USA Champion, IMTO USA Champion, IMTO World Champion and IKKC World Champion. He last fought January 25 at Lion Fight 8, where he defeated Vishnu Gulati in a second round referee stoppage due to leg kicks.

Residing in Fresno, Calif., Malaipet operates his own gym named Malaipet Sasiprapa USA Muay Thai Gym. A film about his life titled Legendary, was released in late 2009.

Malaipet joins Kevin Ross and Tiffany Van Soest as the latest fighter to be signed to a long-term contract under Lion Fight. Kent is signing more top-ranked Muay Thai fighters to his organization and will make those announcements soon.

Nevadan at Work: She’s the go-to PR woman for combat fighting groups

By Alan Snel- Las Vegas Review Journal

Jen Wenk has carved out a unique public relations niche in Las Vegas — combat sports.

Wenk, 42, is the go-to PR woman for combat fighting organizations in Las Vegas, which is her base for a sport that is growing beyond the headliner Ultimate Fighting Championship brand.

Representing professional mixed martial arts groups might seem like an odd destination for a woman who served as a CBS publicist and a public affairs specialist for former New York Gov. George Pataki in the late 1990s.

But if you saw the hyperactive, multitasking Wenk in action, you’d see it’s a good fit.

Wenk cultivated her PR combat sport chops by working as the public relations chief for UFC for six years from 2005-11. She’s still in close contact with UFC’s big guns, like the organization’s brash, blunt-talking president, Dana White.

But for the past two years she has flown solo with her own firm, StarPR Las Vegas, LLC, gathering new combat sport clients to promote.

White said Wenk is the ideal PR source for new organizations because her Rolodex has the essential contacts in the industry.

“She can reach all the people,” White said. “Jen knows everyone.”

Then, there’s her go-go personality and work ethic, he said.

“Jen was always a hard worker. She was always in the office early and out late,” White said. “She has drive and the will to do great work.”

Check out her daily regimen: Wenk goes to sleep at 11:30 p.m. and shuts off her cellphone or it beeps all night. She wakes up at 2 a.m. to return texts and emails, troll the Web for a story she thinks should be hitting online or flip through Twitter. Then, she dozes off at 3 a.m. until 6 a.m.m when she arises again to awake 10-year-old son Jalen at 6:30 a.m. to drive him to school at 7:30 a.m. At 8 a.m., she runs five miles or lifts weights. She runs with her iPhone and listens to a playlist so she doesn’t miss calls. Between weight sets at the gym, she keeps her phone handy and fires off emails and texts. Wenk even keeps a second “Batphone” pager for clients if a crisis strikes.

Her fight clients include transgender MMA fighter Fallon Fox, who is drawing national coverage that Wenk is coordinating. Other clients include Resurrection Fighting Alliance, Lion Fight Promotions, UFC announcer Bruce Buffer, the Blackzilians, Championship Fighting Alliance, UFC champion Anderson Silva, JACO Clothing and F3 Nutrition

Wenk’s journey to the fight industry and Las Vegas went through New York City. The Michigan native was drawn to New York’s quick pace, and landed a public relations job in then-Gov. George Pataki’s Manhattan office. She looks back with amusement at one particular press release she proofread in Pataki’s office in 1997 — the one that informed the media that Pataki banned “ultimate fighting” in New York state.

“It’s so ironic that I ended up writing for the Ultimate Fighting Championship,” she said. “If I could go back in time, I would have laminated it.”

Question: Of all the topics to do public relations on, what is your fascination with UFC and fighters?

Answer: I grew up in Grand Rapids, Mich., which is a big boxing town and just always loved fighting and full-contact sports. I took Okinawan Shorin- Ryu (a form of karate) and also played on a boys tackle football team when I was a little kid. It is just something inside of me. When UFC recruited me in 2005, I wasn’t really a fan. I didn’t know that much about MMA and was planning to not accept the PR position. But after talking to (UFC President) Dana (White), and hearing all the obstacles and challenges they were up against, I got excited. I knew what needed to be done, and that I could do it. Also, I believed in the potential of the UFC because I saw what the Fertittas had accomplished with Station Casinos. Over the years, I grew to love the sport and now it is the one thing that brings out all my passion and creativity.

Question: What did the UFC gig do for you that previous PR jobs didn’t?

Answer: It gave me the opportunity to work side by side with visionaries Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White. They empowered me and provided me with the resources and budget to knock down all the walls that were preventing the UFC from getting the recognition and credit it deserved. And all the while, I was absorbing their business acumen and principles of success.

Question: What is the most misunderstood perception in the public about combat fighting?

Answer: A lot of people don’t know that mixed martial arts is actually one of the safest full-contact sports today. The most common injury in MMA is a laceration. There has never been a death or serious injury in the almost 20-year history of the UFC.

Question: Why did you want to leave UFC to start your own PR agency?

Answer: Because I want to be great. I was very good at my job at the UFC, and after working there for six years during the most transformational phase in its history, I learned a thing or two from my bosses. I wanted to be great entrepreneurs like them, and I saw an opportunity to corner this market and establish myself as the world’s best in public relations for fighting sports. MMA is the fastest-growing sport in history and it is a $2 billion industry and it is only getting bigger. There was a need for someone like me who could teach businesses how to navigate this industry and monetize it.

Question: What was the biggest challenge when you made the transition from UFC to your agency?

Answer: It was not a challenge to transition workwise, because I switched from working inside the UFC offices 16 hours a day to working out of my offices at Sky Las Vegas or Miami 16 hours a day. And I went right from doing work for Dana and Lorenzo to my very first client, Glenn Robinson, who is also a visionary with an equally brilliant business mind. … Something I miss to this day is doing my early morning workouts in the UFC basement gym with Dana, Craig Borsari and the trainer Terry King. That’s how I kicked off every day and actually got a lot of stuff accomplished down there, you know, getting approvals chatting with those guys through the boxing ropes.

Question: What’s your next favorite topic to do PR on after combat fighting?

Answer: Football. I love college football. I watched the draft and made a bet with this guy that EJ Manuel will become a superstar within the next two years. I’m actually eligible to get an NFL agent license, and so I’m planning to add that to my list of credentials next year.

Question: Do you have any interest to enter the octagon and whale on anyone?

Answer: No, but, you know, I would really love if I could take every single person in the world into the octagon, just once. So they can feel what it is like. It’s much bigger than it looks. And when you stand there, this sense of solitude sets in. The cage door shuts, and you realize there is absolutely nowhere to go. Then you imagine some guy right across from you. Staring you down. It is reverent and terrifying at the same time.

Question: How you do deal with media members who don’t seem interested in what you’re promoting?

Answer: I listen. Carefully. And as they speak, eventually I will hear what their interest is, and then I will identify a connection, establish some common ground, and build an idea around it. You know, one of the things I really love about PR is that money gets you nowhere in the editorial world. Everything you accomplish in media is earned, and those with the most talent and work ethic are always the most successful.

Question: What do you want to do in the next stage of your life?

Answer: Professionally, I would like to build my agency into the biggest and best in the world specializing in fighting sports, and down the line get involved in some NFL work as well. … I seriously would like to settle down and maybe add another little superstar cornerback to the family.

Watch Ognjen Topic’s huge head-kick KO victory over the decorated and experienced Paowarit Sasiprapa from Lion Fight 9.

On July 26th Topić will face yet another challenge when he takes on Coke Chunhawat at Lion Fight 10. For Topić, a victory over Chunhawat will undoubtedly bring him one step closer to the top of the division

10x World Champion John Wayne Parr shows his support for Lion Fight Promotions and discusses his thoughts on Yodsanklai Fairtex!

Check out the pro card poster for Lion Fight 10 which will be headlined by Yodsanklai Fairtex vs Chile Lindsay for the Lion Fight World Middleweight Championship. Plus, Tiffany Van Soest vs Lucy Payne for the World Featherweight Title, and a long await match between Kevin Ross vs Matt Embree.

For the second time this year, Lion Fight Promotions has added a new championship division with CEO Scott Kent’s announcement that Yodsanklai Fairtex will battle Chike Lindsay at Lion Fight 10, and that this main event is now a title fight for the Lion Fight World Middleweight Championship. Taking place live from the Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, AXS TV will present “Lion Fight 10” starting at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT.

Source: Review Journal
By ALAN SNEL
LAS VEGAS BUSINESS PRESS

It’s not easy launching a new combat sport organization in a town that’s already home to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the king of all mixed martial arts promotion companies.

But Las Vegas-based Lion Fight Promotions is hoping to emerge from UFC’s massive shadow. Lion Fight’s counting on increased fan interest in the sport of Muay Thai to generate enough revenues by year’s end to let the company break even.

Scott Kent, a former casino risk management executive, launched Lion Fight Promotions about 2½ years ago to put on Muay Thai fights. Muay Thai fighting is similar to UFC battles, but without UFC’s ground fighting, wrestling and grappling.

Muay Thai, Thailand’s national sport, focuses on punching, kicking and elbow and knee blows and is known for its toe-to-toe stand-up fighting. Lion Fight Promotions’ next event is set for July 26 at the Hard Rock Hotel. It will be its 10th fight.

“If you love stand-up fighting, it’s the most exciting stand-up sport in the world,” said Kent, a Montana native who moved to Las Vegas from Phoenix in 1989.

Kent bought into the sport by investing about $500,000 to start Lion Fight Promotions, signing a sports marketing specialist to find sponsors and joining forces with Mark Cuban’s AXS TV network to broadcast his Muay Thai bouts.

Kent said his company is poised to draw more attention, and revenue, because his last two fights were broadcast by AXS TV, an entertainment network owned by Cuban, the billionaire owner of the National Basketball Association’s Dallas Mavericks.

AXS TV has broadcast mixed martial arts events since 2004 and plans to cover about 40 combat fights this year.

Kent is “a special breed. He’s introducing a new sport to the American fan,” said Andrew Simon, chief executive of AXS TV Fights.

Simon said his TV network has 41 million subscribers. Kent noted AXS will cover the costs of broadcasting the Lion Fight Promotions events.

Kent’s investors include Don Andress, president of Las Vegas Harley-Davidson, which will sponsor fight events. Kent said he also enlisted a high-profile investor, Wes Edens, founder of Fortress Investment Group, a New York-based investment management firm. Another investor is Ken Gardner, a former Las Vegas air conditioning company owner.

Kent is especially excited about the July 26 event, to be broadcast by AXS TV, because it will feature one of the sport’s superstars, Muay Thai legend Yodsanklai Fairtex.

Lion Fight Promotions held its first four events in Primm before moving the last five to the Hard Rock Hotel. Kent said two of the last three fight events were sold out as 2,000 to 2,500 tickets were sold. The cost is $45 to $95 per seat, with standing-room-only tickets selling for $25 each.

Kent has hired Gemini Sports Management to find sponsors. He envisions beer, energy drink and water companies signing on, along with sports-themed restaurants such as Buffalo Wild Wings and fast-food eateries like Subway.

Gemini Sports Management President Rob Yowell said he has been working with Kent since March.

“What he’s selling is Muay Thai at the highest level,” Yowell said. “They’re not trying to take space from the UFC and they’re trying to carve their own niche.”

Yowell said he is pursuing consumer product, nutrition, clothing, automotive, outdoor extreme companies as Lion Fight sponsors, with the core audience being males 21 to 40 years old.

“We’ve has some pretty good dialogue since working with Scott,” Yowell said.

He said companies that can’t afford UFC sponsorships could find a marketing alternative at the Muay Thai fights.

“It’s a ground-floor opportunity with Scott’s promotion company,” Yowell said. “The goal and the hope is to have partners grow with us. The goal is for Scott to grow this brand on a national scale.”

Kent launched Lion Fight Promotions with Christine Toledo, the company’s vice president and a former Muay Thai champion. He also hired a new chief financial officer, Matt Knipp of Las Vegas. Mike Ran of San Francisco is handling the website and social media.

Lion Fight Promotions plans to stage five or six fights in Las Vegas in 2013 and is looking to expand in Native American casinos in California and venues in Phoenix and Denver, Kent said. Los Angeles and San Francisco are also potential markets because of the Thai populations in those two cities, he said.

Contact reporter Alan Snel at asnel@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5273.

Check out the official poster for Lion Fight 10! The stacked card is headlined by the return of the legendary Yodsanklai Fairtex as he takes on Chike Lindsay for the inaugural Lion Fight Middleweight Title! Plus, Tiffany Van Soest vs Lucy Payne and Kevin Ross vs Matt Embree. Watch all the Muay Thai action on July 26th LIVE on AXS TV or get your tickets now for the Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas!

Relive Yodsanklai Fairtex’s US debut against Gregory Choplin in the main event of Lion Fight 8! Yodsanklai Fairtex, a fighter of legendary status, took control of the bout with his signature kicks before finishing Choplin with a series of devastating punches.

For the second time this year, Lion Fight Promotions has added a new championship division with CEO Scott Kent’s announcement that Yodsanklai Fairtex will battle Chike Lindsay at Lion Fight 10, and that this main event is now a title fight for the Lion Fight World Middleweight Championship. Taking place live from the Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, AXS TV will present “Lion Fight 10” starting at 10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT.

On May 24th, the Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas will be hosting a John Wayne Parr Muay Thai Striking Seminar. The seminar will be 2 hours plus sparring 10 people at the end. If interested please contact Xtreme Couture to book your place.

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