Georgia Fighters

GFThe GFC - Why AnotherTitle Belt?By Jose E. Santiago I Photos by Eric Langley and Andrew SnookTitle belts these days are tossed around like a hackysack in a college campus’ court yard. If you’re anMMA or boxing aficionado and follow the sports,every promoter and manager involved always wants toincorporate a title belt to add legitimacy to their showor fighter whether the fighters are worthy or not. As aresult, it’s tough to know who’s the actual championand who’s the best fighter in any given weight classor organization.If you’ve been to an MMA event in Georgia in thepast 10 months you’ve probably heard that therewas a championship fight for the Georgia FightersChampionship (GFC) belt. You might have shruggedoff the notion of a championship fight simply fromthe aforementioned negative impact the words“Title Belt” or “Championship Fight” has had on fightfans. But there’s more to the GFC than you may think.In early 2011, we at Georgia Fighters were contactedby Nathan Webb, owner of Hardknox MMA and Black& Blue Entertainment; and Justin Simpson, formallywith Hardknox and Black and Blue and now GM ofBangkok Boxing in Gwinnett. They wanted todiscuss and share their interest in collaborating withus about putting together an MMA ranking systemand Championship titles for professional and amateurfighters alike. Unbeknownst to them was the fact thatwe were already considering the concept of a rankingsystem of our own.After a two hour meeting to discuss our ideas,concepts and concerns we discovered that we wereall on the same beat and path to the primary reasonfor creating the GFC. The purpose of the GFCbelt is to create a platform for our local fighters tomeasure and grade them against the top competitionin the state of Georgia. A platform capitalized bywinning and defending the GFC title in hopes that itwill catapult them to the big national shows, get themthe recognition they deserve, all while providing thefans with tough competitive fights against the bestfighters in Georgia.The concept was there but how do we convince thepromoters, managers, fighters and most importantlythe fans that the GFC is legitimate and not self-promotingpropaganda? Our solution was to form aboard consisting of some of the most respectedpeople in the Georgia MMA community. This boardwould cohesively rank the fighters in the state andapprove or deny title fights proposed by promotersand managers.After an understandable slow start due in part to thetarnished image of another championship belt, theGFC title is now the most sought after title in the state.The rankings, which are published in every GeorgiaFighters magazine is often the first page many of ourreaders turn to.The quality of fights has also risen as the top tenranked fighters in pursuit of the GFC title and are nowfacing each other on a more regular basis.From the three round battle between Marius Cujbaand Diego Saraiva for the GFC Lightweight Title,to the all out war between Lawson McClure and JohnQuieroz for the featherweight crown, most of the titlematchups have been the most exciting fights fanshave witnessed in years. Even an amateur title fightbetween undefeated fighters Gui Cury and Nick Bealwas nominated for fight of the year honors.So when you’re planning to attend an MMA show inGeorgia, check to see if there is a GFC Title on theline. If there is, it’s a sure fire bet that the action willbe top notch.Current GFC Board MembersJose SantiagoRing announcer, co-owner of Georgia Fighters,Producer of Inside Punch and organized the CombatSports EXPO and Awards Banquet.David OblasPromoter and matchmaker for Wild Bill’s Fight Nightand other shows, owner of Undisputed Productions,co-owner of Georgia Fighters and organized theCombat Sports EXPO and Awards Banquet.8 Georgia Fighters The MagazineAd rates start at $125/publication- 10,000 copies distributed