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Calvin Kattar Talks About Balancing Life as a Fighter and Promoter

April 1, 2016 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas

Calvin Kattar spoke with MMAjunkie about his fight at CES MMA 34 and more. Some highlights are below:

On taking ownership of Combat Zone: “I was getting older in age, and it just made sense. It’s nice to have something else to rely on. My friend was promoting, and he was making more money than I was as a fighter. He was running four or five shows, and I was fighting one or twice, and he would make three times what I was making in a year. It was the right move.”

On guiding the promotion: “There were a lot of promotions at the time I purchased (Combat Zone), but slowly but surely, some have come after me and already left. A lot of that was the reason I bought Combat Zone. It was a turnkey operation where everything was already in place. If I started it from the ground up, who knows if I would be here now. But Combat Zone is one of the longest lasting in the New England area. It had a good name and reputation, and I wanted to take pride in the ownership.”

On the value of diversifying: “I wanted to make more money, and what better way to do that than stay in the business itself? I figured taking over Combat Zone would be a way for me to train and also bring in money and have more security. Fighters don’t make a lot of money, and for this upcoming fight, I sure as (expletive) didn’t do it for the money. I’m already losing money on this fight based off what I’m making and what I’m spending. I’m netting a loss on this fight already. Fighting is a grind, and to rely on it is tough. I just have a Plan B.”

On not fighting for money: “I never wanted to fight for the money or have that dictate why I got in there. I always wanted it to align right with my life and how I feel going into it. For my career I’ve taken it on a one-fight-at-a-time basis. It took a lot of work, and I devoted a couple years to just getting the system running, developing a team. And now that I have that in place, I feel it was easier to make the transition back.”

On his goal for 2016: “My goal this year is to take it to the next level in both. It’s interesting how I feel they go hand-in-hand. If one is going good, then it brings a whole new passion to the other. I eat, sleep and breath fighting right now whether it’s training for a fight or going to meet with my team to promote our next event. It’s all I’m doing so I’m trying to do as much as I can while I’m in it.”

article topics :

Calvin Kattar, Jeremy Thomas