Mixed martial arts is something Brandon Phelps has been interested in since Ultimate Fighting Championship 1 in the early 1990s.
Now, he’s preparing to bring the sport to the area where he was raised.
The Manchester High School graduate is the owner of the Empire Fight Series promotion, which is scheduled to hold its inaugural event at Earlywine Racing in Mason County on October 19.
“This is an event that I really want to put on for people around Maysville, Adams County – local people – to give them something different to do,” said Phelps. “I would love nothing more than to keep it going and hopefully it draws enough interest to do that.”
He went from watching, to training, to now promoting, and Phelps is hoping to give the people from his community a chance to fall in love with something an area with a rich sports history hasn’t seen much of yet.
GETTING STARTED
While he was in high school in Manchester, Phelps played basketball and ran cross country and track. He also played baseball until he was 16, he says. The 2003 graduate went on to run cross country in college and played semi-pro football in his early 20s. It wasn’t until he was 30 when he got into MMA.
“That’s only four years ago when I got into actually fighting, myself,” said Phelps.
“When I saw the opportunity, I knew I needed to do it,” added Phelps. “Just jump headfirst.”
Phelps trained out of Iron Fist Gym on Forest Avenue in Maysville with the Kraken Fight Team and went to the octagon for a handful of amateur fights.
“My coaches were Jay Grooms and Brandon McCleese, and they played a huge role in me having this idea and even getting into the sport in general and taking fights myself,” said Phelps. “It’s a great gym if anybody would want to check it out. They’ve got some really cool stuff going on there.”
The 34-year-old posted a 3-1 record, according to tapology.com, including victories in his first three events with Hardrock MMA. It gave him a chance to see how things were run by the promotion in different cities – his fights with Hardrock were in Shepherdsville, Louisville and Florence, according to the website.
“It was awesome. I got to see a lot of the ins and outs just as a fighter — just seeing some of the things other promoters do,” said Phelps. “I really like how a lot of other promoters run their promotions too, so I learned a lot of good ideas from them as well not knowing it at the time, not even planning on starting my own promotion at the time. Looking back on it, it was a great experience.”
He moved to Naples, Florida — where he’s currently living and working — in 2017 after Hurricane Irma, but says he returns to Ohio at least once a month. Phelps says he started thinking about getting the promotion started near the end of 2018 with the hopes of his first Empire Fight Series event taking place in August, but trouble finding a venue delayed that.
Now, he has a location and a promoter license through the Kentucky Boxing and Wrestling Commission, and is ready to bring something new to the area.
“I think there’s actually two or, at the most, three other promoters in the entire state of Kentucky,” said Phelps. “It’s not something that just anybody goes out on a limb and does.”
BRINGING IT HOME
“The first thing when he called me about it, I thought, ‘was I hearing him right? MMA?’” said Mason County Tourism Director Lacey Holleran. “ … You don’t get a call about an MMA fight every day.”
Holleran says she was impressed by his projections and work with the state’s governing body for the sport, and the two worked to find a location for the inaugural event in Maysville. They looked for large venues and warehouses, but had no luck.
“I really wanted to keep this event local because it’s where I’m from and I wanted to give people something different to do, but honestly I was to the point where I was thinking I was going to have to move this event somewhere maybe closer to Cincinnati in order to find a venue that would actually accept an event like this,” said Phelps.
Phelps was sitting in his office and thought of a place just outside of Maysville, along the AA Highway in Dover – Earlywine Racing. The indoor motocross facility would be large enough, and is still located in Mason County.
“I just cold called them basically and I said, ‘I’ve got a really weird question for you and you’ve probably never been asked this before. Would you want to host an MMA event?’” said Phelps. “They were extremely gracious and they were actually excited to host the event. Although it was the last option, I’m glad it was the only one that accepted because it’s a really cool venue.”
He wanted his promotion to be a little different than several he’s been to, and the facility provides an opportunity for that, he says. He’s planning on having vendors set up, a band and an autograph booth. Phelps believes it can hold about 3,000 people, and says they may very well sell that out.
The crowd will likely be a mix of Mason County residents and those from outside of the county and state, as several fighters will be making the trip to Earlywine. Holleran believes it’ll have a positive impact on area businesses and, if all goes well, is hoping to see it return.
“With the sports history we do have, people are constantly seeking different experiences and this is certainly different for this area,” said Holleran. “We’re hoping if it does go well, it does continue and continues drawing people in. If we’re drawing them in for an evening event, they’re eating at our restaurants, staying in our hotels and boosting the economy. I think it’s a really good thing overall.”
THE CARD
Living and working in Florida hasn’t been much of an issue while starting Empire Fight Series in Kentucky, Phelps says, mostly because he’s had people in place to help make sure things run smoothly. With much of the behind-the-scenes aspects of getting started taken care of, he can focus on what the fans really care about – the fights.
“I can delegate a lot of things and oversee the promotion and find the fights that make sense because I like to do the matchmaking,” said Phelps. “That’s what I really, really enjoy, actually, about running the promotion — the matchmaking part of it and then just coming up with different, new ideas for the promotion.”
Phelps already has seven fights lined up – two professional and five amateur – and thinks he’ll have around 13 or 14 for the October 19 event, but says he’d have 16 at most. The two professional fights feature Shaun Asher facing off with Anthony Trotter and Jamal Mohammad taking on Raymond Yanez, according to Phelps.
“It will be two super high-quality, action-packed fights,” said Phelps. “Then I have a whole list of local fighters that are fighting on the card on the amateur side of things.”
The card is shaping up to have some Kentucky versus Ohio flare to it as well. Asher is an Adams County, Ohio native who has a 12-3-1 professional record, with his first loss coming at Bellator Fighting Championships 78 to Jason Butcher, while Trotter is from Letcher County, Kentucky. Mohammad comes from Lexington, Kentucky, while Yanez is from Marion, Ohio.
The first amateur fight announced on the Empire Fight Series Facebook page – where fans can find more information about purchasing VIP tables or tickets to the event, as well as stay updated on the event – was on Tuesday, and it provided more Ohio River rivalry. Danny Hodge from Adams County will be taking on Ricky Muse from Fleming County. The second fight announced featured Scotty Parker, who’s from Ohio, against Dylan Mays, from Kentucky.
“I didn’t do it on purpose, but honestly that’s what it shaping up to be,” said Phelps.
Phelps also says he has several from his home Kraken Fight Team that are expected to step into the cage for Empire Fight Series 1. He’s still working on filling out the card, and is hoping to add female fights as well.
LOOKING AHEAD
Once he gets all the fights set, it’s just ironing out the details, he says.
“I have all the major planning done. All the structure is there,” said Phelps. “I just have to put in the little pieces to pull it all together.”
Phelps says he could see this turning into a full-time job eventually, and “absolutely” wants to get back to fighting within the next few years. He still trains in Florida.
After Empire Fight Series 1, he’s hoping to take the show on the road to places like Ashland and Morehead, if he can, but still plans on having as many events as he can near the area where he was raised.
But for now, Phelps is finishing the plans for his October 19 event, with the hopes of drawing MMA fans to Earlywine Racing.
“It’ll be an exciting event,” he said. “I think we’ll have up to 3,000 people there, so it’ll be a pretty action-packed night with, I think, a pretty good crowd.”
