Superior Cage Combat Building a Home for Fighters and Fans

When creating a successful promotion, something that can easily get lost in the mix is an emphasis on the way a company treats its talent.

So often a company will get so hung up in selling tickets, promoting itself, and trying to make its money that its most important asset gets the short end of the stick, but not so is the case for Superior Cage Combat.

In numerous interviews, fighters raved about the way they were treated by the up-and-coming promotion; often saying that only the UFC rivals the accessibility and care taken in their dealings with the company.

“That’s the best thing for a promoter to hear,” said SCC matchmaker Ryan Langmaid. “Obviously we want the fans to be happy too, but in my job the fighters are the most important thing. They’re the ones who are putting it on the line all the time, risking their health and everything to put on a good show, and they never fail to disappoint.

“I think treating them better makes them fight harder and put on a show for us and have our show be successful. That’s the only way you can be successful; teamwork. The fighters have to put on a good show so the fans come back and we can keep putting on good fights.”

In just two shows, the SCC has made a name for itself by running a pro level show featuring many name fighters, producing some of the most exciting finishes around.

As Langmaid points out, that’s why the Las Vegas-based promotion came into existence, to provide high-level entertainment for fight fans across all spectrums.

“Basically we saw the MMA world was kind of lacking in a few spots,” he said. “The breakdown from the UFC to the next level was quite a ways down with the caliber of fighters and everything.

“We figured living in the fight capital of the world, it was a good spot. We have a lot of fighters at our disposal that are ready to fight at all times, that have good names, have had big fights, and are ready for anything.”

It’s providing those name fighters along with a handful of top up-and-coming talent that’s allowed the promotion to put on events that not only the athletes are happy to perform in, but entertaining for the crowd as well.

“We’re 100-percent there for the fighters and the fans and try to make them as happy as we can and put on the best shows that we can,” said Langmaid. “We’re not the kind of promotion who is going to have like one big name in the main event and then have the rest of the card be full of nobodies that you’ve never heard of. We try to fill our card top to bottom with top talent.

“I guarantee you’ll see big names that you know, that you’ve seen on TV and all of that, and up and comers that maybe you don’t know, but who we’ll give them a stage to grow their name and business as well.”

Most recently, the SCC’s second event at The Orleans Casino featured great finishes by former UFC fighters Josh Neer, John Alessio, and John Gunderson, as well as a highly entertaining performance by Justin Buccholz, in addition to a touching tribute to Langmaid’s former trainer, Shawn Tompkins.

With a quickly growing library of entertaining fights, the next logical step for the company is to go global.

“We have joined up with an agent for television and we’ll be showcasing our event at Mipcom in Cannes and Sportel in Monaco in October to networks around the world,” said Langmaid. “It’s going to be a big step, and hopefully by November those shows will arrive on TV or debut shortly after.”

With fighters who are happy to be part of the promotion as a strong foundation for its future, Superior Cage Combat could very well be a company to keep your eyes on in the coming years.

“I just want to say thanks to all the fans for coming out and supporting us and our fighters,” concluded Langmaid. “The Vegas fans can always come to the shows every two months or so, and hopefully soon the fans worldwide will be able to see it on television and see some great fights.

“Next up is our show on Nov. 4 at the same venue. We’re working on the fight card and will be putting that together. We’ll be having some title fights on that card, so we can start building some champions and growing in that direction.”

E-mail Mick Hammond
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